Berlin: Germany has never beaten Italy in a World Cup match.
The host of this year's tournament will get another chance on Tuesday in the semi-finals.
Germany advanced to the last four after beating Argentina 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw through extra time. The Italians easily beat surprise quarterfinalist Ukraine 3-0.
Italy has won two and drawn two against Germany at the World Cup. The last time they met, in the 1982 World Cup final, Italy won 3-1.
At the European Championship, they drew both times they met.
Germany goalkeeper Jens Lehmann made two shootout saves in Berlin to send the hosts into the semi-finals for the 11th time. He stopped shots from Roberto Ayala and Esteban Cambiasso.
Oliver Neuville, Michael Ballack, Lukas Podolski and Tim Borowski all scored for the Germans, with Julio Cruz and Maxi Rodriguez replying for Argentina.
"We have a strong belief in Jens Lehmann," Germany coach Juergen Klinsmann said. "As a former striker, I don't want to face him, and he proved that."
The end of the shootout was marred by pushing and shoving on the field, with several Argentine players surrounding the referee before order was restored.
Miroslav Klose headed in the goal that sent the match into extra time in the 80th minute.
Ballack crossed the ball into the centre for Borowski, who headed on to Klose.
The Polish-born Germany striker then scored his tournament-leading fifth World Cup goal by beating backup goalkeeper Leonardo Franco.
Franco, who was playing in a World Cup for the first time, came on for Roberto Abbondanzieri.
Argentina's starting goalkeeper left the field in the 71st, about five minutes after a collision with Klose on a free kick.
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Ayala had put Argentina in the lead in the 49th with a header off a corner from Juan Roman Riquelme.
"Both teams made very few mistakes," Ballack said. "It was very tight."
Luca Toni scored two goals for Italy in Hamburg and defender Gianluca Zambrotta added the other.
"We couldn't understand why he hadn't scored until now so it's great news," Italy coach Marcello Lippi said.
Zambrotta opened the scoring in the sixth minute from about 20 metres after exchanging passes with Francesco Totti.
After seven seasons in Serie A, Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko no longer held any secrets for Italy's expert defense and could not give his president Victor Yushchenko any reason to cheer in the stands.
In the end, Ukraine was finally found out as a team which had too little to offer beyond a robust defense. Still, during its maiden World Cup run, it was the surprise team to make the quarterfinals.
"I am disappointed that we are out but this World Cup has been a great achievement for us," Ukraine coach Oleh Blokhin said.
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