Ghana went through to the second round of the World Cup despite losing 1-0 to Germany to finish second in Group D on Wednesday.
The Black Stars had slightly the better of a fairly even game before finally going down on the hour with a cracking shot from the edge of the box by midfielder Mesut Ozil.
Germany struggled to break down a solid Ghana defence before Ozil struck the winner.
With Cacau replacing the suspended Miroslav Klose as their lone striker, Germany carved out chances with the Brazilian-born forward testing goalkeeper Richard Kingson with a low drive after only three minutes.
Cacau then set up Ozil with a perfect through ball in the box but the playmaker, with only Kingson to beat, could only manage a weak shot.
Ghana had a chance after 15 minutes when Kwadwo Asamoah played the ball into the box for Asamoah Gyan, but Bastian Schweinsteiger stepped in to snuff out the attack.
Both teams had clear chances around the 25 minute mark in a frantic period in front of a 83,391-strong crowd at Soccer City.
First Ghana's Andre Ayew broke free into penalty area, but took one touch too many, then Germany's Ozil went one-on-one with Kingson only for the Ghana goalkeeper to make the save.
Germany captain Philipp Lahm then saved a Gyan header off the line.
Ayew picked up the first booking on 39 minutes for a tackle from behind on Cacau, while Germany's Thomas Mueller was also booked on 43 minutes for a clumsy tackle on 43 minutes.
Germany spent the first five minutes after the break in the Ghana half, but Asamoah squandered a golden chance to take the lead when he fired at German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who managed to get a glove to the shot on 52 minutes.
With an hour gone, Ozil calmed Germany's nerves with a left-footed goal from the edge of the penalty area which finally beat Kingson to give his side the lead.
Ghana then poured forward and a shot by John Pantsil was blocked by Jerome Boateng less than a minute later, while Lahm pulled off a goal-saving block on an Ayew shot which was headed goal bound moments later.
The last 20 minutes were a tense affair as Ghana constantly tested the German defence, but Joachim Loew's team held firm to maintain their country's record of having never failed to qualify from the group stages at a World Cup.
Ghana's defence, led by captain John Mensah returning from injury, gradually shut down the supply lines to Cacau and Lukas Podolski, forcing the Germans to try their luck with long-range efforts.
Germany: Manuel Neuer, Arne Friedrich, Sami Khedira, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Toni Kroos 81), Mesut Oezil, Lukas Podolski, Thomas Mueller (Piotr Trochowski 66), Philipp Lahm, Per Mertesacker, Cacau, Jerome Boateng (Marcel Jansen 72).
Ghana: Richard Kingson, Hans Sarpei, Asamoah Gyan (Matthew Amoah 82) John Pantsil, John Mensah, Anthony Annan, Jonathan Mensah, Prince Tagoe (Sulley Muntari 63), Andre Ayew (Dominic Adiyiah 91), Kwadwo Asamoah, Kevin Prince Boateng.
Referee: Carlos Simon (Brazil)
Germany poured forward, desperate for a goal, and had keeper Manuel Neuer to thank for not conceding a goal on the break when he pulled off a point-blank save from a Kwadwo Asamoah shot early in the second half.
Ozil finally broke the deadlock when he thundered a left-footed shot from 20 metres past Kingson.
Ghana also went through to the last 16 as the first African side to do so in this tournament – the first to be held continent.
This means the Black Stars have salvaged Africa’s image with their qualification as teams like Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa and Algeria have already booked their tickets home.
The match was the first in the World Cup in which two brothers appeared for opposing teams.
Kevin-Prince Boateng played for Ghana and Jerome Boateng for Germany.