SWITZERLAND 0 ENGLAND 2
1. Joe Hart
2. John Stones
5. Gary Cahill
6. Phil Jones 77'
3. Leighton Baines
7. Jack Wilshere 73'
4. Jordan Henderson
8. Fabian Delph
11. Raheem Sterling
9. Danny Welbeck
10. Wayne Rooney 90'
Subs
13. Fraser Forster
12. Danny Rose
14. Phil Jagielka 77'
15. Calum Chambers
16. James Milner 73'
17. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
18. Andros Townsend
19. Rickie Lambert 90'
Hodgson turned the air blue following criticism of his team at Wembley last Wednesday, but tonight he will have nothing but kind words to say about his team after they put in a much-improved display.
Without 15 injured seniors, Hodgson's young starting XI had just 282 caps among them whereas Switzerland's team had played 481 times in total for their country.
That, and the fact that Switzerland were ranked 11 places above England, made the hosts the pre-match favourites but Hodgson's men were the best team going forward by some distance.
The attacking triumvirate of Welbeck, Sterling and Rooney created many chances, but their finishing let them down until Welbeck poked home his first England goal since September 6, 2013.
Fabian Delph, making his full debut, also put in a strong display in the middle of the park.
The defensive vulnerabilities that cost England in Brazil were still evident - Phil Jones almost gifted the Swiss the lead in the first half.
But Hodgson will return to England with a broad smile on his face after beating his biggest rivals in Group E.
Delph showed no sign of nerves as he started confidently. The Aston Villa midfielder pinched the ball off Stephan Lichtsteiner and crossed for Sterling, but his control was poor and Switzerland were let off.
Delph's enthusiasm descended into recklessness moments later though when he cut Valon Behrami down with a late tackle that was somehow left unpunished.
The former Leeds man was no so lucky with his second bad tackle on Lichtsteiner which earned him a booking.
It did not take long for Hodgson to come to the edge of his technical area, but there was no need for him to be alarmed early on - his team were putting on a much more confident, high-tempo display than the one that lead to so much doom and gloom last week.
Jack Wilshere chipped a delightful 30-yard ball to Rooney, but the captain's control was desperately poor and the attack faded out.
An error by Steve von Bergen allowed Sterling to race at the defence but Rooney's shot dribbled straight into the arms of Yann Sommer.
With Xherdan Shaqiri in their side, Switzerland always looked capable of hitting England on the break though.
Haris Seferovic latched on to a clever pass from the Bayern Munich midfielder, but the referee waved play on when the striker went down under pressure from Jones.
Jones carelessly gave the ball away and Shaqiri took advantage, carving a lovely pass through to Seferovic again, but this time Joe Hart saved with his right leg.
England had a brilliant chance of their own just before the half-hour when Welbeck broke down the right. England were three on one, but the Arsenal striker's pass to Sterling was poor and Switzerland rushed back to snuff out the danger.
Only Sommer's acrobatics prevented England from leading at half-time.
Sommer tipped Rooney's shot behind and from the resulting corner the Switzerland goalkeeper denied Jones with a superb one-handed save.
Behrami almost handed England a way into the match just after the restart when his clearance drifted inches wide of his own goal after some good work by Henderson and Sterling.
England were soon under pressure again though and Hart did well to deny Seferovic, who had smacked a sweet volley towards the top corner.
Switzerland's pressing left them open at the back and England took full advantage just before the hour.
Rooney galloped forward from the halfway line and slipped the ball straight into Sterling's path.
The Liverpool winger, compared to Marc Overmars by Rooney on the eve of the match, cantered down the left just like the flying Dutchman and bypassed three defenders with a flat ball across the box to Welbeck, who shinned the ball into the net at the far post.
Sterling almost doubled England's lead with a mazy dribble into the box, but Lichtsteiner put in a superb last-ditch tackle.
Moments after his introduction, Josip Drmic broke through the England back line and he was allowed to advance on goal despite being offside. The striker rounded Hart, but Cahill came to England's rescue with a block on the line. It was a superb block, but one that involved his hand, much to Switzerland's annoyance
Ricardo Rodriguez's deflected shot sent a few pulses in the away end racing towards the death, but Hart saved.
Then in the fourth minute of injury time Sterling found substitute Rickie Lambert on the break. The Liverpool striker played the ball on to Welbeck and he slotted the ball past Sommer to seal the victory for England and their hordes of jubilant fans.