A spirited Afghanistan going on to shock the defending champions England had injected a much-needed zest in the ongoing ICC World Cup.

Prior to the Sunday's fixture in Delhi, the highly anticipated quadrennial tournament was following the expected route, more or less, devoid of any big upset that would force the casual fans to take notice.

A desperate shot of adrenaline boost had to come from somewhere, and it came at the expense of the English team -- who now have the unwanted distinction of being the only team that have lost to all Test-playing nations in the World Cup.

Seeing Rahmanullah Gurbaz take the attack to the English bowlers up front before the spin duo of Mujeeb Ur Rahman and Rashid Khan weaving their magic to dismantle England's lengthy batting line-up had somewhat compensated for the long list of matches that churned out predictable outcomes, and the manner in which they arrived.

But that win did more than just provide some momentary excitement. It has now opened the doors for some possibilities, making the tournament more interesting going forward.

Leading up to the World Cup, England were the other name alongside India who were thought to be a shoo-in for a spot in the semifinal.

While Rohit Sharma's India have so far lived up to the promise, with three wins in the first three appearances in the competition, England have been inconsistent.

Their tournament began with a hammering against New Zealand in Ahmedabad, a match they lost by nine wickets, followed by Jos Buttler and his troops bouncing back with a commanding victory over Bangladesh in Dharamshala.

England were expected to overcome the Afghan challenge with ease and move onto bigger challenges. But Hashmatullah Shahidi's men disrupted those plans.

The defeat to Afghanistan complicates England's road to the semifinal. England have six matches to go in the round-robin stage against South Africa, Sri Lanka, India, Australia, Netherlands and Pakistan.

For a team to play in the semifinals, they would likely require at least six wins out of nine. A team can also go through with five wins but in that case the net run-rate will come into play.

In that sense, the equation now for England is they have to win at least four out of their remaining six matches, if not more, if they want to keep their fate in own hands.

The defeat to Afghanistan has taken away England's safety net and put them in a tough spot with little room for error.

The fact that England's next match will be against the high-flying South Africa, who have registered dominant victories over Australia and Sri Lanka in Wankhede, adds to the already mounting pressure on the back of captain Buttler.

Despite the early slum, England have enough firepower to string together a few victories and get their tournament back on track.

All in all, England's defeat to Afghanistan has infused a hint of uncertainty into what has been an otherwise predictable tournament so far.