Samoa have broken England's hearts after a golden-point field-goal ended the home nation's campaign, and flung the 27-26 Samoan victors straight into their maiden World Cup final.

The sun beaming through onto Emirates Stadium took a back seat as the crowd's focus laid solely on Samoa and England, two sides desperate to meet Australia in the World Cup final in Manchester next Sunday morning AEDT.

The Siva Tau took the centre focus as it did last week against Tonga, electrifying the air around the ground as the underdogs made their intent clear against the home side, and delivered a special moment in the nation's first-ever semi-final.

A disastrous start for the blue-and-whites as Joseph Suaalii's kick-off sailed out on the full, handing the home side dangerous field position to start this contest

Despite being short favourites, England were shellshocked, kicking the ball over the dead-ball line and allowing Samoa to head deep into their territory.

Whilst there's a stack of high NRL stars in Samoa's line-up, it was a Super League star that got the scoring underway after Tim Lafai carried defenders over the line, including club team mate Kallum Watkins, to notch the opener.

Jubilation became chaos for Samoa as their captain Junior Paulo, who only lined up in the match after being set free by the judiciary, was sin-binned for dropping Thomas Burgess on his head.

Junior Paulo leads the Siva Tau pre-game at Emirates Stadium.

The Shaun Wane-coached side thought they'd capitalised through Kallum Watkins, only for the veteran to bobble the ball in the put down, squandering their 13-on-12 advantage, but they wouldn't waste another chance.

Moments after Paulo turned to the fray, fellow former Raider George Williams found a gap, slicing through and delivering a short ball to Elliott Whitehead to open England's account for the afternoon.

The game would go tit-for-tat as fellow Super League player Ligi Sao was next to add his name to the score sheet, darting out of dummy-half and down the short-side, throwing a dummy to fool Dominic Young before sliding over for a try.

The half-time siren rung for as relief for both sides after a physical opening 40, Samoa leading the Englishman 10-6 heading into the sheds.

England struck back just minutes into the second period after a sloppy take from Tim Lafai landed into the breadbasket of John Bateman, the reportedly Wests Tigers-bound back-rower touching down under the posts to regain the lead.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - NOVEMBER 19: John Bateman of England runs with the ball during the 2017 Rugby League World Cup Quarter Final match between England and Papua New Guinea Kumuls at AAMI Park on November 19, 2017 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Scott Barbour/Getty Images)

Samoa turned on the razzle dazzle as Jarome Luai danced through defenders centre field, launching a basketball pass over the top to Junior Paulo, who threw a hail mary pass behind his back to Anthony Milford.

The Dolphins-bound playmaker launched it out wide to Stephen Crichton, who scored untouched down the right channel for yet another lead change.

The underdogs became the first side to score back-to-back tries after another Luai inside-step created an overlap, delivering a bullet pass for Lafai to earn his double, and extend the lead to 20-12.

Joseph Suaalii dictates Samoa's defensive line from the back.

A barnstorming effort from Herbie Farnworth clawed England back into the contest, the Brisbane Broncos flyer beating four defenders to score a crucial four-pointer, and draw it back to a two-point Samoan advantage.

Junior Paulo was shortly back in the referee's crosshairs after a late hit on fullback Sam Tomkins handed Makinson the opportunity to level the scores at 20-20, the former Golden Boot winner making no mistake as the vocal English crowd found their voice.

South Sydney fans would've felt the worst sense of deja vu with 15 minutes on the clock as Stephen Crichton plucked an intercept out of mid-air, this time through a Victor Radley pass as opposed to Cody Walker, and snatched the lead in another big moment for the centre.

The game refused to relent as the clock ticked down, and just as Samoa began to sense the finish line, former Canberra Raiders' halfback George Williams burst through the line, drawing teenage phenom Joseph Suaalii and passing to an unmarked Farnworth, who raced over half the field to give England a sniff.

Makinson tied up the match with his own golden boot, sending the match into golden point as both sides of the crowd absolutely erupted at Emirates Stadium, all 40,489 fans cheering and jeering, knowing they were minutes away from an Old Trafford dream.

The arm wrestle extended into post-regular time period, a charge down on an Anthony Milford field goal undone after Sam Tomkins' forward pass out of dummy-half undid their hard work, and handed Samoa a set deep in England's half.

Great players own the great moments, and regular customer Stephen Crichton claimed yet another scalp of a moment after catching the ball 30 metres out, slotting the left-footed field-goal straight through English hearts and over the black dot, ending the home side's campaign.

Just six days after booking their maiden semi-final, Samoa have booked their first-ever World Cup final, becoming the first Tier 2 nation to advance to the tournament's final stage.

The Kangaroos will face a confident Samoan side at Old Trafford next Sunday morning, 3am AEDT, as the underdogs await a verdict on Paulo in the coming 24 hours.

England 26 (Farnworth 2, Whitehead, Bateman tries; Makinson 5 goals) def. by Samoa 27 (Lafai 2, Crichton 2, Sao tries; Crichton 3 goals; Crichton 1 field-goal)