Hope you had fun watching this enthralling quarter-final, one that will certainly be discussed over the ages. See you tomorrow, where Croatia face Russia and England take on Sweden.

“These boys deserve to be special people back in Belgium. You need to be brave as players to accept it [tactical changes],” says Roberto Martinez. “The former Wigan and Swansea manager also had words of praise for Brazil for their character in the second half.”

BRAZIL 1-2 BELGIUM
What a win! Everything that Belgium tried worked. It can be argued that there this is arguably the biggest victory in the Red Devils’ history. Hazard, De Bruyne and Lukaku were devastating going forward. Martinez’s changes in this game – bringing on Fellaini and Chadli – were spot on. Both players put in a terrific display. Belgium’s backline, after falling apart in the first half, came out trumps in the second. Did Brazil deserve a penalty for Kompany’s tackle on Jesus in the box? The debate will go on. Neymar and Coutinho did produce moments of magic, but it was not enough. Belgium won the game on the sheer weight of their attacking firepower.

FULL-TIME: BRAZIL 1-2 BELGIUM
That’s it! This is the first time that we neither have Germany, Brazil or Argentina in the last four in World Cup history. Heroic Belgium pass the litmus test with flying colours. Brazil for all their flair and promise, came out second best.

90+3’ Is that the save that wins Belgium a semi-final spot? Neymar takes a crisp shot after being set up by Costa, who once again was brilliant on the right flank. Courtois makes a finger-tip save.

90+2’ Hazard wins two fouls on the left flank. Miranda was in all sorts of trouble dealing with the trickery of the Chelsea man.

89’ Another moment in the box featuring Neymar. The Brazilians swarm the referee for a foul on Neymar. Meunier had touched Neymar’s face but the No 10 once again went tumbling over. VAR was taken, no foul, no penalty.

88’ FAGNER gets a YELLOW. This was after Costa had gone past three Belgians like they were invisible. The Juventus midfielder has been a revelation since coming on.

87’ Neymar tries to twist and turn the Belgian defence but sadly for him, the ball runs out of play. Belgium doing everything to run the clock down.

86’ Lukaku walks off to a standing ovation. In comes Tilemans in place of him. The clock is running down to full-time. It will be a nerve-wracking last few minutes from the looks of it.

84’ Fernandinho gets a YELLOW CARD for scything Hazard down in the Brazilian box.

82’ What a stunning counter-attack from Brazil. Yet again, it was perilously close to being the equaliser. Neymar had space and he outran the entire Brazilian defence to tee it up for Coutinho, whose shot on the run went well wide of the post.

Vermaelen comes on for Nacer Chadli

80’ Another chance! They keep on coming and the Belgian backline is running a bit ragged. Inexplicably, some space opens up for Augusto. The goalscorer’s shot from 25 yards out goes a couple of feet wide of the post. Courtois had given up.

79’ Hazard surges forward on the counter, getting the better of Marcelo. He tries to find Chadli with a square ball, but Fernandinho intercepts it.

78’ OOH! Brazil are all over the Belgians. Neymar sets one up with a run down the left flank on the counter. Firminho from close range blasts the ball just inches wide! Be warned Belgium, Brazil are coming at you

A couple of minutes after coming on, Brazil pull one back through Augusto. Coutinho delivers a delightful cross from the left, Augusto makes a late run behind Kompany and nods it home.

76’ GOAL!! BRAZIL 1-2 BELGIUM (Augusto)

74’ SAVE from Courtois! Once again, the Chelsea keeper shows save hands from a powerful strike from 25 yards out from Neymar.

73’ Yet again, the referee blows on a foul against Lukaku. Not for the first time, it looks as through the Manchester United striker was trying to shield the ball. Coutinho was thrown on the floor on that occasion.

71’ Hazard is on the floor clutching his knees and there is another stoppage in play. The pensive faces in the Brazilian camp are unmissable.

70’ Meunier gets a YELLOW and will miss out on the semi-finals, if Belgium progress. He was penalised for a clumsy tackle from behind on Neymar.

68’ Lukaku once again powers down the left flank, out-muscling and outrunning Miranda. The Belgian forward, though, can’t get a ball into the box; the ball ran out of play.

64’ The pace has slowed down over the last two-three minutes. Brazil continue to press aggressively and start attacks quickly from the middle of the park. Neymar falls down again. There is a water break at the moment.

61’ More end-to-end madness. Hazard’s shot from the left goes just inches wide of the post. The move was started by Chadli’s pass. De Bruyne put his captain through on goal with another exquisite through ball.
At the other end, Courtois had to palm a close range shot from Costa. The Belgians are retreating quickly, given that Brazil have started on the front-foot.

59’ Brazil’s pressing is relentless and are not giving the Belgians any time and space on the ball. There was evidence of that when Lukaku and Hazard tried to break quickly. It was a different story in the first half.

57’ That was Jesus’s last contribution of the game as well. He is replaced by Douglas Costa.

56’ NO PENALTY – there was an appeal from the Brazilians and VAR was taken. Jesus thinks his leg was taken by Kompany. Replays show that the ball had already rolled out of play when the Manchester City captain’s trailing leg had clipped Jesus

54’ Brazilians are swarming the Belgian box in droves. Who saw this coming? Neymar is bossing the left flank. Marcelo, Jesus, and Coutinho are also asking questions. Difficult times for Belgium, arguably their toughest so far.

52’ The referee waves off a Neymar appeal in the box. Fellaini from behind attempts a tackle before withdrawing. The Brazilian bench is up in arms but replays show that it is an attempted dive.

50’ SO CLOSE – Marcelo makes a powerful run down the left flank and his fizzing low ball was perfect. Firmino just needed to nod the ball home. He just gets a feather touch on it and the chance goes begging.

49’ De Bruyne releases Lukaku, who once again gets acres of space on Marcelo’s flank. He tries to bully past the Brazilian defence again but this time, Miranda sees out the danger expertly.

48’ Neymar slips in a clever ball to Firmino, whose attempted shot is cleared out by Aldeweireld. Seconds later Jesus tries to sneak into the penalty area, but Kompany dislodges the ball off him and starts an attack.

46’ Brazil start the second half with Paulinho making a stinging challenge on Hazard on the left-flank. The possession changes hands.

Brazil make a change: Firmino comes on for Willian

The Brazilians conduct a conference in the tunnel ahead of the second-half. They need to be at their absolute best. Nothing else would do. They need to make history.

HALF-TIME: BRAZIL 0-2 BELGIUM
Wow, who saw this coming? Brazil could have scored as many as three goals in the first ten minutes of the game. Belgium, once they found their feet in the game, were fast, intelligent, creative, and devastating. The first goal was against the run of play. That gave the Red Devils confidence and De Bruyne’s goal seems to have knocked the stuffing out of them. It’s down to Tite’s team talk at the moment to lift the spirits of the deflated Brazilians. Atleast, they are not five behind, as they were at Belo Horizonte four years ago.

44’ Neymar falls in the area and the Brazilian fans go up. No foul says the referee, who is just two yards away.

41’ What is going on? Have the Brazilians switched off? De Bryune’s free-kick is tipped over the bar by Allison. Then, from a corner, Kompany plays a back-heel from the near post that would make Brazilians proud. Stunning. Brazil are falling apart.

40’ De Bruyne is clipped on the left, 25 meters from goal. Paulinho made a clattering tackle from the back.

38’ Once again, Brazil are peeling apart at the back like onions. De Bryune, Hazard and Lukaku are interchanging passes and surging forward at walking pace. It certainly looks like the Selecao would concede again.

36’ Fine move from Brazil. Neymar and Coutinho exchange passes to put Marcelo on the by-line. The left-back wins a corner.

34’ Brazil continue to raid the Belgian area with some will. He had a free header at the far post, a fair distance away from goal, though. Once again, his header was way off.

What a finish from De Bryune. Make no mistake, it was Lukaku all the way there, going past atleast three Brazilian players at the base of midfield. De Bruyne gets the ball at the edge of the area, cuts in and lets a thumping shot with his right. Allison had no chance. Brazil are in deep, deep trouble.

31’ GOAL!! BRAZIL 0-2 BELGIUM (De Bruyne)

26’ Lukaku was penalised for a foul for brushing aside Marcelo. It was strange, there was no sign of any malice from the Belgian striker, who has continued be excellent so far.

24’ SHOT – Marcelo makes a surging run and unleashes a shot. Once again, Courtois pouches it in front of him. Once senses that a Brazilian goal is imminent considering the sheer wave of attacks from Tite’s men.

22’ Another fine attack from Belgium. One can hear the air of disbelief in the arena. Lukaku made a gorgeous nutmeg on Miranda but just couldn’t get the shot on target.

20’ Ooh! This time, Brazil were under a bit of pressure but they somehow survive. Hazard started the move with a tricky dummy and then passed it to Lukaku. The final ball was cleared out by Miranda, who has had a busy evening so far.

17’ And....the shots keep coming in. This time Coutinho gets space in the middle of the park and lets one fly. Courtois showed safe hands.

14’ The goal has not stopped Brazil from tormenting the Belgian defence. Yet again, the red shirts are in sixes and sevens trying to clear out any bit of Brazilian danger. Brazil have not gone behind so far. How will they respond?

Calamity for Brazil. There was hardly any pressure at the near post from Chadli’s delivery. The ball takes a touch off Jesus, goes to Feranandinho, whose header only finds his own net.

12’ GOAL (OWN GOAL) BRAZIL 0-1 BELGIUM

11’ Fellaini wins a corner after Brazilians try to run at the heart of the Belgian defence. De Bruyne’s pass to find the Manchester United man was sumptuous to say the least.

10’ Goalmouth scramble. Belgians are in all kinds of pressure from corners. Paulinho just missed his kick after finding himself free in space. Another respite for Martinez’s side. The Belgian backline had to see off another rampaging Brazilian attack during the lead-up to the corner.

8’ OFF THE POST! Belgians make a dramatic escape from a corner. The ball is delivered in a danger area. Thiago Silva stabs the ball goalwards and the ball rolls on and hits the post. At the other end, Lukaku breaks quickly, brushing aside Fernandinho to lay the ball onto Hazard’s path. The Belgian captain’s shot is cleared.

6’ We have it. The moment we have been waiting for: the Neymar tumble. It appears that Fellaini clipped him from behind.

5’ The Belgians have the ball and patiently knock it around. Some clean passes from the men in red but the attack comes to nothing with the watchful Miranda cutting out De Bruyne’s cross.

It will be hard to top the Belgium-Japan contest.

3’ Brazil respond. Neymar and Coutinho play a clever one-two. The forward’s cross, though, was cut out by Courtois.

2’ Ooh! Early signs of danger for Brazil. Fernandinho gets pushed off the ball by De Bruyne. The playmaker’s shot lacked power and direction, and rolled just wide. Good start for the Red Devils.

1’ Belgium’s first move is a long ball from the backline all the up to Lukaku. The ball runs out of play.

Brazil to get things underway..

National anthems time

11:20 pm: Battle of land, Chelsea, and Russia: Willian ready for battle with teammate Hazard in World Cup clash – READ

11:15 pm: “Thanks to zonal marking we’re the most disciplined team in the competition. We commit very few fouls – nine per game.”
Here’s some fascinating insight into how Brazil set up under Tite – READ

Brazil fans are flocking the stadium. Is it going to be a sea of yellow and blue at Kazan?

11:10 pm: Brazil have a good record against Belgium in recent times. Don’t forget, the Belgian got a thumping win against the then world champions 55 years ago:

11:07 pm: Brazilian fans, beating Belgium is anything but easy. Take note, however, that they didn’t beat Portugal and only scraped past Mexico and Japan during this period. Here’s an extraordinary record achieved:

11: 00 pm: Less than half an hour for kick-off. Against Japan, Belgium’s “golden generation” were less than half an hour from elimination against Japan.

Here’s what Vinayakk had to say about their fortitude when nothing less than their absolute best was enough – READ

In other news, legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has moved to Paris Saint-Germain.

Okay, this is catching up soon:

10:42 pm: Neymar’s antics have drawn some sniggers, and he will be a certain target for the Belgian defenders. Join the poll, folks. What do you think will be the outcome?

10:36 pm: Brazil recently became the highest-scoring team in World Cups with 228 goals, going past Germany. Belgium are on a four-match winning streak. Catch all the statistics about these two teams HERE

10.33 pm: How many expected France to progress to the semi-finals? They have now dislodged two, two-time World Cup winners in back-to-back games. Oscar Tabarez’s Uruguay were heavily fancied too. Have the young, exciting French side arrived on the big stage? Can they atone for losing to Portugal on home soil in the Euro 2016 final? Read the full report HERE

Belgium vs Brazil is the final before the final, writes Ashish Magotra. Have a READ

Team news: Belgium make two changes from their last-gasp win against Japan with Maraoune Fellaini and Naser Chadli replacing Dries Mertens and Yannick Carrasco. Roberto Martinez, perhaps, is looking to add a little more bite in the middle of the park to stop the rampaging Brazilian attackers from wreaking havoc.

As for Brazil, they welcome Marcelo back in the lineup. It was Felipe Luis who played at left-back against Mexico. Casemiro is suspended for this fixture so Fernandinho takes his place. No changes otherwise.

Lineups

The squads are out....

Brazil and Belgium last met in the last-16 clash in 2002. The mighty Brazilians cruised to a 2-0 win thanks to a goal from Rivaldo and Ronaldo in the second half. The Selecao went on to win their fifth World Cup.

Play

10:15 pm: Some light-reading for you as we await confirmed team news... Ashish Magotra on this match is the final before The Final.

Belgium — a country with a population of only 11m, with just 34 professional clubs competing across two leagues — has produced a golden generation of footballers. The names roll of our tongues — Hazard, Lukaku, De Bruyne, Kompany, and more. Top quality talent; top drawer talent; talent that would make it to almost any starting XI. But that potential hasn’t exactly borne the fruit expected of it thus far.

At Euro 2016, they were surprisingly defeated 3-1 by a Gareth Bale-inspired Wales, while at the previous FIFA World Cup, an early goal from Gonzalo Higuain accounted for the Red Devils. The quarterfinals have been a stumbling block. But the expectation is there yet again, a major trophy is still missing and in Brazil, they will face their greatest challenge yet.

To many, this is the final before the final; the match that would have been worthy of a final. The eternal favourites vs the potential giants. The world no 2 vs the world no 3. The two highest ranked teams still in the competition.

Read more here.

10:10 pm: A few stats to get us going tonight...

  • Brazil have qualified for the quarter-finals in every edition since 1994.
  • There have already been four showdowns between the pair and Brazil won three, after Belgium prevailed 5-1 in the first one, a friendly held in Brussels in 1963.
  • The teams’ last tussle in 2002 was also their only prior engagement in the Fifa World Cup, with A Canarinho triumphing 2-0 in the Round of 16 in Kobe, thanks to second-half strikes from Rivaldo and Ronaldo.

10:07 pm: The winner of this match faces France after they completed a clinical 2-0 win over Uruguay, who looked toothless without Cavani.

Here’s the report of that match.

Hello and welcome to the live updates of the second semi-final between Brazil and Belgium at Kazan on Friday. Both teams have given ample evidence that they could go all the way. As always, Brazil were listed as one of the tournament favourites. Belgium’s “golden generation” have also been firing and made the finest comeback in this edition, beating Japan after going 0-2 behind.

Neymar and his star-studded supporting cast have their work cut out against the Red Devils, who boast an array of their own firepower, to reach the last four.

In a Kazan Arena expected to be awash with yellow-clad Brazil fans at the kickoff, Belgian trio Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin de Bruyne have a chance to prove they can cut it at the highest international level after so many disappointments.