Brilliant Belgium knock Brazil out of the World Cup to book semi-final date with France

Belgium’s golden generation came of age to knock Brazil out of the World Cup and book a spot in the World Cup semi-finals.

The Red Devils ran out 2-1 winners in Kazan to book a last-four tie with Dider Deschamps’ France after their victory over Uruguay on Friday afternoon.

An own goal and a fine strike from Kevin De Bruyne did the damage as this exciting Belgian team look to finally be fulfilling their much-heralded promise.

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Renato Augusto came off the bench to head home late on, however it proved to be nothing more than a consolation.

The inquest will begin for Brazil as they prepare to head home from Russia with the spotlight falling on Neymar again after what appeared to be another dive.

Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli came to the rescue for Belgium in their last-gasp victory over Japan in the previous round and they were rewarded with starts.

Kevin De Bruyne was pushed further forward by manager Roberto Martinez while Romelu Lukaku was asked to run the channels.

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Tite made no secret of his intention to replace the suspended Casemiro with De Bruyne’s Manchester City team-mate Fernandinho and the Brazil coach was true to his word.

Marauding left-back Marcelo slotted back into the starting XI having recovered from a niggling back injury.

Exciting football has always been a hallmark of the Brazilian national team but they almost grabbed an early lead from an unlikely source.

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Thiago Silva found himself in space inside the six-yard box but could only divert Neymar’s inviting corner against the woodwork after seven minutes.

Moments later and a Brazilian did find the net – only it was at the wrong end – Fernandinho getting in a real mess and knocking the ball beyond the reach of a despairing Alisson.

If there was more than a slice of good fortune about the opener, there was nothing lucky about the second as Belgium raced into a commanding lead.

Lukaku, who was superb on the night, fed De Bruyne and the City superstar smashed one into the bottom corner that gave the goalkeeper absolutely no chance.

Brazil were scratching their heads and wondering if their opponents would be out of sight before the half-time whistle.

There were so many Mancunian connections on the field and another of those, Gabriel Jesus, wasted a glorious opportunity to pull one back with a free header.

At the other end, De Bruyne continued to torment the South Americans and Tite’s side and he almost added a third before the interval.

Brazil had to do something at the break and Roberto Firmino was brought on in place of Willian in an attempt to put some pressure on the Belgian defence.

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Fellaini, who carried out his duties expertly in the first 45 minutes, would have been briefed by Martinez to keep patrolling the area just in front of the back four.

Marcelo looked the most likely to create something for the trailing Samba stars and Firmino couldn’t quite stretch far enough to stab it past Thibaut Courtois.

Neymar’s World Cup has been blighted by controversy over perceived diving throughout the tournament in Russia.

He was at the centre of the storm again in Kazan as he appeared to try and create contact with Fellaini in the area and was told to get up by the unimpressed referee.

Neymar should really have been booked for simulation but Jesus had genuine reason to complain to the officials when he was taken down by Vincent Kompany.

The decision was reviewed by the VAR team in Moscow, however the decision was upheld despite replays clearly showing the centre-half made no contact with the ball.

As Jesus, who was substituted after the penalty incident, and Neymar struggled on the big stage, Lukaku was a man mountain for Belgium and bullied the Brazilian defenders.

He was everything that Brazil were lacking on the night. Pace, power and most importantly belief as you never felt Martinez’s side feared this one would slip away.

Jesus’ replacement, Renato Augusto, showed him how to find the net with a superb header but it was too little too late for the seleção.

Belgium will now face France on Tuesday for the right to secure a spot in the final at the Luznikhi Stadium.