Belgium poured forward in a superb first-half performance that produced a Fernandinho own goal before a superb Kevin De Bruyne strike had Neymar and his teammates rocking.

Although Brazil roared back in the second half with a headed goal from Renato Augusto, Belgium hung on for a famous 2-1 win that puts them into a semi-final against France in Saint Petersburg on Tuesday.

“It’s a heavy, bitter feeling. This was very hard for us to swallow,” Tite said.

Unbeaten in their last 15 games, Brazil’s bid for a second consecutive place in the semi-finals looked in safe hands.

But after Thiago Silva came close and Neymar showed early promise, Brazil heads went down following Fernandinho’s own goal before De Bruyne’s superb strike from distance put the Red Devils in control on 31 minutes.

Late changes by Tite paid off as Renato Augusto’s superb header 14 minutes from time dragged the south Americans back into contention.

But as Belgium tired, Brazil spurned several clear chances to push the match into extra-time, Augusto drilling wide and Coutinho skewing his effort off target from Neymar’s pass.

Courtois produced a great save in the dying minutes, tipping over a curling drive from Neymar as the Belgians ensured they will make just their second visit to the last four, 32 years after the finals in Mexico.

“I’m the proudest man on earth now because I gave a very difficult assignment to the players and the way they responded — they believed till the last minute was amazing,” said Belgium coach Roberto Martinez.

– Red surge –

On eight minutes Courtois was flapping when Neymar’s corner was flicked on by Joao Miranda, came off the thigh of Thiago Silva and then off the post.

Tite had replaced suspended holding midfielder Casemiro with Fernandinho in his starting line-up, handing the Manchester City player his first World Cup start since he was hauled off at half-time on Brazil’s way to the humiliating 7-1 semi-final defeat to Germany in 2014.

But Fernandinho’s World Cup woes continued, Hazard’s corner coming off the midfielder’s arm to glide past Alisson and into the net.

Brazil almost equalised immediately, Neymar dribbling down the left and finding Gabriel, only for his effort to go amiss.

But Hazard and De Bruyne were linking incisively to carve open the Selecao’s well-oiled defence with surprising ease and when Belgium countered on the half hour, it was with devastating effect.

Lukaku looked invincible as he powered through Brazil’s midfield before finding De Bruyne in space on the right.

The Manchester City ace had time to pick his spot before unleashing a right-footed drive that screamed past Alisson and inside the ‘keeper’s far post.

Tite replaced the ineffective Willian with Roberto Firmino at half-time and soon after changed Jesus for Douglas Costa.

But it took the arrival of China-based Augusto 17 minutes from time that sparked Brazil into life.

Brazil saw two penalty claims in quick succession waved away by Serbian referee Milorad Mazic after Neymar tumbled following contact with Fellaini and Gabriel went to ground after a challenge from Vincent Kompany.

De Bruyne released Hazard down the left but he firing narrowly wide of Alisson’s far post as Lukaku waited to pounce.

Minutes later Augusto hung in the air to meet Coutinho’s cross and direct it past Courtois to raise Brazilian hopes.

But Augusto drilled inches wide minutes later, one of several misses that Brazil were made to regret.

The pain was too much for Neymar who was in tears at the end.

Infantino submitted a statement to the Football Association of Thailand on THursday night Bangkok time to show his concern on the Wild Hog Acadey FC members who have been stuck in the Chiang Rai’s cave since January 27.

“On behalf of the international football community, I would like to join you in expressing my deepest sympathies and support to the families of the players and coach as well as my solidarity with the people of Thailand at this time of great concern,” the FIFA boss wrote in his statement.

“If, as we all hope, they are reunited with their familes in the coming days and their health allows them to travel, FIFA would be delighted to invite them to attend the 2018 World Cup final in Moscow as our guests. I sincerely hope that they will be able to join us at the final, which will undoubtedly be a wonderful moment of coomunion and celebration.”

With high level of floods, difficult features of the cape and the condition of the 13 victims, authorities are still unable to evacuate them. By far, a former seal diver passed away while performing duty inside the cave on Thursday night.

The incidence has raised concerns and supports from international sport key figures worldwide. One of the latest messages was from Liverpool FC manager Jurgen Klopp during an exclusive woth CNN.

“Stay strong, we are with you and we are really following all the news and hoping every second that you see the daylight again,” Klopp said in a clip.

“We are all very optimistic that it will happen in the next few, hopefully minutes, hours or the next days. So, stay strong. Best regards from Liverpool, we are with you. You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Some of the young footballers were seen wearing national jerseys of England, Brazil and a local Muang Thong United when they were found by a British recue team on Tuesday.

Ratchanok was nowhere near her best as a flurry of errors flowed from her racquet to hand South Korean world No 10 Sung Ji Hyun a 21-12 21-12 victory.

Her coach Patapol Ngernsrisuk said the Thai No 1 is having a back injury which has bothered her since the Malaysia Open last week. But he insisted the

injury was not serious.

Four-time champion Lee Chong Wei eliminated last Thai Kantaphon from the tournament with a 21-13 22-20 win in the men’s singles.

The two, along with the other national players, will hope to redeem their pride in the Thailand Open Super 500, which starts on Tuesday at the Nimibutr National Stadium.

Peterson, who won his first Asian Tour title in January, fired three birdies on his homeward nine to hold on to his lead for the third straight day on 17-under-par 199 at the Damai Golf and Country Club.

” It did take me a while to get hot. The group seems to survive the first few holes. Nobody really did much and John (Catlin) made a couple of putts. I didn’t really feel that the pin positions suited my game with the wind direction. There were a lot of left pins with left to right wind and I tend to draw the ball. I tried to stay as patient as I could and hit the ball to the middle of the green and not try to get greedy. I knew that after the turn I will have more opportunities to score. I expected the front nine to be a bit slower unless I made a putt,” said Peterson, looking for second Tour win after claiming his maiden in Myanmar in January.

Catlin kept up his chase for a second Asian Tour title following a 68 while Thailand’s Danthai Boonma (68), who will play in The Open in a fortnight, and Spaniard Javi Colomo (68) are a further shot back in third place.

“I played really good. Everything seems good for me now. My approach shots to the green are really good and I’m giving myself a lot of birdie chances. I don’t want to think about the win yet. I want to stay focus on my game,” said Danthai, in search for a tour title after winning the World Classic Championship in Singapore three years ago.

India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar also charged into contention with a sparkling 66 to share fifth place with Thailand’s Peradol Panyathanasedh (67) on a 202 total at the US$300,000 Asian Tour event.

Southpaw player Peterson started with nine straight pars before birdies on holes 10, 13 and 16 earned him a slight edge heading into the final 18 holes. The American continued his fine form after dropping only one shot in 54 holes.

The 27-year-old Catlin has unfinished business this week after finishing second on this course on the Asian Development Tour (ADT) last year. The American sank a clutch birdie putt from 18 feet on the 17th hole to stay within striking distance.

Thailand’s Boonma birdied the last two holes to put himself in prime position to end a three-year title drought on the Asian Tour. This will be his final event before he heads to Carnoustie for his Major debut at The Open.

Scores after round 3 of the Sarawak Championship being played at the par 72, 6970 Yards Damai GC course (am – denotes amateur):

199 – Paul PETERSON (USA) 63-67-69.

200 – John CATLIN (USA) 67-65-68.

201 – Danthai BOONMA (THA) 67-66-68, Javi COLOMO (ESP) 66-67-68.

202 – Gaganjeet BHULLAR (IND) 68-68-66, Peradol PANYATHANASEDH (THA) 66-69-67.

203 – Mark BROWN (NZL) 65-71-67, Jazz JANEWATTANANOND (THA) 66-66-71, Kevin LEE (KOR) 67-65-71.

204 – Natipong SRITHONG (THA) 68-67-69.

205 – Maverick ANTCLIFF (AUS) 69-69-67, Matt STIEGER (AUS) 71-67-67, Johannes VEERMAN (USA) 67-70-68, James MARCHESANI (AUS) 69-68-68, Himmat RAI (IND) 68-67-70.”

206 – Pavit TANGKAMOLPRASERT (THA) 69-69-68, Ajeetesh SANDHU (IND) 68-71-67, Scott VINCENT (ZIM) 67-69-70.

207 – Mitchell SLORACH (SIN) 66-73-68, Poom SAKSANSIN (THA) 70-69-68, Settee PRAKONGVECH (THA) 69-69-69, Gareth PADDISON (NZL) 68-70-69, Itthipat BURANATANYARAT (THA) 72-67-68, Sihwan KIM (USA) 67-70-70, Chikkarangappa S. (IND) 70-67-70, Shohei HASEGAWA (JPN) 71-66-70.

The 25-year-old Manchester United striker has already begun to silence his critics with a four-goal haul in Russia.

But his impressive goalscoring prowess and his aim to be remembered as Belgian’s most successful goalscorer faces its sternest test in Kazan against a Selecao defence that has conceded only once in four World Cup games so far.

On the eve of their quarter-final Lukaku brimmed with confidence as he called on Belgium to show they deserve to live up to pre-tournament expectations.

“I’ve told the lads nothing in life is easy, you have to fight for it,” said Lukaku.

“We’re up against the favourites, but this will show us where we stand as a team. We’re not prepared just to settle for second best.”

For the son of Congolese parents who grew up in tough conditions in the city of Antwerp, meeting the five-time world champions in the World Cup quarter-finals has a fairytale ring to it.

Having overcome a number of barriers throughout a promising youth career, including racism and doubts over his playing ability, Lukaku is already doing a fine job of showcasing his talent on the highest stage of all.

Four years after opening his World Cup account with a crucial extra-time winner over the United States in the group stages, Lukaku started Russia 2018 with a bang.

He hit the net twice in Belgium’s opening two games, firing braces in a 3-0 win over Panama and another in a 5-2 win over Costa Rica as Roberto Martinez’s men underlined their potential.

Although he failed to score in Belgium’s final group game, it was Lukaku’s inspired contribution during a late counter-attack that allowed Nacer Chadli to score a last-gasp winner against Japan that avoided the humiliation of an early exit to a team ranked 44th in the world.

If Lukaku still believes there are Belgian fans who “want me to fail”, as he claimed weeks ago, there were likely to be far fewer after his superb dummy flummoxed Japan’s defence and allowed Chadli a simple but invaluable tap-in.

Yet the Belgian, whose determination to succeed was driven by the tough conditions of his childhood, such as having to “eat cereal with water” instead of milk, has yet to convince against higher-ranked teams.

Despite scoring Manchester United’s only goal when they were eliminated by Sevilla in the last 16 of the Champions League and finishing with 27 goals last season, Lukaku regularly faces criticism for failing to produce more.

Brazil, and the obstacle of finding a way past a formidable centre-back partnership of Thiago Silva and Joao Miranda, represent another formidable challenge.

Brazil and Belgium meet in a quarter-final in Kazan on Friday where Brazil coach Tite expects “a great game of football”.

But when it comes to comparing achievements, Brazil are way out in front — a fact Martinez was quick to underline as he laid bare how his players could shock the five-time World Cup winners.

“The two sides are very similar in terms of the qualities we have,” said Martinez. “The difference is, we haven’t won a World Cup. It’s as simple as that.

“They know how to win World Cups, they’ve done it more than any other nation so they have that psychological barrier out of the way.

“When we see the colour yellow, we’re very proud. We’re going to be very excited to see Brazil in front of us.

“Of course we want to win and we’re going to try to win. The most important aspect tomorrow is our chance to play in the quarter-final.

“We want to enjoy our game.”

Tipped as dark horses for the title leading up to the tournament, Belgium kept excitement brimming over during a superb group phase that reaped nine goals for only two conceded.

– Character-building –

Yet Belgium’s hopes were only kept afloat when late substitutions by Martinez helped the Red Devils fight back from a two-goal deficit to Japan and clinch their place in the quarter-finals with a last-gasp 3-2 win.

Martinez believes that sort of character and spirit augurs well for Belgium’s chances.

And while Brazil boast huge strength in depth, Martinez, too, has options from the bench.

“When you’re 2-0 down against Japan, there’s nothing tougher than that,” he said.

“There is something special in this squad. There’s no doubt about it.

“We can’t wait to be there. I feel we’re as ready as we’ll ever be.”

He added: “When you’re in a competition like the World Cup you can’t rely just on 11 players.

“The biggest strength is that we have different ways of attacking and ways of using all our players.

“And it’s important the players are mentally ready to do that, that they’re ready to make an impact.”

Martinez stressed the threat posed by Brazil star Neymar after he hit Brazil’s opener against Mexico and, after an impressive second-half performanace marred by play-acting, set up Roberto Firmino for Brazil’s second at the death.

“We’ll have to be very, very aware to try and keep him quiet,” said Martinez.

After seeing their own star man Romelu Lukaku hit four goals in his first two games, Belgium will hope the Manchester United striker can find his scoring boots after failing to hit the net against Japan, although his sublime dummy set up Nacer Chadli’s late winner.

Despite Neymar’s shenanigans, and a Brazil defence that has conceded just once in four games, Lukaku cannot wait to play against Neymar.

“In the future he will be the best player in the world, so I’m very happy to be playing against him,” said Lukaku.

“We know it won’t be easy, but we know we have the quality to make the difference.”

Belgian 47th-ranked Van Uytvanck triumphed 5-7, 6-2, 6-1 for her first-ever win over a top 10 opponent.

Muguruza’s defeat leaves just top seed Simona Halep, number seven Karolina Pliskova and 10th seed Madison Keys as the remaining top-ranked contenders after two rounds.

In the men’s event, third seed and last year’s runner-up Marin Cilic was knocked out by Argentina’s Guido Pella.

Fourth seed Alexander Zverev was teetering on the brink of defeat when he trailed Taylor Fritz of the United States by two sets to one when their second round tie was suspended for the night.

Elsewhere, Rafael Nadal overcame two time warnings and Novak Djokovic shrugged off a knee problem to battle into the third round.

“I knew that if I let her play, I would lose so I thought, let’s go for it,” said 24-year-old Van Uytvanck, who has made the third round for the first time.

“I may have looked calm but inside I was dying.”

Muguruza admitted it had not been her day.

“She played big, took risks and it worked for her but my level was not where I wanted it to be,” said the deposed champion.

“It’s a little bit sad.”

Belgium’s Alison Van Uytvanck

World number one Nadal defeated Mikhail Kukushkin of Kazakhstan 6-4, 6-3, 6-4 and will next face Australian teenager Alex de Minaur.

Djokovic, the three-time champion, needed treatment on his left knee on Court Two but still had too much for Argentina’s Horacio Zeballos, winning 6-1, 6-2, 6-3.

Djokovic has now made the third round for 10 consecutive years and will face British 21st seed Kyle Edmund.

Cilic blew a two-set lead in his 3-6, 1-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5 loss to Argentina’s Guido Pella, ranked at 82.

When rain forced the tie to be postponed on Wednesday, Cilic was leading by two sets against an opponent who had never won a match at Wimbledon before this year.

But the Croatian collapsed once the match resumed on Court One on Thursday and Pella took full advantage to set up a third round clash with Mackenzie McDonald of the United States.

Cilic, the 2014 US Open champion, had been expected to mount a strong challenge for the Wimbledon title after winning the grass-court warm-up at Queen’s Club two weeks ago.

But his defeat is good news for defending champion Roger Federer, who was on course to face Cilic in the semi-finals.

“Yesterday he was playing so good, hitting the ball so hard that I couldn’t do anything,” Pella said.

“So the rain helped me a lot. Today I played differently, tried to be more aggressive, he started to feel uncomfortable.”

– Time violation –

Nadal, the 2008 and 2010 champion, was tested by world number 77 Kukushkin who was made to pay for converting just two of 13 break points.

He was also hit with two time violations — one before the match had even started as he sat courtside.

“I didn’t know but I don’t see a clock here. I don’t see a countdown. It’s more difficult for me to understand what’s going on,” said 11-time French Open champion Nadal, who is chasing an 18th major.

For Djokovic, meanwhile, victory was his 60th at Wimbledon.

He hit 15 aces and 31 winners in a commanding win over 33-year-old Zeballos, who was a top 40 player in 2013 but was playing at Wimbledon ranked a lowly 126.

Former world number one Djokovic shrugged off a knee injury he suffered in the match.

“It’s most likely a twitch in the muscle or something like this that has affected the knee a little bit. Hopefully it’s nothing that will concern me,” said Djokovic.

Three-time major winner Stan Wawrinka was unable to follow up his first round defeat of sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov when he lost 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 7-6 (8/6) to Italian qualifier Thomas Fabbiano.

Fifth-seeded Juan Martin del Potro, who made the semi-finals in 2013, eased past 36-year-old Feliciano Lopez, a three-time quarter-finalist, who was playing in a record 66th consecutive major.

Del Potro’s 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win set-up a third round clash with France’s Benoit Paire.

John Isner, the US ninth seed, saved two match points, fired 64 aces and 88 winners to defeat Belgian qualifier Ruben Bemelmans 6-1, 6-4, 6-7 (6/8), 6-7 (3/7), 7-5.

Nick Kyrgios, seeded 15, unleashed 42 winners to see off Robin Haase of the Netherlands 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Kyrgios next faces Japan’s Kei Nishikori who put out Australian lucky loser Bernard Tomic 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (9/7), 7-5.

French Open champion Halep reached the third round with a 7-5, 6-0 win over China’s Zheng Saisai and next plays Hsieh Su-Wei of Taiwan.

It is unwise to look too far ahead at an event so full of surprises, but will a Croatian team facing host nation Russia in the last eight ever get a better chance to outdo the heroes of two decades ago?

Zlatko Dalic’s side showed in their comprehensive dismantling of Argentina during the group phase that they have no fear of the big names, and there is a strong case to say they are the best team left in their half of the draw.

England might disagree, and the two countries could yet meet in the semi-finals.

However, while Croatia needed penalties to beat Denmark in the last round, they have come to Sochi full of confidence.

“We have shown in this World Cup that we have the right to hope for big things. We are playing really well and we have such players that we certainly should believe can go to the very end,” said defender Domagoj Vida.

Any team boasting a player of Luka Modric’s quality can afford to dream, especially when he is supported by Ivan Rakitic and Mario Mandzukic.

“He is our captain, he is our leader, we all stand behind him,” said Inter Milan winger Ivan Perisic of Modric.

– Modric quality –

The Real Madrid player is possibly the best midfielder at the tournament but the strength in depth for such a small country is remarkable.

Sixteen of Dalic’s squad play in Europe’s big five leagues, with Monaco goalkeeper Danijel Subasic the hero against Denmark when he saved three penalties.

The powerful Ante Rebic has impressed as well, fresh from scoring twice for Eintracht Frankfurt in their German Cup final win over Bayern Munich.

Bringing the 24-year-old winger back into the international fold has been one of the changes made by Dalic, who replaced Ante Cacic as coach late last year.

“Each coach brings new ideas. Maybe it turned out for the best of the team that we entered a new era with a new coach,” said Perisic.

Dalic took the team through a play-off against Greece to qualify for the finals and has overseen continued progress despite off-field distractions.

Their build-up to the tournament was overshadowed by the graft trial of former Dinamo Zagreb chief Zdravko Mamic and the charges against Modric for alleged false testimony in that case.

AC Milan striker Nikola Kalinic was sent home after reportedly refusing to come off the bench in Croatia’s opening game against Nigeria.

Nevertheless, the atmosphere within the camp is relaxed.

“I think it says enough about our atmosphere, the fact that we have been together for almost a month and a half and there wasn’t even the smallest incident between the players,” insisted Rebic.

He and other members of the squad have spent this week recounting their memories of 1998, when Croatia won 3-0 against Germany the last time they reached the quarter-finals.

One serious obstacle remains to be overcome, however.

Back then, Croatia fell against hosts France in the semi-finals. Their only other previous encounter with the hosts at a World Cup also ended in defeat, against Brazil four years ago.

Croatia can expect a hostile reception at the Fisht Stadium on Saturday. For a country with a population of barely 4.3 million to beat a host nation of more than 142 million would be some achievement. But they certainly do not lack belief.

“I think we have more quality in our team and I think we are going to be the ones to set the tone,” said Rebic.

But the obdurate Scandinavians have a habit of upsetting the odds, particularly against England, having lost just one of eight previous competitive meetings.

Confidence in England is soaring after the team ended a long wait to win a World Cup penalty shootout, squeezing past Colombia in a tense and bad-tempered last-16 tie in Moscow.

“We’d like to bring it home,” said England defender John Stones on Thursday. “I’d love to win a World Cup, England would love to win a World Cup.

“It’s been a long time since we last won it. We want to make people proud back home.”

England, World Cup winners in 1966, have already won over a public disaffected by an early exit in Brazil four years ago and an embarrassing defeat to Iceland at Euro 2016.

Gareth Southgate’s men have been drawing more viewers for their matches in Russia than May’s royal wedding, with 23.6 million tuning in for the shootout against Colombia.

“It’s great to see the support back home. Everyone’s getting behind us in their thousands,” added the Manchester City player.

“I’m getting videos and pictures from my friends back home watching the game, in the pubs, wherever they are in the country.”

With just a four-day turnaround to facing Sweden in Samara, though, England have little time to replenish their energy.

And while some are already making plans for a potential semi-final against hosts Russia or Croatia, Stones warned of complacency against Sweden.

“I think if you say it’s an easy game in a quarter-final of a World Cup then you are pretty stupid to say that.”

“Sometimes they can throw you, these teams. They can go kind of under the radar, but there is no question they are a good team. They wouldn’t be where they are if they weren’t.”

– Solid Sweden –

Sweden have arguably faced a much tougher path to get to the last eight, eliminating the Netherlands and Italy in qualifying just to get to Russia and then emerging as winners of Group F as holders Germany crashed out.

Shorn of star names since Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s retirement from international football, Sweden have thrived off a collective team spirit.

Happy to sacrifice possession, defend deep and wait for their opportunity on the counter-attack, they will let England have most of the ball.

But other than in a 6-1 thrashing of Panama in the group stages, England have struggled to create chances from open play, with seven of their nine goals so far coming from set-pieces and penalties.

“Normally the other teams have better players on paper and we let them have the ball in the places we want them to have the ball,” said Sweden captain Andreas Granqvist.

“If you look at the games we have played of course the opponent has more ball possession, but we have created more dangerous chances. This is how we play… this is our way to have success.”

Sweden’s solid defence has kept three clean sheets in four games in Russia, but coach Janne Andersson will be forced into at least one change at the back, with Celtic’s Mikael Lustig suspended.

“Sweden are good on the counter-attack and we need to be aware of that,” warned England wing-back Kieran Trippier.

“We just need to move the ball quickly if they do sit off. We need to manage the game well and make the pitch as wide as possible.”

The world No 4 took the opener comfortably but then lost her concentration and relinquished the second game. Back against the wall in the decider, she summoned up her full repertoire of shots to tame the 18-year-old rival after an hour’s play.

The Thai No 1 next faces South Korean seventh seed Sung Ji-hyun who had a much easier time taking care of Canadian Michelle Li 21-11 21-14.

In the men’s singles second round, Thai No 2 Kantaphon Wancharoen easily picked off Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus of Denmark 21-18 21-11.

Earlier, Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai went down to Ricky Karandasuwardi and Debby Susanto of Indonesia 21-14 21-19 in mixed doubles second round.