Kevin De Bruyne comes up huge as Belgium defeats Brazil

Final score — Belgium 2-1 Brazil

What a game. Belgium took an early lead on an own goal and scored a well-deserved second to head into halftime with a two-goal lead, but the second half was all Brazil. Unfortunately for the Brazilians, they could only convert one of their litany of chances, a Renato Augusto header. Thibaut Courtois had a hero moment in stoppage time, making a world class save on a Neymar shot that looked destined for the top corner.

Have a look at this and just laugh.

84’ — Coutinho with a massive miss

Painful.

GOAL Renato Augusto! Belgium 2-1 Brazil

With 15 minutes go to, Brazil are back in the game, thanks to a substitute midfielder. Paulinho hasn’t done the job he was brought into do recently, but Renato Augusto has filled the role nicely. He made the perfect run to get onto a pretty chipped pass by Philippe Coutinho and headed past Thibaut Courtois.

56’ — Gabriel Jesus penalty shout not given

Poor Jan Vertonghen. This nutmeg will live on replays forever. But the important bit of this for the outcome of the game, at least, was when Vincent Kompany hacked down Gabriel Jesus. The referee checked on VAR and determined that the foul occurred after the ball had run out of play, so there’s no penalty.

Substitution — Roberto Firmino for Willian

It’s rare that we get a halftime tactical sub, but Brazil really needed to switch things up. This is very much an attacking change — Willian is a pretty defensive winger, and Firmino plays center forward for his club.

Halftime score: Belgium 2-0 Brazil

This is looking dire for Brazil. Belgium’s having no problem running straight through their midfield, and the Red Devils are a bit unlucky to have not scored more. Brazil will need to make some adjustments in the locker room.

GOAL Kevin De Bruyne! Belgium 2-0 Brazil

If the first goal was a bit of luck, this one was anything but. Rather, this was a world class finish off a fantastic counter attack. After Belgium cleared a Brazil counter, Romelu Lukaku picked up the ball and blew past three Brazil players in the center of the park before passing to De Bruyne, who smoked a perfect shot past Alisson from 20 yards out.

OWN GOAL Fernandinho! Belgium 1-0 Brazil

With Belgium’s size, you might have expected them to score from a corner, but they didn’t even need that height on this occasion. Nacer Chadli’s corner was hit right at a couple of Brazil players, and with no red shirt in sight, Gabriel Jesus and Fernandinho interfere with each other. The ball hits Fernandinho and ricochets into his own net.

8’ — Big miss for Thiago Silva

The Brazil center back really wants another crack at this one.

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Brazil have made two changes for their World Cup quarterfinal. Fernandinho is in for the suspended Casemiro, while Marcelo returns after sitting out the last game with a minor injury. Belgium have introduced their substitute heroes into the starting lineup, giving spots to Marouane Fellaini and Nacer Chadli after their heroics against Japan.

Brazil vs. Belgium lineups

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Brazil and Belgium continue quarterfinal play on Friday as they battle to win a spot to the semifinal. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. ET at the Kazan Arena in Kazan, Russia, and you can watch it on Fox Sports 1 and Telemundo. Online streaming is available in English through Fox Sports Go here or in Spanish through Telemundo here.

The host country of the 2014 World Cup earned a fourth place finish in the tournament with its loss to the Netherlands for the third-place spot. Brazil has appeared in 20 World Cups and holds five championship titles, the only team to appear in every World Cup tournament and the team that holds the most titles.

Belgium advanced to the quarterfinal round of the 2014 World Cup, but were knocked out by Argentina. Belgium has 12 World Cup appearances and does not have a championship title.

The winner of this game earns one of the four semifinal spots and will face the winner of Uruguay and France.

Brazil vs. Belgium Time, TV channel, and streaming info

Time: 2 p.m. ET

Location: Kazan Arena, Kazan, Russia

TV: Fox Sports 1 (English), Telemundo (Spanish)

Streaming: Watch the game on Fox Sports Go (English) and Telemundo Deportes en vivo (Spanish) for free if you sign in with your TV provider. It’s also on subscription services like Fubo and Hulu.

Odds: Brazil -0.5 (Full odds at OddsShark)

Brazil vs. Belgium news to read before kickoff

Finally, we get to see the real Neymar

On Monday, we finally got to see the real Neymar. Brazil has known for months that success at the World Cup was predicated on Neymar getting healthy and playing his best soccer. He suffered a broken foot while playing for Paris Saint-Germain in February, and all he had to get ready for this tournament was a couple of friendly matches. No competitive games, nothing full speed, nothing that really mattered.

Leave Marouane Fellaini alone, you monsters

On Monday night, Belgium arrived at a World Cup crossroads. They were two goals down to Japan, and nothing was working. Roberto Martinez had presented his Plan A, and it had been found wanting. And so he turned to his bench, and to Marouane Fellaini.