In Clash of Continents, Brazil and Germany Win Quarterfinals

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Mats Hummels of Germany scores his team's first goal past Hugo Lloris of France during the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil Quarter Final match between France and Germany at Maracana on July 4, 2014 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Image: Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

By Colin Daileda2014-07-04 22:15:31 UTC

Tense and frustrating. If German and Brazilian fans wanted to sum up Friday's World Cup action, they might be best served by those words.

Yet both teams will advance to battle each other in the first semifinal on July 8, having survived one-goal wins against France and Colombia, respectively.

See also: World Cup Taps Shakira, Santana and Wyclef for Closing Ceremony

Brazil looked like the dominant team early on and got rolling with a corner corner kick in the 7th minute. Captain Thiago Silva slipped in behind the entire Colombian line to boot the ball in.

As BBC presenter Ben Brown documented in a tweet from the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian fans went crazy.

The host nation didn't let up from there. They hurled a volley of assaults at the Colombian side, most notably a couple of powerful left-footers from Givanildo Vieira de Souza, nicknamed Hulk.

But their offense seemed to stall in the second half, just like it did during the previous round against Chile.

Quality scoring chances were scarce until David Luiz put Brazil up 2-0 with a free kick in the 69th minute. It was a beauty:

From there, things got a little wilder.

Colombia, trying to breathe life into the best World Cup performance in the nation's history, finally showed the offensive flair that had gotten them to the quarterfinal. Their renewed energy earned star striker James Rodriguez a penalty kick in the 80th minute, which he buried to make it 2-1.

Weirdly, a giant locust seemed to land on the superstar player after he scored on a penalty kick:

But that was all the upstart South American team could muster, as Brazil survived a few more Colombian corners to advance.

In Friday's earlier and much more lackluster game between Germany and France, Germany's offense dominated much of the first half, with Mats Hummels scoring with a header in the 13th minute.

Though France wound up putting three more shots on goal than their opponent, the French also spent much of the second half traipsing about the midfield, never evoking a sense of urgency as their World Cup chances slowly ebbed away.

At one point, French striker Karim Benzema broke free and fired an angled shot over the head of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. It would have been all France needed to send a frankly boring round-of-eight game into overtime. But Neuer's mitts got in the way and Germany went through to a record fourth-straight World Cup semifinal.

Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger, left, and France's Olivier Giroud react after the World Cup quarterfinal soccer match between Germany and France at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, July 4, 2014.

Image: Thanassis Stavrakis/Associated Press

In the end, the result of the European match was what many had predicted. And if you missed it, don't bother watching the replay—neither Germany nor France put on a championship display befitting a soccer powerhouse.

Though, of course, there was more for the French to cry about....

On Saturday, Argentina meets Belgium at noon ET and Netherlands plays Costa Rica at 4 p.m. ET.

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Topics: US & World, World