Brazil and Belgium registered contrasting victories last night to seal a place in the quarterfinals and set up a last-8 clash on Friday.
In a Round-of-16 match at Rostov-on-Don, Nacer Chadli netted an injury-time winner as Belgium came back from two goals behind to beat Japan, 3-2.
Goals from Genki Haraguchi and Takashi Inui had put Japan well on their way into the last-8, before Chadli and Marouane Fellaini were brought on for Belgium.
The substitutions bore fruit as Jan Vertonghen pulled one goal back in the 69th minute. Fellaini, then, headed home an equaliser, before
Chadli completed a remarkable revival with a 94th-minute strike.
Earlier in the other game, five-time winners Brazil saw off Mexico, 2-0 to reach the World Cup quarter-finals for a seventh consecutive time.
Neymar scored the opener, and set up the second, netted by Roberto Firmino, helping Brazil eliminate Mexico in the last-16 stage for the seventh time in a row.
In the final two pre-quarterfinal matches today, Sweden will face Switzerland at 7:30 PM at Saint Petersburg, with England taking on Colombia at 11:30 PM at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow.