Belgium out to maintain fine World Cup run

Romelu Lukaku of Belgium of Belgium (L) and Gen Shoji of Japan in action the FIFA World Cup 2018 round of 16 soccer match between Belgium and Japan in Rostov-On-Don, Russia, 02 July 2018.

by Graeme Jackson

Thursday Jul 05, 2018. 13:30

Belgium are hoping to beat Brazil and reach the semifinals of the 2018 FIFA World Cup when they lock horns on Friday in the last eight.

The Red Devils have enjoyed their best form so far in the tournament and will be gunning for glory to remain unbeaten.

Led by Spanish coach in Roberto Martinez, they are fresh from a hard fought 3-2 win over the Japanese in the last 16 and will be in high spirits on Friday.

Apart from their best comeback over Japan, they emerged from Group G with no loss or draw, collecting nine points and scoring as many goals, plus three over the Samurai Blue.

The Europeans overcame Tunisia, England and Panama to set up a clash against Japan and the coach has praised his side for coming back from 2-0 down to win the clash.

However, they are yet to beat the Selecao, having suffered a 2-0 loss in 2002 in the same competition. This means they will be chasing their maiden win against Brazil.

On the other hand, the 2014 hosts are starting to come out of their shell and will want to keep their momentum going.

In their Group E assignments, Brazil started with a 1-1 draw against Switzerland, but bounced back to winning ways.

They managed to overcome Serbia and Costa Rica to finish at the top of the table before meeting North Americans in the form of Mexico.

The five-time champions secured a 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Neymar Junior and Roberto Firmino, and coach Tite will hope to see the duo in fine form on Friday.

The highly anticipated clash will be the one to watch this weekend as many around the world have tipped the two countries as favourites to walk away with the Jules Rimet trophy.

The Kazan Arena in Russia will stage the highly anticipated clash at 20:00 (CAT) on Friday night.