With all the World Cup quarter-finals set to be played today and tomorrow, obviously all teams who stay in the competition are eager to reach the semi-final. But when did they actually do it last? Let’s have a quick look.

Brazil - 2014

Yes, Brazil is the only 2014 semi-finalist who are still in the game now - Germany and Argentina have been eliminated, while Holland did not even reach the finals. However, the South American nation would prefer to forget THAT semi-final, an infamous 1:7 defeat against the Germans. Probably it was the worst ever match of the Selecao, and it was played on home soil in Brazil!


Uruguay - 2010

Traditionally Uruguay play their best World Cups in years ending in “0”, and 2010 was no exception. Luis Suarez and Jefferson Farfan were still quite young, but Diego Forlan was in his prime - and he won the Golden Ball as the best player of the tournament. Forlan’s five goals highly contributed to Uruguay’s fourth place, their best result at World Cup since 1970. By the way, seven members of that team still play for the national team, and the coach is still Oscar Tabarez.


France - 2006

In 2014, France were stopped by future champions Germany in the quarter-finals. In 2010, they did not even progress from the group and left South Africa with a big scandal. But in 2006, Les Bleus looked well. Led by an eccentric and weird coach Raymond Domenech, the team heavily relied on their experienced leaders Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele, Lilian Thuram, Fabien Barthez and Thierry Henry. They had an impressive run in the knock-out phase, eliminating Spain, Brazil and Portugal, but lost on penalties to Italy in the final marked by Zidane infamously headbutting Marco Materazzi.

Croatia - 1998

In the last World Cup of the 20th century, the Croats had a really good team - with Davor Suker, Zvonimir Boban, Robert Prosinecki, Slaven Bilic, Robert Jarni… Their quarter-final 3:0 win against Germany was astonishing, and then they led in the semi-final against France before Lilian Thuram turned the game with his brace. After that memorable success, Croatia were not even able to progress from the group for 20 years - before the current tournament.

Sweden - 1994

Now Sweden surprised the world of football by reaching the Top 8 - but 24 years ago, their third place in the USA was even a bigger wonder. However, that team had enough quality players. Thomas Ravelli in the goal, Patrik Andersson in defence, Jonas Thern and Stefan Schwarz in midfield, Thomas Brolin, Martin Dahlin, Kenneth Andersson and the young Henrik Larsson in attack… In the quarter-final, they beat Romania on penalties following a spectacular 2:2 game, and then just narrowly lost to Brazil (0:1) in the semi-final before smashing Bulgaria 4:0 in the third-place match.

England - 1990

Before every World Cup, England hope to reach (at least) the semi-final, but in fact they have been there just twice. In 1966, the Three Lions went all the way to win the trophy, and in 1990, they finished fourth after losing to Germany on penalties in the semi-final and to Italy in the third-place match. Since then, the English have been usually eliminated in the quarters or Last 16, often on penalties, but now, as it seems, they have finally learned to kick from the spot - and looking at their possible rivals before the final, England have an historic chance to go far.


Belgium - 1986

The present-day Belgian players are often called “the golden generation”, but so far, they could not match the achievements of their “fathers” in the eighties. Belgium became the runners-up at EURO 1980, and showed their best World Cup result six years later. With the likes of Jan Ceulemans, Eric Gerets, Enzo Scifo and Jean-Marie Pfaff in the squad, the Red Devils eliminated USSR and Spain before losing to Diego Maradona’s Argentina in the semi-final.


Russia - 1966 (as USSR)

After the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991, Russia were never able to even progress from the group at a World Cup until the current tournament. But the USSR team did better - their best achievement dates back to 1966, when the Soviets finished fourth. That time, they beat Hungary 2:1 in the quarters before losing to West Germany in the semi-final and to Portugal in the third-place match with the same score.