It's no surprise that both Brazil and Colombia are left standing. Both squads are top tier teams who were projected to go far before the tournament began. Although the two countries have faced each other dozens of times in qualifying games and friendlies, surprisingly, this will be the first time they square off in the FIFA World Cup.

With soccer being the most popular sport in both countries and a border of more than 1,000 miles between the two, tensions will be higher than ever.

Brazil           

As expected, the host nation and five-time World Cup champs are in the driver seat. Brazil won Group A narrowly over Mexico by having a better goal differential. There have been multiple times throughout this World Cup when fans have had their doubts. A 0-0 tie with Mexico (who is eliminated) certainly raised a few eyebrows and then an unbelievable game for the ages against Chile which went to a shootout.

Neymar Santos has been the man to watch so far. His four goals scored in four games lead this team so far this World Cup. His biggest goal came against Chile in the shootout with the score tied 2-2 after four shots each. Certainly a clutch performance by the 22-year-old striker. Brazil's coach Luiz Scolari has led this team to a World Cup title before (2002) and he's trying to do it again.

Colombia

Despite being ranked No. 8 to Brazil's No. 3 FIFA World Ranking and playing in a relatively soft group, many fans across the world are picking Colombia to beat Brazil and advance to semi-finals. The only game of the four that Colombia did not win by two goals was against Ivory Coast, which ended 2-1. Despite not being as "battle tested" as Brazil, their 2-0 win against Uruguay in the round of 16 was very impressive.

James Rodriguez has been the star of this World Cup so far with five goals scored in just four games. Starting goalkeeper David Ospinia has also been playing very well, especially considering it's his first World Cup appearance. This is Colombia's first ever quarter-finals game, so nobody knows exactly how they will respond to the pressure. It's going to be up to team captain, Mario Yepes (who is retiring after this World Cup) to guide the team in the right direction.

Predictions

Sometimes, Brazil tends to play down to their competition with games ending closer than they should. Maybe Colombia is Brazil's kryptonite. Either way, I'm not jumping off the Brazil bandwagon. The host nation and greatest soccer franchise of all time wins a thriller, 3-2 in extra time.

Where and when to watch

This quarter-finals game kicks off July 4 at 4 p.m. EST after France and Germany play each other. The game will be played Estádio Castelão in Fortaleza. The Estádio Castelão is the fourth biggest arena in this World Cup and more than 60,000 fans will be in attendance. Fans can watch the game via live stream on WatchESPN.

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