2014 World Cup LIVE: Day 23 as it happened

Day 23 of the 2014 World Cup and it's the first of the two quarter-finals as European superpowers France and Germany collide while hosts Brazil lock horns with South American rivals Colombia.

For the first time since the tournament was extended to 32 teams in 1998, every group winner has successfully made it through to the last eight.

PREVIEW

Hosts Brazil take centre stage in the second of tonight's games as they come up against arguably the most impressive side of the World Cup so far: Colombia.

All eyes will be on James Rodriguez - Colombia's brilliant No10 who tops the scoring charts with five goals - and Brazil's own poster boy Neymar.

DAY 23 - AS IT HAPPENS

MIDDLE EAST DUO

Algeria pushed Germany all the way in their first ever appearance in the World Cup last 16. Despite the defeat in extra-time, the Desert Foxes returned to a heroes' welcome in Algiers on Wednesday.

With Iran also earning plaudits for their performances in Brazil, we thought we'd look back over the best images of both sides' World Cup journeys.