Argentina qualified for its first trip to the World Cup semifinals in nearly a quarter century, while the Netherlands secured its second straight visit to the semifinal round.

The Argentines knocked off Belgium, 1-0, on striker Gonzalo Higuain’s goal, firing the ball into the corner of the net less than 10 minutes into the match.  Argentine superstar Lionel Messi had an chance to make it 2-0 toward the end of the game, but goalie Thibaut Courtois made the save.

Argentina now heads to its first World Cup semifinal since 1990, after being eliminated in the quarterfinals in 2006 and 2010.

“We produced a very complete match,” Messi said.  “We weren’t able to create that many chances, but they didn’t make that many clear chances, either.”

Messi and Maradona

The Argentines are seeking their third World Cup championship, after wins in 1978 and 1986.  In 1986, they were led by Diego Maradona, a man widely considered the greatest football player ever behind Brazilian legend Pele.

Messi, a four-time FIFA Player of the Year who is often compared with Maradona, said he and his teammates took great pride in matching the achievement of Argentina’s 1990 team.

“This is amazing,”  Messi said.  “We knew it was going to be difficult.  Argentina (has) gone a long time without doing this, and it was us who crossed the frontier.”

Argentina next plays the Netherlands in the semifinals on Wednesday in Sao Paulo.  The game marks a rematch of the 1978 World Cup championship, which Argentina won, 3-1.

Both teams have won all five of their matches at this year’s World Cup.

In Salvador Saturday, the Netherlands posted a 4-3 penalty shootout win over the surprise of the World Cup, Costa Rica, following a scoreless draw.

Dutch goalie Tim Krul, who came off the bench late in extra time and played in the shootout, dove to his left to stop penalty shots by Bryan Ruiz and Michael Umana.  Krul is noticably taller than starting goalie Jasper Cillessen.

The Dutch, who converted all four of their penalty shots, dominated the match in regulation and extra time.

But Costa Rica’s goalie Keylor Navas made a series of outstanding saves, stopping star striker Robin van Persie at least twice.  Van Persie also was denied by midfielder Yeltsin Tejeda, who blocked an attempt while standing on the goal line.

Another dangerous Dutch player, Wesley Sneijder, had his shot in regulation hit the post and another in extra time bounced off the crossbar.

Krul Clutch

“We had a lot of chances, but it didn’t go in,” Krul said later on Dutch television. “Then I come in, stop two penalties and here we are.”

Krul praised Dutch coach Louis van Gaal for pulling Cillessen at the time he did.

“The trick is good,” the goalie said.  “A lot of preparation went into it.”

The other semifinal game, Tuesday in Belo Horizonte, pits teams believed by many to be the world’s top two football powers: Brazil and Germany.

But Brazil will be without two key players.  Its leader and superstar, Neymar, broke a vertebrae when Colombia’s Juan Zuniga kneed him near the end of Brazil’s 2-1 win in the quarterfinals.  Neymar, who has scored four goals in the World Cup, has been ruled out for the rest of the tournament.

Brazilian captain Thiago Silva will not play because of a yellow-card suspension.  He scored a goal in the win over Colombia, after a corner kick by Neymar.

Brazil, Germany and Argentina have won 10 of the 19 World Cups.  The Dutch were finalists in 1974, 1978 and 2010.

This year’s championship game is on July 13 in Rio de Janeiro.

Germany and Brazil emerged victorious in the World Cup quarterfinals, setting up an epic battle in the semifinals between what many believe are the world’s top two football powers.

In Friday’s first game, Germany beat European rival France, 1-0, in a hard-fought match in Rio de Janeiro.

German defender Mats Hummels scored the game’s only goal in the 13th minute, leaping over French defender on a free kick by Toni Kroos and guiding home a header.

French star Karim Benzema had the opportunity to tie the game late in stoppage time, shooting uncontested from the left of the net.  But German goalie Manuel Neuer, who has had an outstanding World Cup, raised an arm to deflect the kick.

Hummels Overcomes Flu

Hummels, who also scored off a header in Germany’s 4-0 win over Portugal in group play, missed his team’s Round of 16 match against Algeria after catching the flu.  It was uncertain if he would even start against France.

“I guess we’re playing the kind of football that will give us the chance to win,” Hummels said after.  “We know France is among the top teams, so it was certainly not a walk in the park.  It was not a perfect match, but it was a pretty good match, and I think we deserved to go on.”

Germany is seeking its fourth World Cup championship. It has not won one since West Germany captured its third championship in 1990.

In Fortaleza, meanwhile, five-time champion Brazil benefited from goals by  defenders Thiago Silva and David Luiz, to beat Colombia, 2-1.

Silva scored using his knee in the 7th minute, after a corner kick by star striker Neymar.  Luiz made it 2-0 in the 69th minute with a beautifully placed free kick that landed in the top of the net.

In the 80th minute, Colombia came within one when James Rodriguez scored his tournament-leading sixth goal on a penalty shot.

Colombia, which is tied with the Netherlands for most goals in the World Cup with 12, was playing in its first-ever quarterfinal.

Brazilian Star Injured

For Brazil, the win came at a huge price.  Neymar, who leads his team with four goals, took a hit in the waning minutes and had to be hospitalized; some reports said he suffered a fractured vertebrae. His status for the semifinal against Germany on Tuesday is doubtful, according to Brazil’s coach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

“We lost Neymar on that play and based on what I’ve seen, I think it’s going to be tough for him to play,” Scolari said.  “He was kneed in his lower back, and he was crying out in pain, and I can guarantee it won’t be easy for him to recover based on what the doctor told us.  Let’s hope everything goes well.”

Brazil last won the World Cup in 2002.  The last time Brazil hosted the World Cup in 1950, it lost to Uruguay in the championship game in a deeply emotion loss that resonates to this day.

On Saturday, Argentina faces Belgium in Brasilia, and the Netherlands takes on Costa Rica in Salvador, in the final two quarterfinal matches.

Argentina and Belgium have both won their four World Cup games.  The Argentines will be counting on one of the world’s greatest players,  Lionel Messi, who has four goals in the tournament.  But one of Argentina’s key defenders, Marcos Rojo, will not be playing after being suspended for too many yellow cards.

The Belgians have one of the top goalkeepers in the world, Thibout Courtois.

The Dutch, who lost in the World Cup final in 2010 to Spain, possess an explosive offense led by striker Robin van Persie and midfielder Arjen Robben.  Costa Rica is the tournament’s biggest surprise, having qualified for the quarterfinals for the first time.

The championship game is July 13 in Rio de Janeiro.

World Cup drama remained alive Tuesday in Brazil, with Argentina and Belgium winning in extra time to advance to the quarterfinals.

It was the final day of competition in the opening round of the knockout stage, in which five of the eight contests were decided in extra time.

Argentina beat Switzerland in Sao Paulo, 1-0, after breaking through in the 118th minute. Superstar striker Lionel Messi set up the winner with a pass to the right of the box to Angel Di Maria, who blasted it into the corner of the net.

Switzerland had a free kick from the top of the box in the waning moments, but it was blocked by the Argentine wall.

The two teams waged a tight, scoreless battle through regulation and nearly all of extra time. The Argentines thought in advance that the game would be decided following the first 90 minutes, according to Di Maria.

“We know that this could happen to us, but we gave our souls out there on the pitch, we fought with our lives for each ball, and we ended up as the winners,” Di Maria said.

Swiss coach Ottmar Hitzfeld praised Argentina, which has won all four of its matches in this year’s World Cup.

“We made life very tough on them,” Hitzfeld said. “They kept their cool. It shows Argentina has a good team.”

Argentina will now meet Belgium in the quarterfinals. The game is a rematch of their 1986 World Cup semifinal match, when Argentina beat Belgium, 2-0, and went on to win the World Cup led by the legendary Diego Maradona. It is the last time the Argentines captured the championship.

In Salvador Tuesday, Belgium took a 2-0 lead in extra time and held on to eliminate the United States, 2-1.

US Goalie Phenomenal

The Belgians applied relentless pressure on U.S. goalie Tim Howard all game. Howard responded by putting forth one of the greatest efforts by a goalie in World Cup history with 16 saves.

But Belgium beat him in the third minute of extra time when Kevin De Bruyne scored following a pass from substitute Romelu Kukaku. A few minutes later, De Bruyne returned the favor with a pass to Kukaku, whose goal gave Belgium a 2-0 edge.

The U.S. did not fold. Forward Julian Green scored in the 107th minute to create a 2-1 game, becoming at age 19 one of the youngest players ever to score in the World Cup. Sparked by Green’s goal, the Americans generated other good scoring opportunities as the clock wound down. Belgian goalie Thibaut Courtois, one of the best in the world, made an excellent save on Clint Dempsey to prevent the game from going into a penalty shootout.

The U.S. had a chance to win in stoppage time, but forward Chris Wondolowski sent a point-blank shot over the cross bar.

Afterward, U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann described Howard’s performance as “phenomenal.”

“He had an absolutely amazing match, you can give him the biggest compliments in the world,” Klinsmann said. “He kept us in the game over the 120 minutes.”

The Americans were hoping to get a boost from star forward Jozy Altidore, who suffered a hamstring injury in the team’s opening win against Ghana and was medically cleared to play Tuesday. But Altidore did not play against the Belgians. Against Belgium, the U.S. also lost standout Fabian Johnson to a hamstring injury.

All of the quarterfinal matchups are now set. On Friday, France takes on Germany in Rio de Janeiro and Colombia faces Brazil in Fortaleza. On Saturday in Salvador, surprising Costa Rica plays the Netherlands, the 2010 runner-up, and Argentina plays Belgium in Brasilia.

Brazil, the consensus favorite to win it all, is seeking an unprecedented sixth World Cup championship.