they were 2—0 up, but the belgian bench came to the red devils rescue. nick parrott reports. to be champions, you need both ability and character. belgium displayed the format as they cruised through the group stage with the best record. as the weakest team left, japan weren't expected to test their character. but something about belgium didn't look quite right. chelsea goalkeeper thibaut courtois is usually reliable. if that was heart stopping, it was nothing compared to what was to come after the interval. japan looks completely different. surging forward, hannah ricci did no one was expecting. eden hazard rattled the post. before they could compose themselves, the japanese took advantage of their disarray. bewildered belgium needed someone disarray. bewildered belgium needed someone to save them. their forwards had failed to deliver, but a

defenderfound had failed to deliver, but a defender found the precision they had been lacking. jan vertonghen rewarded for his ambitious approach. still belgium needed more firepower, and it came thanks to the introduction of marouanne fellaini. he signed a new contract with manchester united last week and showed why they were keen to keep him. as the game wore on, the urgency increased. another substitute almost won it. romelu lukaku substitute almost won it. romelu lu ka ku should have substitute almost won it. romelu lukaku should have done better from the follow—up. twice, courtois saved belgium in injury time, while other teams might have settled in extra time, belgium went for broke. it was an attitude rewarded. chadli's strike saving his nation from an upset, leaving japan brewing what might have been. it's a test of character, of the team. you have to see the reaction of the subs coming on, the reaction of everyone wanting to get back into the side, to win the game 3—2 in a world cup within

90 minutes tells you everything about this group of players. belgium will face brazil in quarters next friday in kazan. neymar the centre of attention again, for more thanjust his mtahcwinning performance. here's our sports news correspondent, richard conway. in the city famous building russian space rockets, brazil were hoping there would be no failure to launch. mexico fans meanwhile were left to pray this wasn't the day their trophy hopes died. this tournament had seen some giant—killing, some of the biggest nations have already gone home. brazil are determined to march on. but mexico started brightly, showing all the verve of their opening win over germany. brazil absorb that early pressure, before neymarjunior saw a chance to pounce. alvarez with a last—ditch tackle. the five times world champions grooving into the game

from there, but couldn't find a breakthrough. brazil emerged to be energised in the second half, and within minutes, had reward. fine work from willian to create space, and are sliding to score. brazil pressed on for a second, paoli neo is drawing fine save stop the keeper seemed to the rescue once more. it seemed to the rescue once more. it seemed as though neymar may require touchline surgery given his reaction touchline surgery given his reaction to this man standing on his angle. spoiler alert, he managed to play on. he then created his team's second. firmino with his first goal ata second. firmino with his first goal at a world cup. 2—0 and brazil through, but sterner test await. so the quarterfinal line up is almost complete, sweden face switzerland in st petersberg tomorrow then england face colombia here in moscow. they have arrived in the capital today but trained at their reppino training camp this morning. they are expected to revert

to the 11 that started against tunisia in their first group match, with dele ali returning from a thigh strain. gareth southgate was at the spartak stadium today and gave his final thoughts about how england will approach the colombians. you've got to concentrate on our football. playing in the style we have through the tournament. playing with the same mentality. and make sure that we show the resilience thatis sure that we show the resilience that is but also to play with the freedom we have played with up to this point. the thing i want more than anything else is for the players to continue to attack the tournament as we have. that shouldn't change now we are in the knockout phase. if anything, we should feel freer. cannot wait for that match. you up—to—date with the world cup. now back to the bbc sports centre. a huge night for england tomorrow,

isn't it? before that... wimbledon is back, and so is serena williams. after a 2 year absence on grass, she is into the second round with a 7—5 6—3 victory over arantxa rus of the netherlands. seven—time champion williams, the 25th seed after having a baby last september, did not have it all her own way, but battled through. the 36—year—old had five match points saved, before eventually sealing it on the sixth attempt. but there wasn't such good news for another american player — sloane stephens. the us open champion was knocked out in straight sets by world number 55 donna vekic. the fourth—seed, who also reached last month's french open final, looked out of sorts, losing 6—1 6—3 to her croatian opponent. fifth seed elina svitolina has also been kncoked out this evening... been knocked out this evening... but there was a brilliant result for british wildca rd katie swan. she reached the second round for the first time by shocking world number 36, irina—camelia begu. the 19—year—old won 6—2 6—2 in just 56 minutes on court 14. in the men's draw it was the same old roger federer.

the reigning champion made the kind of start we've come to expect on centre court. he tookjust 79 minutes to beat serbia's dusan lajovic in straight sets. the 36—year—old swiss lost just eight games, and is looking to win his ninth wimbledon title. and today's performance shows just why he's the favourite to win once again. british number four liam broady is out though — he lost in straight sets to former—finalist milos raonic. 7—5, 6—0, 6—1 the score on court number one. as the 13th seed looked really impressive in his first match. away from wimbledon, some big news from the world of cycling as chris froome's anti—doping case has been dropped by the sports governing body, the uci. the briton had been under investigation since september, when a drugs test found he had twice the allowed level of a legal asthma drug in his sample. the team sky rider had always protested his innocence. froome can now begin

the defence of his tour de france title on saturday. that's all from sportsday. coming up in a moment, the papers. hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. nicola blackwood, former conservative health minister joins me now and polly mackenzie, di rector of cross party thinktank "demos." many of tomorrow's front pages are already in. the i leads with the extraordinary story of the twelve boys and their football coach who have been found by divers

after going missing in caves in north thailand for nine days. the guardian reports that the government is close to lifting its 8 year long freeze on fuel duty to raise billions to help meet pressure from cabinet ministers. the ft leads with europe's 2 largest supermarkets, tesco and carrefour — who are joining forces to buy own brand products and cut costs. "brexit rebels threaten to topple pm" says the express — and reports that senior tory mp‘s are prepared to bring down theresa may's government if she compromises on the uk's departure from the eu. let's start with that extraordinary picture in the extraordinary story from the i, these 12 boys missing

the nine days, many people feared the nine days, many people feared the worst but it appears they are alive. it's a story that has gripped the whole of thailand for obvious reasons. 12 young boys with their football coach, the wild boar footballers, went missing in a flooded cave. it has taken ten days to locate them. it's been an international effort with support from australia, the thai navy seals, american and british experts, all working round—the—clock to locate them. finally they have been located, alive but week. the warning is that it will still not be easy to get to get them out. they are underground in this complex, still flooded, the drivers say they can barely see their hand in front of theirface. it is barely see their hand in front of their face. it is still a matter of keeping a very watchful eye on it and praying for the best outcome. j°y and praying for the best outcome. joy when the boys were found but it looks like it could be a long process to get them out? you can see

these extraordinary pictures that have come from the divers but it's very dark. this is the light from some sort of very dark. this is the light from some sort of camera very dark. this is the light from some sort of camera phone. we presume they can now get food and clean water down to them, but getting the mount is going to be a real challenge. it is extraordinary to see the way countries from around the world have come together. british experts included in that team to throw all of their efforts m, team to throw all of their efforts in, there were miners who got stuck in brazil, if you remember, a a few years ago. you do see incredible experts coming together with these extraordinary resources to put technology behind search and rescue operations, which is not that long ago we know would have failed tragic consequences. ago we know would have failed tragic consequences. such a moving story about the resilience of these children, who apparently wanted to know what day it was when they were finally found. absolutely, one of the... as happens with these stories, lots of experts saying they could survive down there perhaps for months but they wouldn't if they didn't have fresh water. apparently

they were getting that from fresh water dripping through the rocks. one of them main question now is the question about whether that fresh water was actually ok to be drinking or whether there were any chemicals coming in from nearby areas. still lots of questions to be answered but what extraordinary work from the experts who went in and rescued them. just time to have a quick look at one of the other big stories, on the guardian front page. treasurer are preparing to increase fuel duty. potentially a brave decision from the chancellor if he goes ahead. we are still months out from the budget in november but they are trailing this idea that they might push up fuel duty as one of the sources of revenue to fund the nhs. you will remembera few weeks revenue to fund the nhs. you will remember a few weeks ago, they made this commitment that the nhs would be funded with this massive extra cash, that would come partly from the brexit dividend and partly from what they said opaquely at the time was asked as a country paying a little bit more. could it be in the form of fuel duty and i think the

chances of that surviving five months of drip, drip from the fuel lobby, from the conservative backbenchers on labour mps, very limited chance. there is a very strong lobby across the country and in parliament against increases in fuel tax. also alcohol duty which has been proposed here. people said very clearly during the election and since that they were happy to pay a little more in taxes in order to fund better services in the nhs. and also in other public services like education. this is where the test comes when actual tax rises are proposed, how happy will people be to pay them? fuel duty, alcohol duty are progressive taxes, they hit eve ryo ne are progressive taxes, they hit everyone the same. when it comes to this particular tax, it is small businesses and low income people who will be the most. that one certainly going to run and run. for now, thank you both very much. that's it for the papers this hour — i'll be back at 11.30 for another longer look.

thank you polly and nicola — goodbye. our weather looking a little cooler tonight compared with last night. that change most notable across southern parts of the uk, very warm and humid last night. not much cloud around, some running into parts of eastern scotland and northern england, misty cloud and some visibility issues, some cloudy spots into the morning. two average is around ten to 14 for most of us, just a few spots on the south holding up higher than that but still cooler than last night. some cloud and parts of scotland and north—east england to the day tomorrow, some in southern england, may be pushing into south wales. maybe an isolated shower. coming into the north sea coast, that misty cloud will keep it cooler compared

with elsewhere. the easterly breeze particularly into england and wales, quite noticeable for one more day. high teens across that east coast inland, temperatures is higher in the sunshine and up to the 20s in southern england. this is bbc news. the headlines at 11pm: how many of you? 30? —— i3. the moment 12 boys and their coach, who were missing for more than a week, are found alive in caves in thailand. firefighters warn it could take weeks to tackle fires on moorland across lancashire and greater manchester. theresa may draws up an alternative solution for the uk's post—brexit customs arrangements with the eu as she attempts to resolve cabinet splits on brexit. and also this hour, all eyes are on gareth southgate as england gear up for their match with colombia. expectations are rising

as the team arrive in moscow, and fans wait to see which players will make the cut. and in tennis, serena williams beats arantxa rus