Beckham watches Brazil perform

David Beckham today watched a lucky Brazil overcome Belgium 2-0 to become England's opponents in a classic World Cup quarter final on Friday.

Goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldo in the 67th and 87th minutes clinched victory but the Belgians missed a handful of chances and controversially had a first half goal disallowed.

Brazil's hesitant performance will cheer the England squad ahead of their evocative fixture in Shizuoka. Many - bookmakers included - believe the winners of that match will go on to lift the World Cup.

Beckham, sitting next to teammates Teddy Sheringham and Paul Scholes at the match today, watched with intense concentration as the second round tie unfolded. Also present were Nicky Butt, Rio Ferdinand, Owen Hargreaves and Kieron Dyer, as well as manager Sven-Goran Eriksson and his coaching staff.

The last time the two sides met in a competitive game, in Mexico in 1970, England lost 1-0. Both sides know that winning this game will clear an inviting path to the final with Senegal, Japan or Turkey waiting in the last four.

After the big game Rivaldo said the encounter against England "would be a worthy final. It's going to be more difficult than against Belgium because England have more football tradition than Belgium and that is very important."

Joint tournament top scorer Ronaldo said: "I didn't know Beckham and the others were here. We were just concentrating on the match and on winning that game."

Full back Roberto Carlos said: "Friday will be a tremendous game, but first we will rest. Belgium were very good and I think England will be very difficult."

Former Middlesbrough player Juninho said of the England match: "These are two traditional sides and I feel it is going to be a very good game. We have the talent to win the match, but both sides have excellent players and we respect England very much."

England fans will bet up to a record-breaking £20million for the match against Brazil. Bookmakers William Hill are planning to open 100 shops at 7am to allow punters to place bets before the match starts and have already made England the 11-10 outsiders to put the Brazilians, offered at 4-6, out of the tournament. Brazil are 11-10 favourites to win in 90 minutes play with England 2-1 and a draw 11-5.

The game also sets up a showdown between fans of the opposing teams as England supporters present their own version of the samba girls. When England trounced Denmark, a large number of the 8,000 fans dancing in the aisles of the Niigata Stadium - to the decidedly unsamba-ish chant of Let's All Have A Disco - were female.

England's girls go disco mad
Sven banks on 'killer' Owen
Brazil v Belgium: Match report