NZ-based Brazil fans are thrilled their team is through to the Fifa World Cup semifinals - but their joy is tempered slightly by the loss of key player Neymar.

So it is developing into a World Cup about individuals. Lionel Messi and Neymar have put their countries a couple of games away from a final.

Goodbye Qatar, hello Australia. That's my message to Fifa, which needs to swallow its pride and switch the venue for the 2022 World Cup.

Our football writers add their thoughts and predictions ahead of the World Cup quarter-finals.

Michael Burgess on the five talking points from the FIFA World Cup second round matches.

Argentina defender Pablo Zabaleta Argentina's dependence on Lionel Messi has been increasingly evident throughout this World Cup.

A lucky Kiwi punter managed to make more than $50,000 from yesterday’s Football World Cup matches.

FIFA said Today it will let Cameroon football authorities lead the hunt for "seven bad apples" in the national team who have been linked to match-fixing at the World Cup.

Soundbite or not, Luis Suarez has now apologised to the "entire football family" for that bite but he's the one missing out.

The Uruguayan President, Jose Mujica, has stoked up the Luis Suarez row by calling Fifa "a bunch of old sons of bitches" as the fall-out from his ban continues.

We all know professional footballers feign injury. Is it getting worse? Probably.

As Adidas stopped using Luis Suarez for marketing, other social media-savvy companies have seized the opportunity for free publicity.

Suspense during yesterday morning's Fifa World Cup match between Brazil and Chile proved too much for a Kiwi punter who bet $2000 in extra time on the losing side.

Colombia wiped away the stain of Luis Suarez in the best possible way, leaving this World Cup to reclaim its place as one of the great sporting tournaments of all time.

Poor, old Luis Suarez. The more you see the biting incident in this otherwise terrific World Cup, the more you fear for the guy's mental health.

The Peter O'Learys of the world are crying foul over abuse being meted out to them instead of a controversial Kiwi referee with the same name.

Always appearing older than he is, 30-year-old Arjen Robben seems to have been around, fully formed, for years. But what we are seeing at this World Cup is a player at last coming of age.

The spirit of unity among the remaining World Cup contenders will be vital in the knockout stage.

There may be no All Whites this time but that hasn't slowed the willingness of Kiwis to take a punt on the Fifa World Cup.