Key Points
- Croatia will play Argentina for a spot in the World Cup final, after defeating Brazil.
- In the moments after the game, Brazil's Neymar has been consoled by Croatia's Ivan Perisic and his son, Leo.
- The gesture has been praised by football fans around the world.
As the siren sounded, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior collapsed with exhaustion, becoming teary-eyed with the emotional impact of Brazil's World Cup loss.
He scored Brazil's only goal against Croatia, but the Croats later equalised and advanced to the semi-finals by winning the shootout 4-2 after a 1-1 draw.
Neymar also matched Pele's international goal tally (77) for Brazil, achieving the feat when he scored in extra time and broke the deadlock to give them a 1-0 lead against Croatia.
But it wasn't enough.
Even as Croatia's team celebrated, Neymar grappled with despair.
Seeing the distress, the son of Croatian player Ivan Perisic ran onto the field to offer comfort. Leo was stopped briefly by security before being allowed to run up to Neymar.
The moment, captured on video and in photos, was praised by football fans around the globe.
Frank Khalid says the gesture encapsulates "what football is all about", others described it as a "beautiful slice of humanity".
Retirement a possibility
At the post-match press conference, 30-year-old Neymar indicated he is considering the option of retiring from the game.
"I am not closing any doors on the national team but I am also not guaranteeing 100 per cent that I will return," he said in the post-match press conference.
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"I need to think a bit more about this, about what is the right thing for me and for the national team."
Brazil's exit is yet another relatively disappointing campaign for the South Americans as they fail to get past the quarter-finals for the second consecutive tournament.
Words of encouragement from Pele
Brazilian football great Pele sent a message of support to Neymar from his hospital bed, urging him not to dwell on despair.
"My record was set almost 50 years ago, and nobody had managed to get near it until now. You got there, kid. That shows how great your achievement is," the 82-year-old Pele wrote in an Instagram message.
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"Keep inspiring us. I will keep punching the air with joy for every goal you score, as I did in every match I saw you on the pitch."
Pele, whose real name is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, won three World Cups with Brazil.
He had surgery to remove a colon tumour last year and is also going through chemotherapy in his fight against cancer.
Pele's daughters, Kely and Flavia Nascimento, posted a montage of their father and Neymar together in celebration for the forward's scoring mark.
Croatia will face Argentina in the semifinals at Lusail Stadium.
The game will be on 14 December 5:30am - 8:30am AEDT (kickoff at 6:00am).
