Played in front of a crowd of 66,613 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium in Kolkata, Brazil made the brighter start to the contest and went close to taking the lead after just six minutes. 

Brenner won possession on the edge of the Germany box and found Alan, whose low drive struck the far post.

The Germans then settled down and looked the better side up to half-time.

They opened the scoring from the penalty spot on 21 minutes after John Yeboah was tripped by Lucas Halter in the Brazil box.

Captain Jann-Fiete Arp converted his spot-kick for his fifth goal of the tournament.

It was in the second half that the South American champions turned the match around with two goals in six minutes.

Substitute Weverson levelled on 71 minutes with a powerful shot off the underside of the crossbar before Paulinho drove home for the lead six minutes later.

Victory for Brazil means they will play England for a place in the final.

Earlier today, Spain eased their way into the semi-finals with a 3-1 victory over Iran at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium in Kochi.

It was the European champions that dominated from kick-off, with Abel Ruiz putting them in front after his driven shot flew past Iran goalkeeper Ali Gholam Zadeh.

The Spaniards nearly doubled their advantage but Gholam Zadeh made a superb save to deny Cesar Gelabert.

They did make it two when Sergio Gomez scored a fantastic goal.

He received a Ferran Torres pass before turning and beating Gholam Zadeh with a left-footed long-distance strike.

Torres then added a third goal when he turned Mohamed Moukliss’s low cross into the net.

Saeid Karimi pulled a goal back for Iran but Spain held on to secure their spot in the last four and a meeting with Mali.

Both semi-finals are due to take place on Wednesday (October 25).