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FORTALEZA, Brazil (AP) — Not long after celebrating another all-important win at the World Cup, Brazil was jolted by the loss of Neymar.

The tournament's poster boy with the dyed-blonde fauxhawk fractured a vertebra in his back during Brazil's 2-1 quarterfinal victory over Colombia on Friday. The injury has ruled the striker out of the rest of the competition, dealing a massive blow to the team's chances of finally winning a World Cup at home.

Brazil advanced to the semifinals for the first time in 12 years, with the goals coming from defenders Thiago Silva and David Luiz. But the jubilation was quickly tempered when Brazil team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said Neymar broke his third vertebrae and is expected to be out for several weeks, ruling him out of Tuesday's semifinal match against Germany in Belo Horizonte.

"It's a situation that leaves us in a difficult position for the match against Germany," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said. "But we have great players and if I have to change something I will do it and we will be OK."

The 22-year-old Neymar has been the focal point of both the Brazilian team and the entire World Cup, and he lived up to expectations with four goals in the first three matches.

But he took a knee to the back late in the match against Colombia at the Arena Castelao in a collision with Juan Camilo Zuniga. The Brazilian star was crying in pain as he was carried off the field, and was taken to a private clinic. He has since been released.

"He will not be in condition to play, he will need a few weeks to be fit again," said Lasmar, the team doctor. "He is very, very sad."

The foul on Neymar came toward the end of one of the dirtiest games of the tournament as Brazil committed 31 fouls and Colombia had 23.

Brazil will also be without Silva for Tuesday's match against Germany. The captain must sit out after getting his second yellow card of the tournament after impeding Colombia goalkeeper David Ospina.

Brazil, which is trying to become the first host to win the World Cup since France in 1998, had been eliminated in the quarterfinals at the last two tournaments. The "Selecao" lost to the Netherlands in the quarterfinals in 2010 and to France in 2006 after winning its fifth title in 2002.

Back in 1950, Brazil needed only a draw in the final match to win the World Cup, but the team lost to Uruguay in a match known as the "Maracanazo."

This time around, Brazil won its group and then beat Chile on penalties in the second round.

On Friday against Colombia, Silva gave Brazil the lead in the seventh minute, scoring with his left knee after a corner from Neymar passed through the Colombian defense. He celebrated the goal by pointing to the emblem on his jersey and shouting, "This is Brazil, this is Brazil."

Luiz added the second from a free kick in the 69th, side-footing a long-range shot into the top of the net.

Colombia got one back in the 80th. James Rodriguez scored his tournament-leading sixth goal from the penalty spot after Brazil goalkeeper Julio Cesar brought down substitute Carlos Bacca inside the area.

Rodriguez tried to control the pace of the match, but it was Brazil that created most of the scoring chances as Ospina had to make a series of saves in the first half alone.

The Colombians tried to pressure after Rodriguez's late penalty, but Brazil held on with solid defending.

Colombia, playing at the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and in the quarterfinals for the first time ever, had entered the match after scoring 11 goals, second only to the Netherlands.

"After not playing in the World Cup for so long, we were able to show the value of the Colombian football and the talent of some of our players," said Colombia coach Jose Pekerman, an Argentine. "They showed great spirit and presence of mind. They came to play a great World Cup, not just to participate."

There was a lot of talk about Rodriguez and Neymar before the match, but the 22-year-old forwards didn't really deliver in Fortaleza. Rodriguez scored the late penalty but was otherwise mostly ineffective, as was Neymar before he left on a stretcher.

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RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The world's best player goes up against perhaps the world's best goalkeeper. The highest-scoring lineup in the World Cup takes on the tournament's most surprising team.

There are two remaining quarterfinals to be played Saturday at the World Cup and both create intriguing matchups as Argentina faces Belgium and the Netherlands plays Costa Rica.

The winners will meet in the semifinals next week.

What to watch on Saturday:

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ARGENTINA vs. BELGIUM

Lionel Messi has faced Thibaut Courtois plenty of times in club competitions, and the Belgium goalkeeper has a habit of getting the better of the four-time player of the year.

In fact, Courtois has kept Messi scoreless the last seven times his Atletico Madrid faced Barcelona. If he can do it again, Belgium will have every chance of reaching the semifinals for the first time since 1986 — when it was eliminated by Argentina.

Messi has scored four of Argentina's seven goals in the tournament so far and set up two of the others — including Angel Di Maria's extra-time winner against Switzerland in the second round.

Belgium is hoping a collective effort will be able to outshine one outstanding individual.

"I don't want to depend on a single player, I want to depend on many," Belgium coach Marc Wilmots said. "That is one of our strengths."

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella also insists there are more players who can make the difference for his team, even though striker Gonzalo Higuain is scoreless in Brazil and Sergio Aguero is injured.

"Obviously he (Messi) is the best player in the world but there is teamwork," Sabella said. "It's a team that supports Messi, makes him stronger, makes him feel well. And, therefore, Messi performs as he's doing."

And while Argentina vs. Belgium is about much more than Messi vs. Courtois, the winner of that matchup will go a long way toward deciding which team reaches the last four.

Venue: Brasilia. Kickoff 1 p.m. local time (noon in New York, 5 p.m. London, 1 a.m. Tokyo)

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NETHERLANDS vs. COSTA RICA

Few outsiders give Costa Rica much of a chance of knocking off the free-scoring Netherlands and extending its best-ever run at a World Cup. Then again, few people gave it much of a chance of getting out of the group stage, much less into the quarterfinals.

Costa Rica has been the little team that could at this World Cup, beating Uruguay and Italy to advance from a tough Group D and then ousting Greece in a penalty shootout.

Can it pull off yet another upset win?

"We want to keep writing history," Costa Rica midfielder Johnny Acosta said. "In 90 or 120 minutes, we will see which is the better team."

Most would say that's the Netherlands, which reached the final in 2010 and stunned defending champion Spain with a 5-1 win in their opening match in Brazil. While the Dutch haven't been quite as rampant since then, they've racked up a tournament-leading 12 goals so far despite often playing in a formation with five defenders.

Costa Rica, though, has only allowed two goals en route to its first quarterfinal appearance, despite facing three former world champions in the group stage.

"We should not underestimate Costa Rica at all. I think it's going to be a very tough match," injured midfielder Nigel de Jong said. "Costa Rica got here with a lot of passion and belief and, of course, they're playing without pressure, so we should not take them lightly."

Venue: Salvador. Kickoff 5 p.m. local time (4 p.m. in New York, 9 p.m. London, 5 a.m. Tokyo)

DETROIT (AP) — U.S. auto sales grew at a slower pace in June, but a quirk of the calendar — not a lack of demand — was likely to blame.

GM, Toyota, Hyundai and Nissan all saw increases over last June. Sales at Honda were flat, while sales at Ford and Volkswagen were down.

Car buying site TrueCar.com expected U.S. sales to rise 1 percent over last June to 1.4 million cars and trucks. That was lower than May, when exuberant buyers flush with tax returns boosted sales 11 percent to 1.6 million.

May sales were helped by five sunny weekends and the Memorial Day holiday, which got June off to a slow start. But Ford's U.S. sales chief John Felice said sales picked up at the end of last month as automakers started promoting Independence Day sales.

Analysts saw plenty to like in June. Forecasting firm LMC Automotive said automakers are carefully balancing production with demand, which has helped them maintain profits and cut back on big incentives that can eventually hurt resale values.

TrueCar estimated incentive spending rose 1.6 percent in June to an average of $2,735 per vehicle. Both GM and Nissan lowered incentives by 12 percent from last June.

While incentives may be lower, buyers are taking advantage of good lease offers and low interest rates. The average interest rate for a 60-month new car loan is 3.18 percent. Three years ago, that was closer to 5.5 percent, according to Bankrate.com.

LMC Automotive raised its full-year U.S. sales forecast from 16.1 million vehicles to 16.2 million vehicles based on the combined strength of May and June. That's up from 15.6 million vehicles in 2013.

"The U.S. auto market is arguably in the best position and health it has been in since well before the great recession," said Jeff Schuster, LMC's senior vice president of forecasting

GM's sales were up 1 percent over last June despite a continuing parade of recalls. GM's total safety recalls for the year reached 29 million vehicles on Monday, when the automaker announced six new recalls of 8.4 million cars. Two of those recalls were for ignition switch problems, the same issue that began the company's recall crisis in February.

Sales of GM's best-selling vehicle, the Chevrolet Silverado pickup, were flat, but Buick and GMC brand sales were up.

Kelley Blue Book analyst Alec Gutierrez said GM is benefiting from its new lineup of SUVs, which hit the market at a time when buyers are gravitating toward bigger vehicles. Sales of the Chevrolet Tahoe large SUV nearly doubled to more than 11,000, while sales of the GMC Yukon more than doubled to 3,946. Cadillac Escalade sales were up 57 percent.

Toyota's sales rose 3 percent as the Camry and Corolla sedans both posted double-digit gains. Sales of the new 4Runner SUV were up 42 percent.

Ford's sales dropped 6 percent as the company cut back on discounts for the F-Series pickup, which is the best-selling vehicle in the U.S. Ford is trying to limit sales of the outgoing F-Series as it prepares to close its truck plants later this year and change over to a new, aluminum-sided F-150 pickup. F-Series sales fell 11 percent in June to 60,560.

Other automakers said:

— Chrysler's sales jumped 9 percent in June on strong demand for the new Jeep Cherokee SUV and other models. It was the company's strongest June since 2007, with gains for the Jeep, Ram, Dodge and Fiat brands.

— Honda's sales were flat compared with last June. Sales of most models declined, including the Odyssey minivan and CR-V SUV, but sales of the Accord and Civic sedans were up.

— Nissan's sales were up 5 percent on strong sales of the new Rogue SUV as well as higher car sales. Sales of the Sentra small car were up 68 percent.

— Hyundai's sales rose 4 percent on the strength of the new Sonata sedan, which jumped 29.5 percent.

— Subaru's sales were up 5 percent on strong demand for the new Forester, which was up 30 percent.