World Cup 2014: Ruthless Germany thrash hapless Brazil by 999/1 scoreline

Brazil's dreams of winning the World Cup have been shattered

Mike Norman gives us the rundown on an astonishing night in Belo Horizonte as Germany end Brazil's hopes of winning the World Cup in stunning fashion...

Germany are the new 1.824/5 favourites to lift the World Cup after a devastating performance against Brazil that resulted in an astonishing 7-1 scoreline.

It was widely accepted that the hosts would be weaker without Thiago Silva and Neymar in their side but no-one could have imagined the spectacular collapse that unfolded.

Germany were 5-0 up inside 29 incredible minutes thanks to goals from Thomas Muller, two from Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, and a record breaking strike from Miroslav Klose. The 36-year-old's 16th World Cup finals goal made him the all-time leading Goalscorer, beating the previous best of 15 set by Brazil's Ronaldo.

The Any Unquoted Half Time Score - any side to score at least three - was matched at 55.054/1 on the Betfair Exchange.

Second-half substitute Andre Schurrle added two more before a late Oscar goal - impossible to even call it a consolation - made the final scoreline 7-1. Not surprisingly that Correct Score was matched at the maximum price of 1000.0n/a.

The 7-0 scoreline was also matched at 1000.0n/a but traded at a low of 1.11/10 In-Play, allowing those who had backed that outcome to lock in a staggering profit well before Oscar's late goal. The Over 6.5 Goals option was matched at 130.0129/1 before kick-off.

The defeat was Brazil's first competitive loss on home soil for over 39 years and it also equalled their heaviest margin of defeat - a 6-0 loss to Uruguay way back in 1920.

Over 13m was matched on Brazil to win the World Cup but it now seems that only one of two men can prevent the Germans from becoming champions for the fourth time in their history. Arjen Robben's Netherlands meet Lionel Messi's Argentina in tonight's second semi-final.

Tobias Gourlay is expecting the South Americans to edge a tight encounter, but Michael Cox doesn't think they'll have it all their own way and has his eye on a Man City defender to get booked.

To Win the World Cup

Germany - 1.82
Argentina - 3.8
Netherlands - 5.2