Late second-half goals from Patrick Vieira and Zinedine Zidane put France through to a World Cup quarter-final against Brazil with a victory over a battling Spanish side.

Vieira's close-range header eight minutes from time broke the hearts of

Spanish fans before Zidane capped a wonderful evening for Les Bleus by striking

France's third deep into injury time.

David Villa had given the Spaniards a 28th-minute lead from the penalty spot

after Lilian Thuram had bundled over Pablo inside the area before Franck Ribery

equalised shortly before half-time.

Spain promised to erase the nation's reputation as World Cup underachievers

but despite dominated the opening half they struggled to show their true

potential when it truly mattered.

Luis Aragones' second-half substitutions backfired with Luis Garcia and

Joaquin failing to inspire Spain to victory.

Raymond Domenech's side had been unconvincing in the group phase, drawing with

Switzerland and South Korea before defeating Togo to finish second in Group G,

but they never gave up and were rewarded.

They now face Brazil, a replay of the 1998 World Cup final, which saw France

come out triumphant.

Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas and Raul were both included in the starting XI with

the latter placed up front alongside Villa and Fernando Torres in an

attack-minded Spanish side.

Zidane returned from suspension to captain his side in what could have been

his last game had it gone against France.

Spain dominated possession in the early stages of the game and would have gone

in front had Mariano Pernia's curled free-kick not fizzed inches wide of

goalkeeper Fabien Barthez's far post.

At the other end, Thierry Henry's right-footed effort from the edge of the

area proved an easy catch for goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Spain applied pressure in midfield and surged forward but struggled to break

their rivals' well-drilled defence.

For all their superiority, Aragones' men could have trailed in the 15th minute

had Pernia not made a vital block from Zidane's bullet shot from inside the

area.

France finally put together a good move midway though the first half, with

Zidane's long pass finding Henry at the far post, who knocked the ball into the

danger zone but both Ribery and Vieira failed to connect.

The prayers of the Spanish fans were answered soon afterwards however when

Italian referee Roberto Rosetti pointed to the penalty spot as Thuram fouled

Pablo with a clumsy challenge from behind.

Villa found the right-hand corner of the net and there was little Barthez

could do to deny Spain taking the lead.

Stunned, Les Bleus pressed forward in search of the equaliser and they got it

four minutes before the break as they finally broke the offside trap.

Vieira's perfect pass sliced Spain's defence wide open and found an unmarked

Ribery, who surged inside the area and dribbled round Casillas to slot his shot

into the back of the net.

France picked up where they left off after the restart and should have gone in

front had Casillas not made a spectacular one-handed save from Florent Malouda's

close-range effort.

An unhappy Aragones wasted no time and made a double substitution with Luis

Garcia and Joaquin replacing Raul and Villa.

But it was their rivals who were still calling the shots, with the

ever-present Ribery delivering a testing ball towards the dangerzone but there

was no-one at the end.

On the hour mark, Eric Abidal anticipated Torres inside the box to clear

Joaquin's deadly cross from the right.

Unable to force their way through the middle Spain found a more successful

route out wide and were unlucky not to go in front in the 68th minute.

Luis Garcia latched onto Pernia's cross from the left but his header bounced

onto the ground to go high over the crossbar.

Aragones played his last card shortly after, with Marcos Senna replacing Xavi,

who had failed to make much of an impact in midfield.

Domenech brought on forward Sidney Govou for Malouda with 15 minutes remaining

but it was Spain that looked more threatening.

Joaquin's angled strike from inside the area went inches wide of the near post

while Govou tried his luck from the distance but fired off-target.

With eight minutes remaining, Carles Puyol brought down Henry to give France a

set-piece opportunity and it proved costly. Zidane floated in the free-kick

which took a deflection into the patch of Vieira whose header went in off the

leg of Sergio Ramos.

It proved a hammer blow for the Spaniards who failed to hit back and conceded

another goal in stoppage time as they pushed forward.

Zidane got past two defenders before firing towards the far post to mark a

wonderful evening for Les Bleus.