England's World Cup campaign was brought to an abrupt halt as 10-man Brazil triumphed in the quarter-final in Shizuoka.
Goals from Rivaldo and Ronaldinho either side of half-time cancelled out a thrilling opener from Michael Owen, which had given English fans hope of recording a famous victory.
A blunder by David Seaman handed Brazil the winner, as Ronaldinho's speculative free-kick caught the veteran goalkeeper flat-footed and went in off the underside of the bar.
Brazil survived the controversial dismissal of the game's central figure, Ronaldinho, and deservedly won to become the first team to reach the last four.
With most of the favourites already out, the South American superstars now have a great chance of winning their fifth world title.
For England, though, it is a story of what might have been.
Eriksson's team struggled in the stifling conditions - and totally failed to exploit the numerical advantage that was handed to them with more than 30 minutes remaining.
Big-game players like Seaman, David Beckham and Paul Scholes all had poor matches.
And in the end a World Cup adventure that had seen England beat arch rivals Argentina and qualify from the "Group of Death" ended with a whimper.
Brazil enjoyed the majority of possession in the early stages, as they exploited conditions that suited them far more than their European opponents.
I hoped we would have done a
little bit better against 10 men
But, with Sol Campbell in commanding form, the English defence for the most part managed to shackle Brazil's illustrious attack.
And England stunned the four-time winners by taking the lead with the kind of quickfire break-away that has become their trademark.
Emile Heskey's fine through-ball should have been cleared by Lucio, but the central defender failed to control the ball with his first touch.
Suddenly Owen was past him and he clipped the ball over goalkeeper Marcos and into the back of the net.
England fans were in wonderland - but their celebrations were snuffed out in first-half injury time as Brazil scored an excellent equaliser.
Owen scores for England
When Beckham and Scholes both missed tackles in the Brazil half, Ronaldinho took advantage with a superb run at the heart of the England defence.
With Campbell back-pedalling, Ronaldinho slipped the ball to his right into the path of Rivaldo, who stroked a fine left-foot shot past Seaman and into the far corner.
If Eriksson was hoping to inspire his team at the interval, he could not have been more disappointed by England's response as they conceded the initiative with a soft goal.
There seemed little danger when Brazil were awarded a free-kick wide on the right, 42 yards from goal.
Everyone expected Ronaldinho to chip the ball into the middle - but instead his curling cross-shot fooled Seaman and somehow found the top corner of the net.
Just as their early lead began to seem a distant memory, England were handed a lifeline - thanks to an over-officious referee.
Ronaldinho left his foot in on a tackle on Danny Mills - but rather than give him the booking the foul deserved, referee Felipe Ramos Rizo pulled out his red card.
This was England's big chance to atone for their poor concentration either side of the interval.
But they utterly failed to make the most of their advantage as a series of aimless attacks disappeared up blind alleys.
Brazil were content to coast into the last four - and they will have been surprised at how easy England made it for them.
England: Seaman, Mills, Campbell, Ferdinand,
Ashley Cole (Sheringham 79), Beckham, Scholes, Butt,
Sinclair (Dyer 56), Owen (Vassell 79), Heskey.
Subs Not Used: Bridge, Brown, Joe Cole, Fowler, Hargreaves, James, Keown, Martyn, Southgate.
Booked: Scholes, Ferdinand.
Brazil: Marcos, Roque Junior, Lucio, Edmilson, Cafu, Gilberto,
Ronaldinho, Kleberson, Carlos, Ronaldo (Edilson 70), Rivaldo.
Subs Not Used: Belleti, Ceni, Denilson, Dida, Juninho Paulista, Junior, Kaka, Luizao, Polga, Ricardinho, Vampeta.
Sent Off: Ronaldinho (58).
Referee: F Ramos Rizo (Mexico).
OFFICIAL MATCH STATS |
| England | Brazil |
Goals | 1 | 2 |
Shots on goal | 6 | 9 |
Shots on target | 2 | 4 |
Fouls committed | 20 | 18 |
Corner kicks | 5 | 2 |
Penalty kicks | 0 | 0 |
Caught offside | 2 | 6 |
Own goals | 0 | 0 |
Yellow cards | 2 | 0 |
Red cards | 0 | 1 |
Ball possession (%) | 47 | 53 |
ACTUAL PLAYING TIME | |
First half - 25 mins | Second half - 28 mins |