As England’s World Cup fate hangs in the balance, the two winning sides from Group D’s opening exchanges go head-to-head on day nine in Brazil.
Following their 2-1 victory over the Three Lions last Saturday, Italy take on Costa Rica, who themselves registered an impressive opening win against Uruguay, in Recife.
The two countries have met only once before, with the Azzurri winning a friendly 1-0 in 1994 thanks to a Giuseppe Signori goal.
Current coach Cesare Prandelli has moulded an Italian side with a blend of experience and youth, with veteran passing maestro Andrea Pirlo has lighting up recent tournaments, while striker Mario Balotelli has the talent to be explosive on the international stage.
From an English perspective, Roy Hodgson’s side need to Italy to beat Costa Rica, then beat the latter in their final game and rely on the Italian’s to beat Uruguay in the final round, to qualify for the knockout stages – a tall order.
Away from England’s group, next up on the day nine menu sees Switzerland take on neighbours and 1998 World Cup winners France in Salvador.
The Swiss pulled off one of the shocks of the 2010 World Cup when they defeated Spain in the group stages and, after an impressive qualifying campaign, Ottmar Hitzfeld’s side will fancy their chances against neighbours France.
Didier Deschamps’s decision to omit Manchester City’s Samir Nasri was the major talking point in France’s build up – but in Olivier Giroud, Franck Ribeiry and Karim Benzema, Deschamps is not short on quality.
The late match sees the other game in Group E as Central America plays South America – Honduras against Ecuador at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba.
Ecuadorian coach, Reinaldo Rueda, knows a thing or two about opponents Honduras – he enjoyed a successful three-year spell as their head coach culminating in an appearance at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
Both sides warmed up for their group E campaign with games against Roy Hodgson’s England in Miami, both ending in draws.
You can watch all 64 matches from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil live across the BBC and ITV, with live streaming available online across multiple platforms.
Visit our dedicated World Cup page – sport-onthebox.com/worldcup – for a full rundown of both channel’s comprehensive coverage of the tournament.
SOTB’s TV viewing guide to Day 9 of the 2014 FIFA World Cup:
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DAY 9: FRIDAY 20th JUNE
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| GROUP D LIVE: 4.00pm-7.05pm Venue: Recife |
WATCH LIVE ONLINE via BBC iPLAYER
All the action from the second World Cup Group D encounter for both nations, which comes from the Arena Pernambuco in Recife.
Italy impressed in their opening match against England, with Andrea Pirlo inspiring the Azzurri to a 2-1 win, although Costa Rica caused one of the surprises of the tournament so far by beating Uruguay 3-1.
Italy will enter the contest as favourites given their greater pedigree and wealth of experience within their squad, including players who have won this tournament in 2006 and got to the final of Euro 2012.
However, they went into the 2010 World Cup as defending champions and were expected to qualify with ease from a group containing New Zealand, Slovakia and Paraguay, but suffered the indignity of finishing bottom of the table without winning a match, so there will be no room for complacency on this occasion.
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| GROUP E LIVE: 7.30pm-10.15pm Venue: Salvador |
WATCH LIVE ONLINE via ITV PLAYER
Coverage of both teams’ second Group E encounter, which comes from the Arena Fonte Nova in Salvador, featuring two sides who won their opening matches, against Ecuador and Honduras respectively.
The nations last met in the 2006 staging of this competition when they drew a group match 0-0, having also drawn both meetings when they met in the qualifying stage of the competition.
With a host of established Premier League players among their ranks, as well as Real Madrid star Karim Benzema, the French will expect to have enough quality in their side to claim a victory on this occasion and help banish memories of a miserable campaign four years ago.
However, the Swiss produced arguably the biggest upset of the 2010 World Cup when they defeated eventual champions Spain 1-0 in their opening match thanks to a goal by former Manchester City midfielder Gelson Fernandes, and are typically a difficult outfit to break down.
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| GROUP E LIVE: 10.35pm-1.15am Venue: Curitiba |
WATCH LIVE ONLINE via ITV PLAYER
Coverage of the second Group E match for both sides, which takes place at the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba, Brazil, as the sides look to recover from their respective defeats to France and Switzerland.
These nations first faced each other in a friendly in 1984, and although this encounter will be the 14th time they have met overall, it is their first clash at a major tournament.
The most recent contest was a friendly staged in Houston in the US last November, and ended in a 2-2 draw courtesy of a late equaliser from Ecuador’s Enner Valencia, after both sides were reduced to 10 men.
While this was seen as one of the weaker groups prior to the tournament, those losses to the European sides mean that any chances of reaching the knockout stage, something that Ecuador have done once at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, hinge on getting a positive result here.
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SPORT ON THE BOX’S COMPLETE WORLD CUP TV GUIDE
Friday 20th June Match of the Day: World Cup Highlights – Day 8 7.40am-8.20am BBC Two ITALY v COSTA RICA Group D – Recife | Kick-off: 17:00 LIVE: 4.00pm-7.05pm BBC One SWITZERLAND v FRANCE Group E – Salvador | Kick-off: 20:00 LIVE: 7.30pm-10.15pm ITV HONDURAS v ECUADOR Group E – Curitiba | Kick-off: 23:00 LIVE: 10.35pm-1.15am ITV Match Replay: 1.35am-3.20am BBC Two.
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