Thursday, 12 June
Group A - Brazil 3-1 Croatia
Brazil
came from a goal down to beat Croatia in the opening match of the 2014 World
Cup at the Arena de Sao Paulo.
Croatia took the lead when Marcelo put through his own net after
11 minutes before Neymar equalised with a superb left-foot effort just before
the half-hour mark.
Brazil
were then awarded a controversial penalty in the 71st minute which Neymar
netted, with Oscar sealing the victory late on..
Thursday, 12 June
Group A - Mexico 1-0 Cameroon
Oribe Peralta swept home the only
goal as Mexico make a winning start to their campaign.
El Tri had two first-half goals
incorrectly disallowed for offside, with former Tottenham striker Giovani Dos
Santos the unlucky player on both occasions.
But, Peralta's effort put them
level on points with hosts Brazil after their opening match.
Friday, 13 June
Group B - Spain 1-5 Netherlands
Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben
scored two goals apiece as Netherlands stunned the defending champions.
Xabi Alonso put Spain ahead from
the spot but Van Persie equalised with a spectacular diving header just before
half-time.
Robben scored twice after the
break, either side of a Stefan De Vrij header and Van Persie's second.
Group B - Chile 3-1 Australia
Chile joined Netherlands on three
points in Group B with an opening victory over Australia.
Barcelona forward Alexis Sanchez
opened the scoring, before Jorge Valdivia curled in the second just two minutes
later.
Tim Cahill's header gave
Australia hope but Jean Beausejour's late strike secured victory for the South
Americans.
Saturday, 14 June
Group C - Colombia 3-0 Greece
Goals from Pablo Armero, Teofilo
Gutierrez and James Rodriguez gave Colombia victory in their first match.
Armero put the Colombians ahead
inside five minutes with a deflected shot.
Gutierrez tapped home from close
range to double his side's lead after the break, before Rodriguez sealed the
win in injury time.
Group D - Uruguay 1-3 Costa Rica
Costa Rica shocked Uruguay in
their Group D opener in Fortaleza.
Uruguay took the lead through
Edinson Cavani's penalty, but two goals in three minutes from Joel Campbell and
Oscar Duarte gave Los Ticos the lead.
A late goal from Marcos Urena
sealed the win.
Group D - England 1-2 Italy
Mario Balotelli's second-half
header secured victory for Italy in Manaus.
The Azzurri took the lead through
Claudio Marchisio's 25-yard shot but, less than two minutes later, Daniel
Sturridge levelled following Wayne Rooney's cross.
Phil Jagielka headed Balotelli's
lob off the line, before the AC Milan striker's header gave Italy victory.
Sunday, 15 June
Group C - Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan
Two goals in two minutes helped
the Ivory Coast come from a goal down to beat Japan in Recife.
Japan took the lead through
Keisuke Honda, but second-half goals from Wilfried Bony and Gervinho gave the
Ivorians victory.
The win moved the Elephants
second in the Group C table behind Colombia.
Group E - Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador
Haris Seferovic scored a dramatic
late winner to give Switzerland a winning start.
The striker turned in a low cross
30 seconds before the final whistle to secure the three points for his side.
Enner Valencia headed Ecuador in
front, before Admir Mehmedi equalised with another header, just two minutes
after coming on as a substitute.
Group E - France 3-0 Honduras
France beat 10-man Honduras in
their opening game, with striker Karim Benzema netting twice.
Honduras were reduced to 10 men
when Wilson Palacios was shown a second yellow card for conceding the penalty
from which Benzema put France in front.
The Real Madrid player then saw a
shot rebound in off the post and Noel Valladares before netting his second of
the night.
The Valladares own goal was the
first goal given by goalline technology at a World Cup.
Monday, 16 June
Group F - Argentina 2-1
Bosnia-Hercegovina
Lionel Messi scores a wonderful
goal as much-fancied Argentina edge aside Bosnia-Hercegovina.
Sead Kolasinac's own goal gave
Argentina the lead, before Messi fired home his first World Cup goal since
2006.
Substitute Vedad Ibisevic netted
Bosnia-Hercegovina's first World Cup goal, but it was not enough to prevent
defeat.
Group F - Iran 0-0 Nigeria
Iran and Nigeria played out the
first draw of the 2014 World Cup.
Nigeria dominated possession but
created few chances against a disciplined side managed by former Manchester
United coach Carlos Queiroz.
The Super Eagles' best
opportunities came in the first half, when Ogenyi Onazi fired a yard wide
before Ahmed Musa went close with a free-kick.
1Group G - Germany 4-0 Portugal
Germany forward Thomas Muller
scored a hat-trick as his side thrashed Portugal.
Muller converted an early penalty
after Mario Gotze was brought down in the area by Joao Pereira, before Mats
Hummels headed home following a corner.
Portugal then had defender Pepe
sent off for head-butting Muller, who scored twice more as his side made a
flying start.
Group G - Ghana 1-2 USA
The United States snatched a
dramatic win over Ghana, with John Brooks heading home the winner in the 86th
minute.
United States captain Clint
Dempsey scored just 29 seconds into the match, the fifth-fastest World Cup goal
in history.
Ghana levelled through Andre
Ayew, but Brooks's first international goal gave his side victory.
Tuesday, 17 June
Group F - Belgium 2-1 Algeria
Goals from Marouane Fellaini and
Dries Mertens saw a strong Belgium side overturn a 1-0 deficit to beat Algeria.
The north African side took a
shock lead when Sofiane Feghouli scored from the penalty spot after being
fouled by Tottenham defender Jan Vertonghen.
But Fellaini equalised with a
looping header, and Mertens finished off a swift counter-attack for the winner.
Group F - Russia 1-1 South Korea
Fabio Capello's Russia came from
behind to draw with South Korea thanks to an equaliser from Aleksandr
Kerzhakov.
The substitute drove home from
five yards to join Vladimir Beschastnykh as Russia's top scorer with 26 goals.
South Korea had led through a
long-range shot from Lee Keun-ho that squirmed through the hands of goalkeeper
Igor Akinfeev.
Group A - Brazil 0-0 Mexico
In the first of the second round
of group fixtures, Brazil were denied a second successive win by the brilliance
of Guillermo Ochoa.
Neymar was denied twice by the
Mexico goalkeeper, who also saved from David Luiz and Thiago Silva.
Raul Jimenez forced a good save
from Brazil's Julio Cesar in stoppage time as it ended all-square.

















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