Honduras and Ecuador will be out to prove they are also very much in contention for a last 16 place in Group E when they two sides meet in Curitiba on Friday.
Where to Watch Live
The Group E encounter is scheduled for a 7 pm local time (3.30 am IST, 11 pm BST, 6 pm ET) start with live coverage on Sony Six and and Sony Six HD in India. The game can also be watched online via live streaming in India HERE. Catch the action in the UK on ITV and BBC with the live streaming option HERE or HERE. Viewers in Australia can watch HERE online, while South Africa viewers can catch the match HERE. US viewers can catch the game on ESPN while you can also live stream the action HERE.
Neither team could pick up a single point in their first group matches, with France downing Honduras 3-0, while Ecuador suffered an agonising loss to Switzerland.
Honduras, in particular, did not win too many friends with their style of play against France, with their over physicality rankling supporters quite a bit on the night.
However, there is little doubt that the Central American country will adopt a similar strategy; but it remains to be seen if it works against Ecuador.
There is likely to be little secrets between two teams considering the coaches of the two outfits. Reinaldo Rueda, the current Ecuador coach, was the manager of Honduras at the 2010 World Cup, while Luis Suarez, the current Honduras boss, managed Ecuador at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, taking them to the last 16.
"It is a match that has those special emotional ingredients," said Rueda, whose Honduras side at the 2010 World Cup finished bottom of Group H, picking up just a single point. "All of us on the technical staff have a lot of affection and a lot of gratitude for the Honduran people and those lads on the team."
"I love the people of Honduras very much and the love I have for them will always be there, even though we have a very intense 90 minutes ahead of us," Rueda added on FIFA's official website. "It is a different Honduras to the one we had four years ago. It is a Honduras...that has had four years to mature."
Honduras coach Luis Suarez, whose Ecuador team were knocked out by England in the pre-quarterfinals in 2006, also had nothing but nice things to say about his former team.
"I only have good things to say about Ecuador," he said. "They made me grow as a person. We achieved some great things together and I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of show of affection on the day of the game. If there is, then I'll find it very gratifying on a personal level. I'll always remember what we experienced there."
Ecuador were quite unlucky not to come away with a single point against Switzerland in their first game, throwing away a 1-0 advantage to go down 2-1 thanks to a 93rd minute equaliser from Haris Seferovic.
That loss will still be hurting them, and it will be up to the players, especially the experienced Antonio Valencia, who was quite disappointing against the Swiss, to turn that hurt into a positive feeling when they take on Honduras, who they have beaten three times and drawn seven in 12 previous encounters.
For Honduras, who will be without the suspended Wilson Palacios, after the midfielder picked up a needless red card against France, it will be about showing they are more than just a team that like to go in for a heavy tackle frequently, with Suarez, no doubt expecting results as well.
The team that comes away without a single point on Friday, will see their hopes of qualification as good as end, and neither of them will want to end up on that side of the result.
Expected lineups: Honduras: Valladares; Beckeles, Bernardez, Figueroa, Izaguirre; Najar, Garrido, Claros, Espinoza; Costly, Bengtson.
Ecuador: Dominguez; Paredes, Guagua, Erazo, Ayovi; Antonio Valencia, Gruezo, Noboa, Montero; Enner Valencia, Caicedo.
Prediction: 1-0 to Ecuador
