GROUP E

France 0-0 Ecuador

Ecuador became the first South American team to exit the World Cup following a scoreless draw with France at the Maracana in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil’s showpiece stadium witnessed no goals thanks to some poor French finishing in the second half.

Switzerland’s predictable win over Honduras meant Ecuador had to beat the French which was a tall order in normal circumstances—let alone with 10 men.

Having scored eight goals in their previous two matches, Les Bleus toiled in Rio. By the conclusion of the match, Didier Deschamps had assigned a formidable frontline of Karim Benzema, Olivier Giroud and Loic Remy to break the deadlock but they could not force a way past La Tri goalkeeper Alexander Domínguez.

“Ecuador had a team with 10 players in front of us defending well, we had an enormous number of chances and we are disappointed we were not as effective as in our previous matches.”—Didier Deschamps (France coach)

Switzerland 3-0 Honduras

Switzerland bounced back from their earlier 5-2 drubbing by the French to claim second place in Group E.

Xherdan Shaqiri scored the 50th hat-trick in World Cup history, as Switzerland cruised past Honduras to boost Europe’s roll-call in the last-16.

The Bayern Munich frontman drilled home his first from distance and was then setup twice by teammate Josip Drmic to complete the scoring.

FINAL GROUP E STANDINGS:

Source: BBC

SECOND ROUND FIXTURES

– France vs Nigeria—Monday 30^th June (5pm GMT)

– Argentina vs Switzerland—Tuesday 1^st July (5pm GMT)

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