Gallery: World Cup

The first match of the day pitted Italy against underdogs Costa Rica

The Azzurri and the Ticos shared a lead of Group D coming into the match at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife

Italy supporters showed up in high spirits, with a number of patriotic balloons in tow...

... while this Costa Rica fan took the balloon technique a bit too literally - although, in fairness, he might have been going for more of an 'egg' look

Costa Rica established a solid presence to start, going toe to toe with Italy for possession. Here, Costa Rica defender Oscar Duarte kept the ball safe from Italy veteran midfielder Andrea Pirlo

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli looked on at his World Cup squad

Italy defender Andrea Barzagli cleared the ball away with a strong header

And Italy's flashy striker Mario Balotelli had a beautiful chance to score midway through the first, as he ran up the field unmanned but mis-judged a short lob wide left

Both teams seemed equally frustrated, as referee Enrique Osses firmly refused to hand out a few penalties that seemed warranted

Then at 44' Costa Rica forward and captain Bryan Ruiz scored on a header that bounced off the crossbar about a foot behind the line

Officials made use of goal-line technology to confirm the goal, which beat Italy's veteran keeper Gianluigi Buffon

Ruiz was elated to have put his side up 1-0 just before the half

And fans watching the match at the Copacabana in Rio shared in his joy

Unfortunately for Italy, the second half saw little change, as Costa Rica star striker Joel Campbell and company kept the Azzurri fully in check

The Italy bench was dejected to say the least. Costa Rica had been widely predicted to exit the Group without any sort of trouble

By the end of the day, though, it was keeper Keylor Navas and the rest of the Costa Rica squad who had the upper hand on the Italians, winning 1-0 and complicating the future of Italy's World Cup

Costa Rica, meanwhile, is set to advance to the knock-out stage of the World Cup for the first time since 1990...

... giving their supporters much to celebrate in Brazil

For the second match of Day 9, Switzerland and France clashed to decide who would claim a lead in Group E

The European neighbours met at the Arena Fonta Nova in Salvador

France fans made every effort to dress up for the event...

... while the Swiss - and their little mountain dogs - looked equally jolly

And these fellas were simply along for the ride

The Swiss camp were psyched for the match to get underway...

... yet, all of their hopes were crushed quickly and ruthlessly by the French side, who scored first off a header from forward Olivier Giroud

The goal shot off the finger-tips of Switzerland keeper Diego Benaglio...

... and put France ahead 1-0 at 17'

Less than a minute later, France midfielder Blaise Matuidi widened the lead to 2-0

Fans watching the match in Paris were over-joyed

While the Swiss players couldn't help but look dejected by their sinking prospects in the match

France forward Karim Benzema had a chance to convert a penalty at 33'

But, Benaglio guessed the right way and made the save - although Yohan Cabaye very nearly made the keeper pay when he hit the bar with what should have been an easy tap-in from the rebound

Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld looked on as his side very nearly surrendered another score

The Swiss had clearly become rattled by the hole they had dug for themselves, as defender Johan Djourou protested a needless penalty on Benzema

France redeemed their earlier missed opportunity at 40' however, when midfielder Mathieu Valbuena knocked one in from close range

The final score of the first half put a cruising France up 3-0 over Switzerland and seemed to spell a win for the resurgent squad

The play of the first half largely carried over into the second, as France midfielder Moussa Sissoko led multiple assaults on the Swiss defence

Benzema struck first after the break, redeeming his penalty miss and extending France's lead to 4-0 at 67'

France eventually found another hole in the Swiss cheese, when Sissoko scored at 73' driving the score to 5-0

Switzerland refused to concede a shut-out, however, as France keeper Hugo Lloris failed to stop a goal off the foot of midfielder Blerim Dzemaili at 81'

Fellow Swiss midfileder Granit Xhaka added to the goal tally just six minutes later

But, it was too little too late for Switzerland, as France exited the rout with a winning score of 5-2. The side will face Ecuador on 25 June before heading on to the knock-out stage

And finally off to Curitiba and the Arena da Baixada, where Honduras and Ecuador were set to face off. Fans of Honduras made their voices heard...

... and those from Ecuador dressed to impress

Especially these guys

All the stars were out, including Fuelco - the mascot of the 2014 World Cup

As well as this delightful man

The first half saw both teams putting out sloppy yet highly entertaining performances. Honduras defender Victor Bernardez earned a yellow card just seven minutes in for this hard tackle on Ecuador forward Enner Valencia

Ecuador midfielder Oswaldo Minda continued the trend, taking down Honduras midfielder Boniek Garcia

Ecuador goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez kept the ball out of the net...

... until 31' when Honduras forward Carlo Costly put his side up 1-0

The goal was the first for Honduras in a World Cup since 1982

Just three minutes later, though, Valencia popped one past Honduras keeper Noel Valladares

The forward celebrated the equaliser, which marked his sixth successive appearance for Ecuador with a goal

Sliding into the halftime break, both sides continued their aggressive play, as Honduras defender Maynor Figueroa sent Ecuador midfielder Jefferson Montero flying with a nasty challenge

Honduras scored what seemed a legitimate goal in the injury time before the half, but referee Jon Williams called an offside. Despite players' protests, the two teams finished out the first drawn 1-1

The second half started off with Valencia forced to make half-hearted tackles from the ground

Ecuador fans largely felt like this

But, Valencia proved his worth to the side once again at 65' putting Ecuador up 2-1 with a set piece header

The goal seemed to lift some spirits, and it also sealed the deal for Ecuador. The side will likely now need a win over France on 25 June to advance beyond the group

Gallery: World Cup - Day 9

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