Brazil 2014 - Switzerland vs France
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Football Index:
World Cup Finals:
Brazil 2014: Switzerland vs France.
1st Round Matches at Brazil 2014.
Friday, 20th June
Group Match - Avalanche of Goals
Switzerland vs 
France in Salvador.
Match Preview
Switzerland and France drew with each other in Stuttgart, during the Germany 2006 group stage (0:0); after having drawn twice in qualifying for the finals.
The two teams also met in the Portugal 2004 European Championship; France winning their group stage game (3:1) in Coimbra.
The Match
The winner of this game will qualify for the Second Round if the Honduras vs Ecuador match ends in a draw.
Steve von Bergen had to be replaced by Philippe Senderos, in
the eighth minute, after taking a boot to the face from Olivier Giroud.
0:1
Olivier Giroud was soon in the news again, eight minutes later; this time rising above the
Swiss defence, to head France into the lead.
0:2
Switzerland were stunned within thirteen seconds when Benaglio had to enter the back of
his net again, to pick out the ball that Blaise Matuidi had just drilled past him.
The defensive reputation of Switzerland had evaporated but Diego Benaglio managed to restore his own, by saving a penalty from Karim Benzema. Yohan Cabaye's follow-up hit the post.
0:3
Five minutes before half-time, Olivier Giroud and Mathieu Valbuena sprinted out of their
own half to take the Swiss totally by surprise again. Giroud on the left passed across the
goal for Valbuena to finish.
Half-time: Switzerland 0 - France 3
0:4
Substitute Paul Pogba chipped the ball beyond Philippe Senderos for Karim Benzema to slip
in around the back and register the fourth goal for France.
0:5
Moussa Sissoko made it five after calmly slotting the ball, beautifully provided by Karim
Benzema, past Diego Benaglio from the right side of the box.
And still the French looked ready to pounce on every mistake made by Switzerland in the attacking midfield areas. Perhaps that's what cost them the clean sheet.
1:5
Sloppy defending in the French wall, allowed Blerim Dzemaili to shoot through their legs
and give Hugo Lloris little chance of getting over to his blind side.
Arena Fonte Nova is the same stadium where Holland beat Spain (5:1).
2:5
But Switzerland made the scoreline look a little more respectable in the final minutes;
Granit Xhaka getting behind the French for an excellent finish.
Karim Benzema was denied a sensational finish to a great game as the whistle was blown before he scored.
Final Score: Switzerland 2 - France 5
Goalscorers:
0:1 - Olivier Giroud (17 mins)
0:2 - Blaise Matuidi (18 mins)
0:3 - Mathieu Valbuena (40 mins)
0:4 - Karim Benzema (67 mins)
0:5 - Moussa Sissoko (73 mins)
1:5 - Blerim Dzemaili (81 mins)
2:5 - Granit Xhaka (87 mins)
Teams
Switzerland:
1-Diego Benaglio; 2-Stephan Lichtsteiner, 20-Johan Djourou, 5-Steve von Bergen, 13-Ricardo
Rodriguez; 11-Valon Behrami, 8-Gokhan Inler, 23-Xherdan Shaqiri, 10-Granit Xhaka; 18-Admir
Mehmedi, 9-Haris Seferovic.
France:
1-Hugo Lloris; 2-Mathieu Debuchy, 4-Raphael Varane, 5-Mamadou Sakho, 3-Patrice Evra;
18-Moussa Sissoko, 6-Yohan Cabaye, 14-Blaise Matuidi; 8-Mathieu Valbuena, 9-Olivier
Giroud, 10-Karim Benzema.
Referee: Bjorn Kuipers - Netherlands 
1 yellow card:
87 mins - Yohan Cabaye (France)
The Road to Rio
First Round
Thursday, 12th June
Brazil vs Croatia
Friday, 13th June
Chile vs Australia
Mexico vs Cameroon
Spain vs Netherlands
Saturday, 14th June
Colombia vs Greece
Côte d'Ivoire vs Japan
England vs Italy
Uruguay vs Costa Rica
Sunday, 15th June
Argentina vs Bosnia
France vs Honduras
Switzerland vs Ecuador
Monday, 16th June
Germany vs Portugal
Ghana vs USA
Iran vs Nigeria
Tuesday, 17th June
Belgium vs Algeria
Brazil vs Mexico
Russia vs South Korea
Wednesday, 18th June
Australia vs Netherlands
Cameroon vs Croatia
Spain vs Chile
Thursday, 19th June
Colombia vs Côte d'Ivoire
Japan vs Greece
Uruguay vs England
Friday, 20th June
Honduras vs Ecuador
Italy vs Costa Rica
Switzerland vs France
Saturday, 21st June
Argentina vs Iran
Germany vs Ghana
Nigeria vs Bosnia
Sunday, 22nd June
Belgium vs Russia
South Korea vs Algeria
USA vs Portugal
Monday, 23rd June
Australia vs Spain
Cameroon vs Brazil
Croatia vs Mexico
Netherlands vs Chile
Tuesday, 24th June
Costa Rica vs England
Greece vs Côte d'Ivoire
Italy vs Uruguay
Japan vs Colombia
Wednesday, 25th June
Bosnia vs Iran
Ecuador vs France
Honduras vs Switzerland
Nigeria vs Argentina
Thursday, 26th June
Algeria vs Russia
Portugal vs Ghana
South Korea vs Belgium
USA vs Germany
2014 World Cup Finals - Knockout Stage.
World Cup Finals
Uruguay 1930:
Uruguay trailed Argentina at half-time (1:2) but replied with three goals in the second half; to win the first ever World Cup Final (4-2)
on July 30th, 1930.
Italy 1934:
Italy were one of the countries who missed out on the vote to host the first World Cup but managed to win the prestigious golden trophy
for the home fans.
France 1938:
The third World Cup was held in Europe for a second time, although Germany had annexed Austria, and Spain was in civil turmoil.
Brazil 1950:
Although no cup-final as such, Uruguay and Brazil went into their final game with the winner guaranteed to be champions; a draw would be enough for Brazil.
Switzerland 1954:
The fifth World Cup tournament produced a record number of goals, including a 7:5 encounter between Austria and Switzerland in Lausanne.
Sweden 1958:
Brazil presented a 17 year-old Pele to the world; who went on to claim a hat-trick in Brazil's 5:2 semi-final win over France and bag another two in the final.
Chile 1962:
Czechoslovakia overcame Hungary in the quarter-finals and Yugoslavia in the semis, while Brazil took care of England and the host nation, Chile.
England 1966:
Geoff Hurst scored a hat-trick, in the final against West Germany, as England triumphed in a thrilling game watched by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.
Mexico 1970:
1970 belonged to Pelé, who earned his third World Cup winners' medal when Brazil got their hands on the Jules Rimet Cup.... for keeps.
W. Germany 1974:
Johan Cruyff was the player of the tournament as total football became the buzzword of the day, even though Holland lost to West Germany in the 1974 final.
Argentina 1978:
Holland contested the 1978 World Cup Final, in Argentina, for the second time in a row. As in West Germany,
they again finished runners-up; to the hosts.
Spain 1982:
The Spain 82 World Cup finals increased to 24 teams and the format was changed to have two group stages, with four second-round groups of three.
Mexico 1986:
In 1986, Mexico became the first nation to stage the World Cup Finals for a second time; having only staged the competition sixteen years previously.
Italy 1990:
In 1990, Italy became the World Cup of stalemates. Both semi-finals were drawn out through penalty kicks. In the final itself, the only goal came from the spot.
USA 1994:
Once Team US had played a few games most of the nation began to understand they were hosting the greatest show on earth and how the game was played.
France 1998:
France became the sixth nation to win the World Cup on home soil. Thirty-two teams competed in the 16th World Cup; better known as France 98.
Korea-Japan 2002:
The 17th World Cup, held in Korea and Japan, was the first World Cup finals to be shared by two hosts and the first to be held in Asia.
Germany 2006:
The 2006 World Cup Finals ran from 9th June to 9th July; the opening
match in Munich and the final in Berlin. Munich and Dortmund hosted the
semi-finals.
South Africa 2010:
Eighty years after the First World Cup Finals in Uruguay, the world's most prestigious football competition was finally hosted on the African continent.
Brazil 2014:
Five times World Cup Champions, Brazil, get a second chance to hold the prestigious World Cup Finals; 64 years after they last hosted the tournament.
Russia 2018:
VAR made its World Cup debut and set out to change the course of a game with some crucial rule infringement watching and vital on the spot decisions.
Qatar 2022:
When FIFA executives met in Zurich to decide on who would host the 2018 and 2022 World Cup Finals, Qatar was probably the biggest surprise to many.
United 2026:
The 2026 FIFA World Cup Finals will be jointly hosted by Canada, Mexico
and the United States. The United Bid won the hosting rights ahead of
Morocco.
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