Photo by ISIPhotos.com
By RYAN TOLMICH
Three spots in the tournament’s knockout stages are up for grabs Wednesday with Groups E and F finishing off their group stage schedules.
Lionel Messi’s late-game heroics against Iran were enough to put Argentina through to the next round, but La Albiceleste will still have plenty on the line in their clash with Nigeria. Argentina can clinch Group F’s top position with a draw, which would likely see them avoid France in the Round of 16.  Meanwhile, Nigeria can lock up their spot in the knockout stages with a point against their South American opposition.
In Group F’s other contest will see Iran take on the already eliminated Bosnia-Herzegovina with the Iranians in need of three points. Iran will don their finest sky blue Wednesday, as they will need an Argentina victory over Nigeria to have any chance of advancing to the nation’s first knockout stage.
Meanwhile, in Group E, France have all but sealed their spot in the next round, as Les Bleus find themselves in the driver’s seat in Group E. France hold a six goal advantage over Wednesday’s opposition, second place Ecuador, and will advance barring a meltdown of epic proportions. For their part, Ecuador currently hold a two goal advantage over third place Switzerland for the group’s second spot.
Group E’s other matchup will see Switzerland take on Honduras in a game that sees both teams eligible for advancing to the tournament’s next stage. Switzerland will need to better Ecuador’s result due to their current two goal disadvantage heading into Wednesday’s action. Meanwhile, Honduras are still very much a live, as a victory paired with an Argentina triumph would see everything come down to goal differential.
If you will be watching today’s matches, please feel free to share your thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (TV listings after the jump):
TODAY’S WORLD CUP SOCCER ON TV
12 p.m. — Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Iran — ESPN2
12 p.m. — Nigeria vs. Argentina — ESPN
4 p.m. — Honduras vs. Switzerland — ESPN2
4 p.m. — Ecuador vs. France — ESPN
Shaqiri with a hat trick. In one game he has scored 3x as many goals as Honduras in the last 2 world cups.
Does Wilson Palacios know how to play football or just tackle people?
+1
No one reminded Honduras that this isn’t CONCACAF qualifying and the ref actually calls fouls at this level.
That goal…damn. Bye bye Hondura
To all those saying the Swiss won’t win, don’t let the result against France fool you, this Swiss side is much better than Honduras. I predict a 3-1 win, let’s see if i”m wrong. Allons-y!!
Palacios at it again. Flops in the box after a great Swiss chance. What a tool this guy is.
Honduras 3-0 in the rain forest, as they use the weather advantage to all out attack a spent Swiss team.
France 3-1 Over Ecuador with the back-ups looking to impress.
Honduras advances on 3 pts and -1 GD over Ecuador on -2 GD
Watch and enjoy…. Go Catrachos!!
Yeah I’m expecting a Honduras win. They have nothing to lose and play in this weather regularly
Never mind I take that back
Would love to see it, the French part isn’t so crazy
That would be nice. Come on Honduras.
You have to have the ball to score.
Ever since Amado Guevara retired…Honduras can’t keep possession in the oppositions half…
This WC already has 126 goals and SA 2010 only had 145 goals. The top scorers in the 2010 tournament only had 5 goals and so far this WC already has two players at 4 goals before the group stage is over. If the next 6 games can average 3.2 goals this group stage will have more goals than the whole South African tournament.
Let’s hope there is a much lower average in the games tomorrow!
I am not scared of this Argentina team, hope we get a crack at them.
disorganized defensively, midfield continuously spread out and stretched instead of compact and coordinated with back line. crazy talent on this team of course but not really a team yet. could still gel into it, or not, but they don’t look amazingly untouchable or anything
This might sound weird but Ghana would torch them at least I think they would.
fun game to watch
So do I because it’ll mean we are in the quarterfinals.
No doubt, Belgium hasn’t shown itself to be scary either, just get out of the group. i think if we want a deep run 2nd place is actually better than first
Messi subbed off, 63rd minute, Alvarez n. not an injury I could tell…anyone else have in? thanks
*have info?
seems to be tactical substitution, up 3-2
Glad to see BiH get some points.
OMG Mikel-worst Nigerian flub at WC since that Yakubu open net miss?
Messi’s second goal… The Nigerian keeper had a brilliant stop on a Messi free-kick rocket just a minute earlier, and then somehow appeared to be caught watching this free-kick float into the exact same corner. Like a hitter surprised by an off-speed pitch.
The second freekick was better than the first and the first one was pretty damn good so that could have been the shocker. you just don’t anticipate someone improving a an almost prefect freekick with an even better one
Come on Messi WTF!!!!!
Ya, sooo Messi. Argentina not so good.
Gunna be interesting how teams deal with them in the future.
yikes…loo at that keystone cops routine in front of their own goal, 82nd minute
That was a quick start to the day. Two goals inside 4 minutes.
Anybody see those goals? I missed them haha
Geoff Cameron was responsible for both