World Cup ((football)) action in Brazil features three matches Saturday, headlined by Germany against Ghana in Group G play in Fortaleza.
Germany is one of the top teams in the 32-nation tournament, and crushed tough Portugal in its opening contest. Ghana is coming off a loss to the United States.
The other two matches Saturday are in Group F, with Argentina facing Iran in Belo Horizonte in the day's opener, and Nigeria taking on Bosnia-Herzegovina in Cuiaba in the last contest of the day.
Argentina won its first match of the tourney, but hopes to improve on rather lackluster play, while Iran played to a scoreless draw earlier and likely needs a victory Saturday to stay in the tournament.
Nigeria and Bosnia both need a win if they are to advance to the field of 16.
On Friday, Costa Rica qualified for the World Cup's round of 16 with a 1-0 upset of Italy, while France virtually assured itself of a spot in that round by dominating Switzerland, 5-2. Also, Ecuador beat Honduras, 2-1.
Costa Rica's win ruined England's chances of reaching the round of 16, also known as the knockout round. The last time England failed to qualify for that stage of the World Cup was 1958.
In a Group D match in Recife, Costa Rica's Bryan Ruiz scored on a header just before halftime. Junior Diaz supplied the cross from the left, and Ruiz headed the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and over the line to beat goalie Gianluigi Buffon.
In Group E play in Salvador, France cruised to a 5-0 lead and held on for its three-goal win over Switzerland, the world's 6th-ranked team according to FIFA.
France's Olivier Giroud and Blasie Matuidi scored a minute apart in the first half, and Mathieu Valbuena made it 3-0 after a nifty pass by Giroud. The French outshot Switzerland in the first half, 11-4. Karim Benzema of France made up for a penalty miss in the first half with a goal in the 67th minute, then created Moussa Sissoko's score six minutes later.
France leads Group E with six points, while Ecuador and Switzerland trail with three points each.
In Friday's last game, Ecuador beat Honduras, 2-1, in Curitiba. Honduras took the lead in the 31st minute with its first World Cup goal in 32 years. But Ecuador's Enner Valencia responded with two goals, including the game-winner in the 65th minute.
The win kept Ecuador in contention for the knockout round. Ecuador plays France on Wednesday in their last group game.
The last team to keep Italy from scoring at the World Cup was France in 1998. Since that 0-0 match, Italy scored in 15 straight World Cup games before Friday's loss.
Costa Rica leads Group D with six points, followed by Italy and Uruguay with three each. Uruguay and Italy play each other on Tuesday in their final group match, which will decide which team advances to the knockout round along with Costa Rica
England, the world's 10th-ranked team, has suffered 2-1 losses to both Italy and Uruguay.
