Argentina, France win

Sunday night's first Group F game was heavy with history. It was the first World Cup game at Rio de Janeiro's Maracana stadium since the storied 1950 final, and so it was a suitable setting for the competition to welcome its newest nation - Bosnia-Herzegovina. And the tiny country was thrown straight in at the deep end, facing favorites and two-time winners Argentina.

And Bosnia's World Cup journey could not have got off to a worse start - within three minutes, the debutants had turned the ball into their own net. Schalke defender Sead Kolasinac was helpless when Lionel Messi's free-kick cannoned off his leg past his keeper Asmir Begovic.

From there, the World Cup could only get better for Bosnia, whose players showed nerves in the opening exchanges. But they managed to calm down enough to contain Argentina's frightening strike force of Messi, Angel Di Maria, and Sergio Aguero.

In fact, the Bosnians did more than that. They almost stole an equalizer in the 14th minute when Izet Hajrovic nearly connected with a ball over the top from Miralem Pjanic, only for the Argentinean keeper to bravely pluck the ball from his foot.

Burst of magic from Messi

But the Argentines offered little going forward throughout the half, held up by a determined Bosnian defense. The game picked up pace in the second period, but while Bosnia were largely reduced to long-range efforts, the only hope for Argentina seemed to be the possibility of more gifts from the Bosnian defense.

That was until the 65th minute, when Argentina's diminutive star - whose underachievement at international level had brought pressure from his own fans - got his breakthrough. Messi played a sweet one-two with substitute Gonzalo Higuain, suddenly accelerated across the face of the penalty area, and sent a low shot into the bottom left corner - aided by slight deflection from a Bosnian leg.

Bosnia responded by going for broke - bringing on Stuttgart striker Vedad Ibisevic to partner Edin Dzeko up front. The sub duly halved the deficit in the 85th minute by getting on to a through-ball and neatly nutmegging the Argentine keeper Sergio Romero. But it was not enough.

Struggling for goals

France's meeting with Honduras in Porto Alegre promised to be a lackluster affair, but ended up creating history as offering the first big test for goal line technology.

While France's athleticism set them apart, their problem with scoring - having only netted once in their last six games aside from set pieces - was apparent.

France were comfortable on the ball, starving Honduras of possession and using their speed to catch out the opposition. Les Bleus hit the crossbar twice in a matter of minutes - once through the industrious Blaise Matuidi on 14 minutes, superbly palmed up onto the horizontal. Another in the 22nd came when Antoine Griezmann - replacing Olivier Giroud - guided his cross just a little too high.

There was a purple patch for Honduras just after the half-hour mark, but the Central Americans - defending with a robustness that was to cost them dearly - were soon to find themselves up against it.

The melee began when an already-booked Wilson Palacios bundled Juventus' Paul Pogba - looking to receive a lofted ball - to the ground. Pogba was lucky not to be sent off himself - having petulantly hooked his foot around Palacios' ankle earlier - but he was there to see Karim Benzema slam the resulting penalty high into the left corner.

While the game had been far from free-flowing, it promised much for France against 10 men for the whole second half.

A moment to reflect on

The Europeans had threatened to get second and did so in surreal circumstances. Benzema's header hit the far post before going in as keeper Noel Valladares tried to scoop it back.

Although the ball didn't seem to have crossed the line, Brazilian referee Sandro Ricci awarded it after consulting the instant technology - the resulting confusion likely to become one of the night's talking points.

With so much of the possession in the second half, France looked set to add to their tally, with Matuidi coming close twice.

They eventually managed it in the 72nd minute after Mathieu Debuchy's rebounded piledriver fell for Benzema to smash it, rippling the roof of the net from a tight angle. Suddenly, France's, and indeed Benzema's goal drought seemed a long way behind them.

Switzerland grab late win

With Switzerland never having won a World Cup game against South American opponents in five World Cup clashes, the seeded favorites had a point to prove at the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia.

Under the guidance of Ottmar Hitzfeld, Switzerland arrived in Brazil set to be far more attacking than they were in 2010, boasting Bundesliga, as well a Serie A, stars aplenty.

With Xherdan Shaqiri one of five Bundesliga midfielders, and strikers Admir Mehmedi and Josip Drmic both impressing in their debut seasons in Germany, there were many reasons for the Swiss to be optimistic.

But while Ecuador faced some big injury worries in midfield, the South Americans still possessed key threats in the shape of rampaging wingers Antonio Valencia and Jefferson Montero.

And it was Ecuador who made the strongest start, pressing hard in the opening minutes, and denying Switzerland the opportunity to show off their riches.

Juventus' Stephan Lichtsteiner was one of main threats for the Swiss, but also ended up causing them an early setback after 21 minutes, when he brought Antonio Valencia to the ground near the left touchline.

With a superb dipping free kick, the Manchester United star found his namesake Enner Valencia rising unmarked in the danger zone to head the ball home.

Confusion induced by the Swiss zonal marking was probably the key culprit, although Hamburg's former Arsenal center-back Johan Djourou was the man at fault.

The Swiss had a few efforts from long range as Ecuador sat back more deeply, but failed to penetrate enough to produce anything of note at close range. In all, the Swiss looked uninspired and unsure of themselves as the halftime whistle blew.

Attacking switch pays off

Looking to add some attacking thrust, Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld replaced Hertha Berlin midfielder Valentin Stocker with Freiburg forward Admir Mehmedi. It turned out to be a wise move when the substitute scored after only three minutes - with a goal uncannily like the first.

Meeting a corner from near where Ecuador's free-kick had come in the first half, Mehmedi was allowed way too much room to head home the equalizer.

That goal moved Switzerland up a gear, with Shaqiri threatening to help Mehmedi to a second. The game was suddenly in the balance, Montero seriously testing Swiss keeper Diego Benaglio with a one-on-one effort in the 66th minute. The Swiss began to look rampant - Drmic having a goal unfairly ruled offside and Shaqiri hit the side-netting in quick succession.

A free-kick in the 85th minute almost saw the Ecuadoreans score against the run of play, with a free kick that Benaglio dived to brilliantly.

The Swiss though, finally broke their Latin American duck at the end of a breathtaking passage of injury time play. After the Ecuadoreans almost nicked it, Switzerland raced back on the counter for sub Haris Seferovic to sidefoot in a low cross to make the final score 2-1.