With 1966 World Cup England already knocked out after their second match of Group D, Italy also bowed out to Uruguay, as predicted earlier, in the last match. The expected punch bag, Costa Rica surprised all by finishing on top of the group with 7 points. Uruguay was the second time to qualify after defeating a 10-men and Suarez bitten Italy.
Group D has three World Cup champions with Costa Rica, which was expected to be the punchbag for an easy win. After completion of all the six matches of the group, the punch bag is sitting pretty on top, being the only team to qualify to next round from the Group of Death. 1966 World Cup Champion England is already knocked out. Later the South American Uruguay, two time champion, knocked out another European team as Italy could not earn a draw.
Summary: Group A, Group B
FIFA World Cup 2014: Schedule sand Results in IST, Points Table, Goal Statistics, Goal Scores, Groups and Team Qualification
History and Records: History of All Previous Editions, History of Hattricks, Who Reached Top Four in Previous Editions!!
Group D Statistics
- 12 goals only in 6 matches, produced one of the lowest goal percentage of a group in the 2014 World Cup.
Red card for Italian Claudio Marchisio in the 59th minute of their crucial last match of the group.
Red Card for Maxi Pereira (Uruguay) in the first match of the group between Uruguay and Costa Rica.
Group D Records
Team
- Uruguay lost first match at World Cup against a country (Costa Rica) that did not belong to South America or Europe.
First time for England to lose three consecutive World Cup matches.
Costa Rica became the second country after Denmark (In 1986 Uruguay and West Germany and in 2002 Uruguay and France) to defeat two World Champions in the group stage of one tournament.
Group Stage History of All Four
- Uruguay has been knocked out in the first round only thrice. Besides 1962 and 1974 the last time they could not proceed to knockout was in 2002 World Cup.
Italy on the other hand has 6 first round exit in 18 editions. After 1974 World Cup, they were knocked out in first round in South Africa 2010 World Cup.
England has been knocked out in the first round for the third time only in 14 appearances. In 1950 and 1958 World Cup they were knocked out before.
Costa Rica is having their best world cup. Playing their 4th edition, they qualified for 2nd round only in 1990 edition on their debut, even then they failed to win two matches. In 1990 also they had defeated two teams at Group Stage, Scotland and Sweden.
Group A Points Tally
M=Matches, W=Won, L=Loss, D = Draw, GS=Goals Scored, GC=Goals conceded, GD= Goal difference, P=Points
| Team | M | W | L | D | GS | GC | GD | P |
| Costa Rica | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 |
| Uruguay | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 6 |
| Italy | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 3 | -1 | 3 |
| England | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 | -2 | 1 |
Group A Match Results
- 1. Costa Rica def Uruguay 3-1, Man of the Match: Joel Campbell
2. Italy def England 2-1, Man of the Match: Mario Balotelli
3. Uruguay def England 2-1, Man of the Match: Luis Suárez
4. Costa Rica def Italy 1-0, Man of the Match: Bryan Ruiz
5. Costa Rica vs England 0-0, Man of the Match: Keylor Navas
6. Uruguay def Italy 11-0, , Man of the Match: Gianluigi Buffon
Goal Scorers of Group A
- Costa Rica: 4 (1: Joel Campbell, Óscar Duarte, Bryan Ruiz, Marc Ureña)
Uruguay: 4 (2: Suarez, 1: Edinson Cavani, Diego Godín)
Italy: 2 (1: Mario Balotelli, Claudio Marchisio)
England: 2 (1: Wayne Rooney, Daniel Sturridge)
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