Both Germany and Poland will be watching the other Group A game between Ecuador and Costa Rica, but they'll be hoping for different results. Costa Rica will have to take three points in Hamburg for Poland to have any chance of advancing to the round of 16. Any other result and Germany will know they've accomplished the first step toward the goal of capturing the Cup in front of a home crowd on July 9.

In their first matches
Ecuador will be the team bringing momentum into the game after pounding Poland 2-0 last week. A win here and they would advance to the round of 16. Costa Rica, lost their openers to the World Cup hosts 4-2, have their backs to the wall and have to win today for a chance at the second round.

Here are the starting line-ups
Ecuador (4-4-2): 12- Cristian Mora; 4- Ulises de la Cruz, 3- Ivan Hurtado, 17- Giovanny Espinoza, 18- Neicer Reasco; 8- Edison Mendez, 20- Edwin Tenorio, 14- Segundo Castillo, 16- Luis Antonio Valencia;11- Agustin Delgado, 21- Carlos Tenorio Coach: Luis Suarez Costa Rica: (3-5-2) 18- Jose Francisco Porras; 3- Luis Marin, 4- Michael Umana, 15- Harold Wallace; 12- Leonardo Gonzalez, 8- Mauricio Solis, 10- Walter Centeno, 20- Douglas Sequeira, 6- Danny Fonseca;11- Ronald Gomez, 9- Paulo Wanchope Coach: Alexandre Guimaraes Referee: Coffi Codjia (Benin)

Kick-off moments away
The anthems have been played. All that's left is the coin toss and the game can begin.

1. min.
And we're off
Costa Rica start with the ball.

2. min.
Espinoza puts an end to the initial feeling-out period with a long ball to Carlos Tenorio. It's not dangerous, but the signals the beginning of the real game.

4. min.
Quick touches
Costa Rica are trying to speed up the Ecuadorian game, moving the ball quickly from the defense, through the midfield and to their strikers with hardly a player doing more than flicking a pass to the next.

5. min.
Fonseca called for pushing -- he'd better watch out after being booked in the Germany match.

8. min.
Ecuador come to life!
After a complacent start in their own end, Ecuador get their first extended drive into the Costa Rica half and Carlos Tenorio chalks up the first goal of the game.

9. min.
Valencia sends a chest-high cross into the penalty area and C Tenorio heads it skillfully past Porras.

11. min.
Goal scorer goes down
Ivan Hurtado gets booked for a harsh foul. Tenorio is carried off the field for treatment.

12. min.
Porras gives up a corner with an athletic save on a ball that was already headed off. Delgado heads the kick wide of goal.

14. min.
Both teams are defending early in the midfield to keep their opponents from getting a dangerous chance in front of goal.

16. min.
Castillo decides to try his luck with a long-range shot, but low ball bounces to the left of goal.

18. min.
Costa Rica try to get back into their passing game, but the Ecuador defense is on to the ruse and double-teaming the player with the ball before he can get a pass off.

19. min.
Mendez caught offsides as Ecuador slowly moves the ball up the field.

20. min.
Mora gets his first chance
but it's nothing more than a pass back from Espinoza.

22. min.
Fonseca fouls Delgado near the center circle. He's taking a moment to get up, but is able to send the free kick to Edwin Tenorio.

23. min.
Corner Ecuador
Reasco sends a shot from the defense over the goal after the corner kick bounces out.

26. min.
Mendez takes a run forward and is played the ball in the center of the Ecuador penalty area. But the Ecuador defense stands solid.

28. min.
Costa Rica back on the prowl
After a stretch of reacting to the Ecuador side, Costa Rica are doing a better job of controlling the ball all over the field. Still no dangerous chances on goal yet though.

28. min.
Yellow for Solis


29. min.
Costa Rica wants another striker
Alvaro Saborio comes on for Fonseca.

31. min.
Saborio gets his first chance and wins a corner kick.

31. min.
The corner goes to the near post and is easily headed out.

34. min.
Either or
Ecuador show they're willing to do it all on offense and defense but are slow when it comes to going about making the switch. They're attacking now, so Porras should watch for a shot any second.

36. min.
There's the shot from Mendez on a free kick that curls over the bar. So far Ecuador have fired on goal 7 times while Costa Rica have managed just one.

37. min.
Centeno makes it 2 shots
Eliminating the entire midfield buildup, Centeno rifles a far-out shot over goal.

39. min.
Reasco sends a ball in for Mendez but the ball has just a little too much pace on it and rolls into Porras' waiting hands.

40. min.
Ecuador line up free kick


41. min.
And it goes right into the wall.

42. min.
Great save from Porras
Like a man swinging an ax while horizontal with the ground, Porras double fists a curling shot from Mendez away from the goal.

43. min.
Gomez sneaks through the defense and gets a cross; his header bounces next to the post and out.

44. min.
Castillo booked for a late foul


45. min.
Mora comes out
Mora slides out at the edge of the area to collect a long pass before Wanchope gets a one-on-one chance.

45+1. min.
Ecuador almost make it two
Delgado has a cross from Mendez put on his foot but still cannot connect to give Ecuador a buffer going into half-time.

45+2. min.
Hurtado send the ball out and the clock counts down the final seconds of stoppage time.

Half-time
Ecuador go into the locker room with a well-earned 1-0 lead in a match that has traded any moments of magical South American soccer in favor for a European "let's just get the points, thank you very much" style. Costa Rica will have to improve up front to get back in this match. Will something more be heard from star striker Paulo Wanchope in the second half?

46. min.
The teams are back on the field
Ivan Kaviedes is on for Carlos Tenorio.

46. min.
And the last 45 minutes have begun


48. min.
Kaviedes has a misunderstanding with Castillo and kicks the ball out of bounds as the second half gets off to a tentative start.

49. min.
Centeno advances up the wing and crosses to the middle. Mora catches it easily and the Ecuador defense may start to wonder if Costa Rica have given up the center in favor for the sides.

51. min.
Costa Rica have come out of the locker room with new life. They're pushing more up front; the compact Ecuador defense, however, isn't letting anything dangerous past.

53. min.
Ecuador shoot
Delgado, on Ecuador's strong right side, scissor kicks a ball on net; Porras is positioned well and cradles it in his arms.

54. min.
De la Cruz booked
De la Cruz takes a little too long and gets booked.

55. min.
GOAL ECUADOR!


55. min.
Inside the box Mendez chips a ball to Delgado who chests it down and riles a shot between Porras and the near post. It's Delgado's second goal in two matches.

57. min.
Costa Rica makes a change
Gonzalez makes room for Carlos Hernandez.

59. min.
Gomez proves the strength of his shot by firing a ball that seems to sail through the air for a good seven seconds before landing well into the stands.

60. min.
Solo from Solis
Solis takes the ball from midfield, covers half the field and puts his shot to the near post too close to Mora, who punches it out.

60. min.
Mora gets yellow
After being fouled on the corner kick, Mora takes more time than the ref thinks is needed to take the free kick and gets a spot in the book.

62. min.
Valencia limps off the field after being caught up in fair slide tackle from Sequeira.

64. min.
Ecuador firmly in control
The Costa Rican passes are missing the bite they had in the first half and Ecuador's defenders aren't having much trouble intercepting the ones that don't go astray from the start.

66. min.
Centeno goes for a ball but misses and instead decides to put his boots into Kaviedes, who won the tackle but gets only a bruised calf as a prize.

67. min.
Ecuadorians litter the field
Now it's Espinoza who's on the ground fighting a cramp. The crowd is convinced he is faking and whistle loudly as he is carried off, his right leg still shaking with the cramp.

69. min.
Jorge Guagua comes on for Espinoza
Unhappy that he's been taken of the field, Espinoza makes the long walk back to the bench from the other side of the pitch.

70. min.
Kaviedes fires a ball into the back of the net, but only the most gullible of fans cheer the clearly offsides player.

71. min.
Wanchope gets a chance on the ball centering to Saborio, who checks Mora out of the way and is called for a foul. Mora is holding his side, but will be able to continue.

73. min.
Costa Rican comeback?
Gomez takes another try from outside the area with a low rocket that sails wide.

74. min.
Midfield Ecuadorian exchange
Valencia leaves and Patricio Urrutia takes the field.

75. min.
Urrutia gets his first chance and it deflects off his foot to a Costa Rica midfielder.

77. min.
Ecuador's players pass among themselves to slow the game down to cheer of Ole from the stands.

78. min.
Centeno puts the corner kick on Marin's head, but the defender may be a little confused what end of the field he's on and the ball bounces in the wrong direction.

79. min.
Almost three for Ecuador
Kaviedes gets a chance in close against Porras; the shot bounces off the keeper's chest and Ecuador may have to be happy with a 2-0 win.

81. min.
The crowd's whistles become audible once again as Ecuador string together more midfield passes within three minutes than they did in all of the first half.

83. min.
Kaviedes and Mendez make a surprise foray into the penalty box but Kaviedes' header goes high.

85. min.
Costa Rican hope
Walter Centeno leaves the game for striker Kurt Bernard.

86. min.
Instant action
Bernard uses his first touches to bring the ball forward in Costa Rica's fastest play of the last 20 minutes. Mora send the ball high and out over the sideline.

87. min.
Ding
Saborio takes a ball that appears in front of him and volleys it against the crossbar. Mora didn't have a chance. Maybe Costa Rica will be able to save some honor and bring the difference down to one goal.

89. min.
Costa Rica throw everything forward -- in vain as Ecuador collect a bad pass and make the slowest, least dangerous counter attack of the game.

90+1. min.
Four minutes of stoppage time


90+1. min.
Wanchope kicks a half-hearted shot on goal. Mora blocks it down with no trouble.

90+2. min.
GOAL ECUADOR


90+2. min.
Mendez crosses to Kaviedes
and Kaviedes stretches his leg to flick the ball past Porras.

90+3. min.
All of Ecuador's strikers get a place on the scorecard while the defenders cherish their spot as the only team in the group not to give up a goal. Will that change when they face Germany?

90+4. min.
That's it in Hamburg
Codjia blows the whistle and Ecuador celebrate advancing to the second round.

All for standing now
Ecuador's win puts them and the Germans in the World Cup's round of 16, all that will be decided on Tuesday in Berlin, when the two teams meet, is who will be at the top of the group and who comes in second. Sorry to Poland and Costa Rica ticket holders -- you're teams will be left playing for the unenviable third spot.