Ecuador's Valencia jumps as Switzerland's Benaglio slides to kick the ball away as Djourou watches during their 2014 World Cup Group E soccer match at the Brasilia national stadium in Brasilia
Ecuador's Enner Valencia (C) jumps as Switzerland's Diego Benaglio (L) slides to kick the ball away as Switzerland's Johan Djourou watches during their 2014 World Cup Group E soccer match at the Brasilia national stadium in Brasilia, June 15, 2014. REUTERS/Eddie Keogh

Final Score

Honduras 1 Ecuador 2

Overview

The twenty sixth match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Honduras and Ecuador. The Group E match should be interesting as both Honduras and Ecuador know that a loss in this match will possibly ruin any dream of securing a place in the "group of 16". With both teams having lost one each, it will be "do or die."

Teams

Honduras: Honduras had to face a tough opposition in its first match. France had an easy win against a team that became a 10-man squad after Wilson Palacios had been sent off. Moreover, it scored an own goal in the second half and conceded one more to suffer defeat. While France was busy making a strong impression in its first match, Honduras could only be a witness. Honduras is often criticised for indulging in harsh tackles. Honduras manager Luis Suarez, on the other hand, defended his team's style of tackling. A lot of improvement is required with not much time left. Honduras will face another tough task against Ecuador.

Ecuador: Ecuador played quite well against a team which is considered to be one of the finest in the tournament. The efficient Swiss team was forced to tolerate a 1-1 draw until the 92nd minute. Haris Seferović's goal at the last minute of the play separated the two. Coach Reinaldo Rueda later said that his team got overwhelmed by emotions and paid the price. Ecuador needs to work on its organisational skills which it is known for. At the same time, it needs to show restraint in its skills to be more convincing when it matters the most.

Head to Head

These two teams played 13 times against each other before, and 8 of those ended in a draw. Honduras won 2 and Ecuador 3. There were 27 goals. Ecuador scored 14 of those and Honduras 13.

Key Players

Honduras: Carlo Costly and Jerry Bengtson

Ecuador: Enner Valencia and Felipe Caicedo

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 7 pm (local time) on June 20, which means it is 8 am on June 21 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba.

Prediction

The history of these teams shows that there is hardly anything that can separate the two. This is going to be a highly competitive game. As Honduras will probably not change its aggressive nature of playing, there will be a lot of tackles. Ecuador will eventually win it 2-1.

Group Predictions

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G & Group H

Reference: FIFA

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au