France's national soccer team player Karim Benzema attends a training session at the Botafogo soccer club's Santa Cruz stadium in Ribeirao Preto
France's national soccer team player Karim Benzema reacts during a training session at the Botafogo soccer club's Santa Cruz stadium in Ribeirao Preto, 336 km (208 miles) northwest of Sao Paulo, June 21, 2014. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

Final Score

Ecuador 0 France 0

Overview

The forty-second match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Ecuador and France. The Group F match should be quite an interesting contest between the two as this will be Ecuador's last chance to try for a berth in the "group of 16." France, on the other hand, will try to finish the group stage with 9 points.

Teams

Ecuador: This has been a great tournament for South American countries, and Ecuador is one of those. It started well against Switzerland and was all set to secure the first point as the match appeared to end in a draw. However, Haris Seferović scored at the 93rd minute of the match and snatched victory off Ecuador's hands. Ecuador won its next match against Honduras 2-1 and kept its hopes alive to reach the next round. Things won't be easy as it has to win against France which has already scored 8 goals in 2 matches. A draw against France may still take it to the next round only if Switzerland fails to win against Honduras.

France: France has been one of the most impressive teams in this year's tournament. After its hasty exit from 2010 FIFA World Cup, it seems to be completely ready to prove its potential. It won both the matches it has played so far. It scored 5 goals against Switzerland and virtually secured its place in the next round. Karim Benzema has scored 3 goals in 2 matches. He looks to be one of the top contenders for the Golden Boot. France is not going to lose the momentum by getting obstructed by Ecuador. It will definitely try to keep the habit of winning and finish on top.

Head to Head

These two teams played only once against each other before. France won it 2-0.

Key Players

Ecuador: Enner Valencia

France: Karim Benzema

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 5 pm (local time) on June 25, which means it is 6 am on June 26 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Estadio do Maracana in Rio De Janeiro.

Prediction

Ecuador won't be able to match France's standards. France will win it 3-1.

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