The Black Stars from Ghana and the Socceroos from Australia dished out a third successive 1-1 draw at the Royal Bafokeng stadium in Rustenburg. It was an entertaining draw, however, as both sides were positive in their intent and looked to take the game to the opposition. The match was off to the perfect start for the Australians as they got an early lead from Brett Holman courtesy a goalkeeping error from Richard Kingson. The joy for the Aussies was short lived though as Harry Kewell got sent off later in the first half for handling the ball on the line. Then of the resultant penalty Asamoah Gyan sent Schwarzer the wrong way and brought the Ghanaians to parity.

The second half saw both teams going all out to bolster their qualification hopes. However, the umpteen chances had no finishing touch to cap the proceedings as the match ended as a draw. The Group D points table now ensures that all the four teams have a chance to make their way into the last 16 of the FIFA World Cup.

An all-round attacking display from a slick Chilean outfit got them a vital 1-0 win against 10-man Switzerland in a top-of-the-table Group H encounter at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium at Port Elizabeth today. With as many as 19 shots on goal and having enjoyed 70% of the possession, Chile were deserved winners in an encounter that was otherwise marred by some poor refereeing. An unprecedented 9 yellow-cards and Valon Behrami's sending off killed what could otherwise have been an entertaining encounter, as Switzerland were left to guard their citadel for almost an hour with 10-men.

Both Chile and Switzerland were coming on the back of 1-0 wins, Chile having trounced Honduras while Switzerland produced a brilliant defensive display to overcome favourites Spain by the same margin. Chile received a major boost with striker Humberto Suazo back in the squad, with the man having scored 12 goals in his country's qualification campaign. Switzerland made three changes to their team, with Steve von Bergen coming in place of the injured Philippe Senderos. Both Alexander Frei and Valon Behrami, having been declared fit, walked right back into the team too.

In the second FIFA World Cup Group C encounter of the day, England took on Algeria at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town with an eye on taking control after a 2-2 draw between USA and Slovenia had put them in with a great chance of going top of the group with a good win against the Africans. But an awful team performance meant they came away with only a point, and now find themselves sitting in third place in the group on the verge of a shock exit.

In the build up to the match, the question on most people's minds was whether or not Fabio Capello would stick by Robert Green after his gaffe in the previous match against USA had cost England a win. Many believed he would, after having criticised the Jubalani ball for being the reason behind the West Ham keeper's error, but a couple of hours before kick-off news filtered out that David James would be drafted in. Emile Heskey retained his position, despite facing criticism for missing a couple of glorious chances in the previous match, while James Milner made way for the return of Gareth Barry. Skipper Steven Gerrard moved out to wide left, as he has so often during the Qualifying rounds.

A Wesley Sneijder screamer complimented by a misjudged save from Eiji Kawashima was enough for the Netherlands to eke out a 1-0 victory over Japan and pull through to the top of Group E, in an otherwise uninspiring FIFA World Cup Group E encounter at Durban today. The Netherlands were far from their flowing best, having struggled to expose weaknesses in the Japanese backline in the first half. However, they did not rush the issue, instead showing great composure and belief in their style of play, eventually breaking down the resolute Asian outfit, and for all practical purposes confirming qualification in turn.

Coming on the back of comprehensive victories over Denmark and Cameroon respectively, both Netherlands and Japan fielded unchanged sides. This meant that Arjen Robben, nursing injury, was once again left on the bench with the Dutch going in with their favoured 4-2-3-1. Arsenal striker Robin van Persie was the lone man upfront, expected to hold the ball with the likes of Wesley Sneijder and Rafael Van der Vaart applying added pressure. Japan were, in turn, playing with quite an aggressive 4-3-3 formation when with the ball, which would turn into 4-5-1 without it. The onus of scoring against the Dutch lying primarily on the Keisuke Honda - Daisuke Matsui duo.

Cameroon were knocked out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, after losing 2-1 to Denmark despite having taken an early lead and dominating for most of the match. The result also sees Group F leaders, the Netherlands become the first team to book their place in the Round of 16.

Cameroon had made the news for all the wrong reasons since their opening round loss to Japan. There were reports that senior players in the squad were unhappy with the manager, Paul Le Guen, for fielding a number of youngsters against Japan instead of seasoned players such as Rigobert Song and Geremi, and also overlooking Arsenal's Alexandre Song. Samuel Eto'o was forced to deny the reports during the pre-match press conference, stating that the team is united in their pursuit for a place in the Round of 16.

New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen is refusing to play the role of happy-go-lucky underdog when the All Whites take on defending world champions Italy in Nelspruit on Sunday. Nelsen will lead an unchanged line-up out against the Azzurri at Mbombela Stadium, where a win for either side would see them break free of the Group F logjam - all four sides have one point after their first match - and put one foot into the knockout stages.

Bookmakers may have the All Whites at long odds to beat the four time World Cup winners but Nelsen doesn't think that means a New Zealand side with hopes of springing more surprises has nothing to lose.