In total, day 14 of the 2014 World Cup saw 12 goals and one potential candidate for goal of the tournament. Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Bosnia-Herzegovina’s Edin Dzeko and Switzerland's Xherdan Shaqiri were just a few of the players responsible for Wednesday’s onslaught of offensive efficiency.
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Below are highlights of all 12 goals and brief recaps of each result.
Nigeria 2-3 Argentina
Goals: Nigeria—Musa 4’, 47’; Argentina—Messi 3’, 45’+2 Rojo 51’
The brilliance of Lionel Messi was enough to see Argentina capture a 3-2 victory over Nigeria on Wednesday. The match opened with a blistering pace, seeing Messi polish off a rebound in the third minute. It took all of sixty seconds for Nigeria’s Ahmed Musa to equalize. The two players would continue dueling moments later. A bending free-kick just before the half allowed Messi to give La Albiceleste a 2-1 lead. Musa responded right after the break with a darting finish of his own. Marcos Rojo would find the eventual match-winner just four minutes later.
Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 Iran
Goals: Bosnia-Herzegovina—Dzeko 23’ Pjanic 59 Vrsajevic 83’; Iran—Ghoochannejhad 82’
Iran was unable to obtain the result it needed, falling to Bosnia-Herzegovina 3-1 on Wednesday. An opening strike from Edin Dzeko gave the Dragons a 1-0 lead. Miralem Pjanic would double the advantage in the second half. Reza Ghoochannejhad was able to pull one back for Irain, but Bosnia-Herzegovina proved to be too much on the afternoon. Avdija Vrsajevic sealed the victory in the 83rd minute with a right-footed shot from the right side of the area.
Ecuador 0-0 France
Goals: None
After 90 minutes in the mecca of Estadio do Maracana, Ecuador and France played to as scoreless draw. A rash challenge from Antonio Valencia saw the captain sent off in the 50th minute, leaving his team down a man for the remainder of the match. Ecuador would only squander chances from there. With the draw, France finishes atop Group E with seven points.
Honduras 0-3 Switzerland
Goals: Switzerland—Shaqiri 6’, 31’, 71’
Honduras’ nightmarish World Cup campaign finally came to an end on Wednesday, seeing the team fall for a third consecutive time. Switzerland’s 3-0 victory was kick started in the sixth minute after a bombastic strike from Xherdan Shaqiri beat goalkeeper Noel Valladares. He would a secure a brace 25 minutes later, polishing off a delicious through ball from Josip Drmic. His one-man performance was capped off by a hat-trick in the 71st minute.
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