1. Costa Rica
2. Uruguay
3. Italy
4. Nigeria

Good Luck Neal but considering how things turned out in real life, I imagine Costa Rica and Uruguay will go through.

Heaps of info and effort put into the wc mate nice stuff.

tallery1164: Thanks bud, glad you like it

The Madridista: Hahaha well if that happens I will go through my story and thank every single comment

walkinshaw: Cheers bud, I can't wait for the tournament to truly begin!

Italy fans back in Rome had plenty to celebrate as their beloved national side stormed to a 5-0 victory over Costa Rica in their World Cup opener.

Today the newly rebuilt Makhachkala Stadium hosted Italy and Costa Rica in the very first Group F match of the World Cup. So far it had been a World Cup full of shocks and surprise results with underdogs snatching wins here and there; could Costa Rica follow suit and nick a point or 3 off of powerhouse Italy?

First, let's take a look at how each time lined up:

---

Italy Starting XI (4-1-2-1-2)
Salvatore Sirigu; Mattia Ronconi, Andrea Ranocchia, Leonardo Bonucci, Guilherme Siqueira; Daniele De Rossi (C); Andrea Poli, Lorenzo Crisetig; Sebastian Giovinco; Alberto Paloschi, Lorenzo Insigne

Costa Rica Starting XI (4-4-1-1)
Esteban Alvarado; Nestor Rojas, Pablo Quesada, Ariel Soto (C), Francisco Calvo; John Ruiz, Jorge Ortiz, Everod Scott, Bryan Oviedo; Marcos Urena; Celso Borges

---

There were certainly a few interesting selections on both sides. For the Costa Ricans, Celso Borges was given a surprise start over Atletico Madrid striker Joel Campbell, one of the country's brightest talents in history. For Italy, AC Milan teenager Mattia Ronconi was given a start at right back as Ignazio Abate and Alessandro Crescenzi had to make do with a spot on the bench.

It seemed as though the Costa Ricans had done quite well tactically for the first half hour of the match. Italy struggled to break down the two banks of four their opposition had placed in front of them, with both Lorenzo Insigne and Alberto Paloschi not making much of an impact on the game.

Six minutes before halftime, though, Inter Milan captain Andrea Ranocchia broke the the deadlock by heading home from Inter teammate Andrea Poli's perfectly weighted corner kick. Lorenzo Insigne doubled Italy's advantage just minutes later after he received the ball out wide from Sebastian Giovinco, cut onto his right foot, and curled one into the bottom far corner.

---

Andrea Ranocchia scored his 3rd ever international goal with his header against Costa Rica in his 45th cap for the Azzurri.

---

Four minutes of genius later, the Azzurri went into the break 2-0 up in their first World Cup match and looking by far the deadlier side. After the break, the Italians continued to play in the same attacking vein, and suddenly their midfield was running circles around that of Costa Rica.

In the 55th minute, the Italians won a free kick dead center, 25 yards away. Active top scorer Sebastian Giovinco stepped up but was frustrated to see his swerving effort cannon off of the crossbar. Central defender Leonardo Bonucci was the quickest to react, however, and the Juventus linchpin tapped home from close range to make it 3-0 to Italy.

After about an hour or so of play, Giuseppe Bergomi started to make a few substitutions. Andrea Romano and Mattia Destro replaced Lorenzo Crisetig and Alberto Paloschi, supposedly to see if the players could impress. Alessandro Crescenzi also checked in for Mattia Ronconi who had picked up a knock a few minutes beforehand.

Crescenzi had an immediate impact off of the bench. Two minutes after subbing on, the Valencia fullback had made a lung-bursting run down the right flank and whipped in a delightful cross between the defense and goalkeeper. Costa Rica captain Ariel Soto made a gamble to try and clear the ball, only to embarrassingly deflect it into his own net. A few minutes later, Lorenzo Insigne rifled into the top corner from all of 25 yards to complete the 5-0 rout.

---

Lorenzo Insigne starred with two goals as Italy started off their World Cup campaign with a brilliant 5-0 victory over Central American minnows Costa Rica.

---

"I am extremely happy with the way we played today," said Bergomi after the match. "Costa Rica are not a team to underestimate, but we went out there and played very professionally. Now we have to remain focused and play just as well in the next game, and the next game, and so on."

FIFA's man of the match Andrea Ranocchia was equally ecstatic after the game, telling the press, "I am overjoyed to have scored, of course, but more importantly to the team we won and played very well. This is a statement of intent for us; we are going to go far in this tournament."

Italy's next game is in 5 days against Nigeria at the Olympic Stadium in Sochi. In the other game in the group, a Luis Suarez brace and a goal from Inter Milan's Alvaro Pereira helped lead Uruguay to an impressive 4-0 win over Nigeria. Until the next round of matches, the Group F fixtures and standings are as follows:

I find it really weird how you managed to get Uruguay and Costa Rica in your group xP Great win, well done! One more to qualify plz.

Suarez will bite his way through your team!

AaronHJFT96: Hahah yes this game is more realistic than I thought!

TheMS99: I've requested we get a bit for him to protect my players but FIFA rejected

Italy and Nigeria were on two entirely opposite spectrums following their first games in this World Cup. Italy were on a high after their 5-0 demolition job against Costa Rica; Nigeria, however, were still reeling and licking their wounds from the 4-0 thrashing that Luis Suarez's Uruguay had given them.

Both sides knew a win was imperative; if Italy could scrounge together a win, and, as it seemed likely, Uruguay were to beat Costa Rica, the Azzurri would be through to the Knockout Stages with a game in hand. With that same result, though, if Nigeria did not win, they would be out of the competition. With that in mind, here's how both sides lined up for this Group Stage clash in Sochi.

---

Italy Starting XI (4-1-2-1-2)
Salvatore Sirigu; Alessandro Crescenzi, Andrea Ranocchia, Guilherme Siqueira; Daniele De Rossi (C); Andrea Poli, Lorenzo Crisetig; Sebastian Giovinco; Lorenzo Insigne, Mattia Destro

Nigeria Starting XI (4-1-3-1-1)
Vincent Enyeama; Daniel Adejo, Obinna Nnanna, Kenneth Omeruo, Taye Taiwo; John Obi Mikel; Chuks Aneke, Lukman Haruna, Izunna Uzochukwu; Emmanuel Igiebor; Brown Ideye

---

Giuseppe Bergomi made two key changes to the side that destroyed Costa Rica. Valencia right back Alessandro Crescenzi started at right back after impressing off the bench, along with the fact that teenager Mattia Ronconi picked up a damaged elbow, ruling him out of this game. Mattia Destro also got the start up top after a nice cameo off the bench, replacing the quiet Alberto Paloschi.

Eight minutes in, the Azzurri began their dominance. Guilherme Siqueira received the ball out on the left flank and wasted no time whipping a cross into the near post for Sebastian Giovinco to poke home from close range. It was the Juventus attacking midfielder's 24th goal for Italy, and he looked ecstatic.

For the remainder of the first half, however, the Azzurri struggled to create anything. Nigerian's five central midfielders (yes, you read that correctly: five central midfielders) did very well to stifle Bergomi's classic diamond midfield. At halftime, the boss brought on Giacomo Bonaventura for Mattia Destro; Bonaventura slotted in on the right and Giovinco shifted to the left, creating a 4-3-3.

The addition of these wingers proved vital. Nigeria, though very condensed in the center of the park, was found out by the wingers and overlapping fullbacks razing up the flanks. Five minutes into the second half, this was made apparent as winger Sebastian Giovinco doubled his tally with a delightful volley from Andrea Poli's set piece delivery from the right flank.

Eight minutes after that, the diminutive Giovinco was at it again as he was slotted through by Lorenzo Insigne and chipped the onrushing Enyeama, tripling Italy's advantage and taking Giovinco's tally to 26 on his career, just 1 goal short of the legendary Roberto Baggio.

---

Despite being no more than a backup at Juventus, Sebastian Giovinco is undoubtedly one of the best Italy players of his generation; shown celebrating his incredible hattrick against Nigeria above, the 5'5" midfielder is just 1 goal away from Baggio's all time goalscoring record.

---

To make matters even worse for the suffering Super Eagles, Izunna Uzochukwu was shown a second yellow card for his poor tackle through the back of Lorenzo Crisetig. Brazilian-born Diego and veteran Claudio Marchisio were introduced shortly after to try and stabilize the victory, but there was still some celebration to come.

With three minutes to go in the match, Sebastian Giovinco turned provider, floating in a delightful delivery from the left wing to substitute Giacomo Bonaventura to head home at the back post. The Napoli man, celebrating his 10th goal for the national team, capped a delightful display for Giuseppe Bergomi and his men.

The match ended on an extremely bitter note for Italy, however. Lorenzo Insigne went down in a heap following a challenge from a visibly frustrated John Obi Mikel, and had to be stretchered off. There is no word yet from the Italy camp on how long he will be out, but currently it is not looking promising for the Inter Milan man.

"It's a fantastic win, and we are ecstatic to have made the knockout stage with one match extra," said Bergomi after the game. On the top of Insigne, he could only say, "I am not sure how long he will be out. We are hoping he can make it back, but his ankle looks quite bad."

As Bergomi mentioned, due to Uruguay's dramatic 3-2 win over Costa Rica thanks to a Luis Suarez brace, both Italy and Uruguay have qualified from Group F. The two nations will play each other in 4 days in the Nizhniy Novgorod Stadium to see who will take the top spot. Until, the group table is as follows:

Wow, two fantastic results against two alright teams!

Fantastic couple of results and updates too!

tallery1164: Thanks bud, I'm very happy with the start we've made

pompeyblue: Cheers pomp, glad you are enjoying them

Lorenzo Insigne set to miss out on the remainder of Italy's World Cup campaign

---

In an attempt to hold off a defender while making a sprint in the latter stages of the match against Nigeria, Lorenzo Insigne suffered a very serious ankle sprain, ruling him out for a month and thus ensuring that he will miss the remainder of the World Cup.

Insigne had been in absolutely stellar form coming into this World Cup. The diminutive attacker had finished the season on red hot form for Inter Milan, scoring 7 goals in his last 16 appearances including a game-winning brace in the Coppa Italia final. Insigne continued this form in the pre-World Cup friendlies, burying 5 goals, including a stunning hattrick against the United States.

Expectations were high for the ex-Napoli man coming into the World Cup, and boy did he deliver. In the first match against Costa Rica, Insigne scored twice in their 5-0 win, and he added an assist in the Azzurri's 4-0 thrashing of Nigeria. However, after sustaining the ankle sprain, Insigne's World Cup dreams have been utterly dashed.

---

Lorenzo Insigne was in tears after being stretchered off against Nigeria after suffering a serious ankle injury in the latter stages of the game.

---

The 5'4" striker, who has 13 goals in 24 caps, was unavailable for comment after the game, but Giuseppe Bergomi certainly had a lot to say. "It's a big loss for us. Lorenzo has been playing outstanding football, and without him other players will definitely have to step up if we want to win this competition."

The question for Bergomi is: who will be the one to step up? Sebastian Giovinco proved with his hattrick yesterday that he is still one of the best goalscorers in the team, but Beppe seems to prefer the Juventus player out of midfield. Other than Insigne, no striker has scored yet for Italy, but this has to change against Uruguay.

Gianluca Caprari would be the most natural replacement for Insigne; Mattia Destro and Alberto Paloschi are goal poachers, but the likes of Insigne and Caprari are far more dangerous when they can drop deeper or float wide and influence play. Giacomo Bonaventura could also come into the side and play on the wing, allowing Bergomi's men to shift into a 4-3-3.

Whoever ends up replacing Insigne will have humongous boots to fill; Italy's World Cup winning hopes have certainly taken a severe hit with the loss of their talismanic goalscorer.

Hopefully someone can step up and fill his 'humongous' boots. On to Moscow!

fzemdegs: The humongous boots of a 5'4" striker

Only Uruguay left? TOP SPOT