Wednesday June 16th

Group H

Chile too hot for Honduras

Chile 1 Honduras 0 ((Nelspruit)
In a one-sided match a single goal gave Chile 3 points. A free-kick from Fernandez dipped over the bar in the 3rd minute and half an hour later Chile were ahead when Beausejour forced a low cross into the net. In first-half stoppage time a Nunez free-kick was pushed over the bar by Bravo in the Chile goal, but Chile dominated the match after the break as Sanchez ran into the box in the 62nd minute but dragged his shot wide and 2 minutes later a free-kick was headed back onto the diving head of Ponce bringing a superb save out of Valladares. In the 69th minute the ball was taken off the toe of Isla as he was about to pull the trigger from close range and despite some fluent football Chile had to settle for a 1-0 win.

Spain suffer Swiss shock

Switzerland 1 Spain 0 (Durban)

Switzerland caused the biggest upset of the World Cup so far by beating European champions Spain. Pique got himself into a shooting position in the 24th minute with a dribble in the box but Benaglio blocked his effort, and 2 minutes later at the other end Casillas got down to foil a free-kick from Ziegler. A long ball in the 52nd minute found its way into the Spanish box and Gelson Fernandes bundled it in to give Switzerland a shock lead. Benaglio got down to gather a shot from Villa in the 57th minute and reacted quickly to save at his feet 4 minutes later. Iniesta bent the ball round the post in the 63rd minute, and Torres won the ball in the box, turned but scooped it over the bar in the 68th minute while in the 70th minute Xabi Alonso hit the crossbar with a rocket from just outside the area. The Swiss almost scored a second in the 76th minute when Derdiyok dribbled in the box but knocked the ball against the post, and came close in the 82nd with a shot from Barnetta, but Spain had by far more possession without a point to show for.

Group A

Hosts brought down to earth

South Africa 0 Uruguay 3 (Pretoria)

Uruguay silenced the South African crowd with a convincing 3-0 win over Bafana Bafana. Diego Forlan let fly from 30 yards beating Khune with a slight deflection after 24 minutes and Suarez hit the side-netting with a shot in the 33rd minute. The match was settled in the 76th minute when Khune got down to beat away a shot from Suarez only to bring him down moments later when the ball was launched back into the area, earning himself a red card and giving Uruguay a penalty which Forlan dispatched high into the net past substitute keeper Moeneeb Josephs after having to wait for 3 minutes. In the 5th minute of added-on time Forlan crossed the ball to Suarez who lifted it over the keeper for Pereira to nod over the line for the third.