Greece v Ivory Coast, 24 June 2014

Kick-off 5.00pm local (9.00pm BST) Man of the Match: Georgios Samaras (Greece) Assistant referees: Christian Lescano (Ecuador) Byron Romero (Ecuador) Fourth official: Sandro Ricci (Brazil) Fifth official: Emerson de Carvalho (Brazil) The two teams had never met before. Greece midfielder Kostas Katsouranis (red card in previous match) and Ivory Coast defender Didier Zokora (accumulation of yellow cards) were suspended for the match. Greece, which had to win to have any chance to qualify for the knockout stage, went in front in the 42nd minute after Cheick Tioté's defensive mistake allowed substitute Andreas Samaris to steal the ball, play a one-two with Georgios Samaras, and run in on goal before shooting past the goalkeeper with his right foot. In the second half, substitute Wilfried Bony equalised with a low right foot finish after Gervinho's pass from the left. As Japan were losing to Colombia in the other match played at the same time, Ivory Coast only required a point to qualify for the knockout stage for the first time. The game looked to be heading for a draw, until Greece won a penalty in injury time when Giovanni Sio tripped Samaras as he was about to strike the ball, and Samaras scored the penalty hitting the ball to the goalkeeper's left. The win meant Greece finished as the group runners-up, and put them into the knockout stage for the first time in its World Cup history (after unsuccessful campaigns in 1994 and 2010), while Ivory Coast were eliminated in the group stage for the third tournament in a row. Controversy - Ecuadorean referee Carlos Vera awarded Greece a late penalty kick in the 91st minute of the match when he called a foul on Ivory Coast forward Giovanni Sio in a play where replays showed that Greek midfielder Georgios Samaras stubbed his foot into the pitch after the contact and fell down. Samaras converted the subsequent penalty kick to give Greece a 2–1 victory, which meant that they would advance on to the knockout stage. Had the penalty not been called, Ivory Coast would have advanced in a 1–1 draw. FIFA, however, accepted the penalty by appointing the referee as Fourth Official on the Final.