It looks like it is going to be another action-packed day as many people’s dark horses Belgium play their opening match against Algeria as do Russia against South Korea in Group H.
There’s also the added bonus of the home nation squaring up to Mexico – a mouth-watering start to the second round of group matches.
It’s easy to get carried away with all this football talk – but luckily for you the World Cup Wrap is here to bring you some of the stories you may have missed in the last 24 hours.
John Brookes celebrates his goal
Brooks in dreamland
“I have a dream” – were the famous words spoken by human rights activist Martin Luther King back in August 1963.
And it has emerged another American uttered the same thing to his international teammates – before his mystic prediction became reality late on Monday evening.
USA defender John Brooks was the pride of the Stars and Stripes as the substitute’s late header sealed a 2-1 win over Ghana – almost exactly as he had predicted.
“It’s unbelievable,’ he told newsmen after the game. “I had a dream, I told my team-mates about it, that I scored in the 80th minute and we won the game. It turned out to be the 86th minute, but it’s still so good!” Japan fans clean up the stadium
What a load of rubbish
Talk about cleaning up your act. Japan supporters consoled themselves after their World Cup defeat to Ivory Coast on Saturday by ensuring they left their end at Arena Pernambuco in Recife in perfect condition.
As is tradition in Japan, fans regularly clear up after themselves both home and away, and they ensured that no rubbish was left on Saturday.
Their actions came as a surprise to many as pictures spread throughout social media, but for once the Twitter masses were full of praise – rather than vitriol.
Oscar celebrates his goal versus Croatia
No cramping Brazil’s style
Since the opening game, there’s been a debate on Twitter as to whether Oscar’s toe-poked effort was down to brilliance or bad goalkeeping.
But as he prepares to face Mexico this evening, the Chelsea midfielder has revealed the secret behind his goal in the 3-1 defeat of Croatia.
He said: “At times like that, anything goes. Most of the lads in our team used to play 'futsal' and we learned to strike it with our toes.
"Anyway, due to cramp in both legs it was the only option I had left."
