in their history. However, they were classed as rank outsiders to win the competition, with odds as high as 500/1 being offered. To provide an even number of teams for the playoff bracket, the two teams from the UEFA qualification groups who had finished second in their group with the best record automatically gained qualification to the World Cup. Poland, who finished second in UEFA qualification Group 6 behind England, were one of the teams who were eligible, along with Sweden. Ecuador qualified after finishing in the third of four automatic qualification places in the CONMEBOL qualifying group behind Brazil and Argentina, reaching the finals for only the second time. Similar to Costa Rica, Ecuador were given low odds of around 400/1. In their preview of the tournament, The Guardian labelled Group A as the "weakest" in the competition. Teams Notes Standings Germany advanced to play Sweden (runners-up of Group B) in the round of 16. Ecuador advanced to play England (winners of Group B) in the round of 16. Matches All times local (CEST/UTC+2) Germany vs Costa Rica The opening match of Group A, and the World Cup, was between hosts Germany and Costa Rica. This was the first time the two sides had ever played each other in international football. Germany captain Michael Ballack was forced to withdraw from the starting line-up after failing to overcome an injury and was replaced by Tim Borowski. Defender Philipp Lahm gave Germany the lead after six minutes with a 30-yard curling shot from outside the penalty area that beat opposition goalkeeper José Porras and was described as "unstoppable" by the BBC. In doing so, Lahm became the fourth German player to have opened the scoring at a World Cup. Germany had further long range efforts soon after, before Costa Rica's Paulo Wanchope, already his country's record goalscorer, equalised after 12 minutes after breaching the German defence and finishing past goalkeeper Jens Lehmann. Wanchope's goal saw him become the first Costa Rican player to have scored in more than one World Cup and the second to have scored more than one World Cup goal after Rónald Gómez four years earlier. Germany regained their lead five minutes later when Miroslav Klose finished from Bernd Schneider's cross. Costa Rica's Danny Fonseca became the first player to be booked in the competition after 30 minutes and the midfielder missed a chance to equalise shortly after