The pressure was very much on both Neymar and Brazil to pull up their socks in their second game of the 2018 FIFA World Cup against Costa Rica but the five-time former World Cup champions returned to their winning way in style.

With Messi’s Argentina biting the dust on Thursday against Croatia, all eyes were on their Latin American arch-rivals, Brazil, on Friday night. The Celeste already came under fire following their frustrating draw against Switzerland in their opening game and had an almost make-or-break game against the Central Americans, who lost their opening game against Serbia.

However, the Brazilians were kept at bay by a spirited Costa Rican team and their inspiring goalkeeper Keylor Navas for the 90-minutes of regulation time before the canary yellow brigade, wearing their second-choice blue jersey, struck twice in the stoppage time to register a morale-boosting win.

It was an almost frustrating day for Neymar again as his relentless attempts to break the deadlock went in vain until he found the net towards the end of the injury time after Philippe Coutinho drew the first blood a couple of minutes earlier. The much-needed win brought smiles to the Brazilian players and their fans and raised hopes for a promising World Cup campaign after their seven-goal thrashing on home soil in 2014.

Elsewhere, as Nigeria were taking on a gritty Iceland, Argentina and its fans were hoping for a win for the African nation so that they get a lifeline ahead of their final group league game against the same opponents.

However, against a team that prevented Messi from scoring any goal, a Musa, Ahmed Musa, netted twice to bring home an emphatic 2-0 victory for the Super Eagles and revived their hopes of making it to the second stage. The Western African country had earlier lost their opening game against Croatia and had to beat Iceland to keep their hopes of making it to the second round.

For Nigeria, a draw against Argentina will sail them through to the knockout stage in case the Icelanders bite the dust in their last group league game against group-leaders Croatia. Otherwise, a win will seal the deal in any case. 

On the other hand, Argentina will get a final chance to bring a new lease of life to their already disastrous campaign if they win against Nigeria. It’s going to be a must-win game for the Argentina as they can’t even afford a draw.

Finally, in the day’s third and last game, Serbia, who kick-started their campaign with a win over Costa Rica, suffered a setback after losing 2-1 against a spirited Switzerland on Friday night. Serbia needed a win to ensure a second round berth but a last-gasp goal by the Swiss side spoiled the early second round entry plan by Nemanja Matic and company. 

It was Xherdan Shaqiri who scored a last-minute winner to give Switzerland one foot in the last 16 of the World Cup after their emphatic victory over their Balkan rivals. It was the Serbian side which came out firing on all cylinders from the word go and took the lead when Aleksandar Mitrovic drew the first blood. However, Granit Xhaka scored a thunderous equalizer early in the second half to help the Swiss claw their way back into the game and subsequently win it with Shaqiri’s last-minute strike.