France forward Karim Benzema exercises during a training session in Salvador, Brazil on Thursday during the 2014 World Cup. Photo: AFP

Groups E and F come to a conclusion Wednesday and it could be that we will witness the tournament's eventual ­winners in action.
France have been dominant in Group E and there is no reason to see them ­relaxing their iron grip on the top spot. They play Ecuador and will want to keep up their winning streak to send a message to the watching world. Karim Benzema has been devastating in all ­aspects of forward play but coach ­Didier Deschamps appears to know how to get the best out of his pack of attackers, with Valbuena, Giroud and Matuidi also among the scorers in the Equipe's eight goals so far.

France's comfortable position means Deschamps can shrug off the loss of suspended midfielder Yohan Cabaye, with Lille's Rio Mavuba set to come in. He can also contemplate ­replacing center back Mamadou Sakho - who came off against the Swiss with a thigh problem - with Laurent Koscielny.

France only need a point but surely will not settle for that. They should be joined by Switzerland, who play a robust Honduras side who were unlucky to be the losing side after a spirited performance against Ecuador. Honduras can go out with their heads held high after redeeming themselves with attacking soccer after a rather physical performance against the French.

Switzerland will take heart from their late rally against Les Bleus and should be too strong for the Central Americans.

In Group F, it's really a case of who is joining Lionel Messi in the knockout stages. Argentina's talisman has finally recreated his Barcelona form for the national side and his goals have already put the Argentines through. They will want to improve after struggling to break down Iran until Messi's injury-time winner, especially if they want to make the statement that they are contenders for the trophy.

Argentina's opposition, Nigeria, improved to beat Bosnia after they had failed to break down a disciplined Iran rear guard. The Super Eagles will hope to recreate their finest hour, when they beat Argentina for Olympic gold in ­Atlanta, to top the group and avoid meeting the French.

A Nigeria loss is more likely and Iran can seize their opportunity to make the knockouts by sending ­Bosnia home from their debut World Cup without a point. The Persians were resolute in their opening game but cruelly ­unlucky not to get at least a point against ­Argentina. A repeat of the performance against the South Americans will be too much for a Bosnia side that have ­appeared overwhelmed with their bow on the big stage.

Romance would dictate that Bosnia add to their solitary goal and get a point on the board. The out-of-sorts Edin ­Dzeko needs to come good for them to stand a chance of that.



Agencies contributed to this story