Live Coverage: World Cup live: June 18 - as it happened

Hello and welcome to Sports Mole's live news coverage from day seven of the World Cup in Brazil. It's sure to be another busy day at the tournament, and you can keep up to date with all of the latest news, gossip and reaction right here with us. Let's get the ball rolling by checking out some of the headlines from overnight...

Guillermo Ochoa hails 'best performance' of his career

Sabri Lamouchi: 'Didier Drogba likely to be on bench again'

Raheem Sterling "happy to play anywhere"

Thiago Silva praises "World Cup of all World Cups"

Benoit Assou-Ekotto: 'French blame black players when things go wrong'

Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari has claimed that side is improving despite their stalemate with Mexico. The host nation saw their Group A campaign suffer a blip on Tuesday night as they were held to a goalless draw by the Mexicans.

Russia coach Fabio Capello has praised the reaction of his team during their 1-1 draw with South Korea. A goalkeeping error from Igor Akinfeev saw the Koreans take the lead on Tuesday night before Aleksandr Kerzhakov struck to earn the Russians a point in their opening match in Group H.

Similar to Capello, South Korea coach Hong Myung-bo has revealed that he is pleased with his team's 1-1 draw on Tuesday evening.

Mexico coach Miguel Herrera has refused to get carried away by his team's goalless draw with Brazil. The Mexicans put up a solid fight against the hosts on Tuesday to earn a valuable point in their quest to reach the second round.

© Getty Images

A vital clash in Group E takes place on Friday as Switzerland play France in Salvador. Both teams have a great chance of reaching the second round after winning their opening fixtures. You can read our preview of that encounter here.

Brazil midfielder Bernard has described the team's 0-0 draw with Mexico as 'not a bad result'. The hosts were held by the Mexicans on Tuesday as their bid to get out of Group A was dealt a minor blow.

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli has warned his players to expect a backlash from Spain when they meet in Group B tonight. The reigning champions come into the match on the back of a humiliating 5-1 defeat to the Netherlands in their opening fixture.

A bit of whimsy from the England camp now, with one excitable Brazilian fan taking the mickey out of the team following their defeat to Italy on the weekend. You can check out the video, filmed by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on the team bus, right here.

Russia coach Fabio Capello has backed goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev following his error during Tuesday's draw with South Korea. Akinfeev saw Lee Keun-Ho's shot slip through his grasp to give the Koreans the lead before Aleksandr Kerzhakov spared his blushes by netting an equaliser with 15 minutes left.

© Getty Images

Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan has urged his teammates to fight any nerves when they face Germany on Saturday. The Black Stars, who lost their opening match to the USA, will be all but out of the tournament if they are beaten by the Group G leaders.

Happy birthday to @slimaniislam (26) #ALG, Shusaku Nishikawa (28) #JPN & #RUS head coach Fabio Capello (68) - http://t.co/E9uGyLbg7b — FIFAWorldCup (@FIFAWorldCup) June 18, 2014

Chile midfielder Arturo Vidal has played down any concerns surrounding his fitness by claiming that he is "fine". The 27-year-old played an hour of his country's opening win of the tournament against Australia after recovering from a knee injury.

Croatia striker Mario Mandzukic has revealed that he is "eager" to make his first appearance at the World Cup against Cameroon this evening. The 28-year-old was forced to miss his team's opening defeat to Brazil last week through suspension.

Ahead of England's crucial encounter with Uruguay on Thursday, we've had a look at the top five previous meetings between the nations. If these matches are anything to go by, tomorrow should be a corker.

Marouane Fellaini has insisted that Belgium deserved their narrow 2-1 victory over Algeria on Tuesday. Fellaini and Dries Mertens both came off the bench to turn the game around for the Belgians late on after they went behind in the first half through Sofiane Feghouli's penalty.

That's all from me for now, but Liam Apicella will now be with you for the next couple of hours to take you through all the latest news from Brazil. Enjoy!

Thanks Jack and afternoon all. The big game tonight is Spain vs. Chile I suppose and the talk is that Diego Costa is going to be dropped after just one outing for the Spaniards. Oh, and Brazil are in dire need of a centre-forward! How things could have been different had Costa picked Brazil and not the world champions!

Brazil need a striker but do England need a new left-back? Should Ashley Cole have gone to the World Cup after Leighton Baines struggled against Italy? No, according to Phil Neville, who has said: "Leighton Baines got some stick for his performance against Italy but I think he will show against Uruguay why he is England's best left-back."

You can read more from Neville on Baines here.

Neville has also had his say on the return of Uruguay talisman Luis Suarez for that match: "If they are as open as they were [against Costa Rica], then our front four will have a field day but I don't think they can play as badly again, and having Suarez available - whatever his condition - will have a massive effect on them.

"He is their talisman but, just as he did not man-mark Andrea Pirlo in the Italy game, Hodgson will not try to deal with Suarez by telling somebody to track him everywhere he goes."

Someone that will be in action tonight is Robin van Persie, who has set a trend on Twitter by scoring a diving header against Spain for the Netherlands last Friday. It seems that even his grandad has joined in!

If Robin Van Persie's Grandad is doing it, you know it's really taking off. #NED #Persieing pic.twitter.com/HUKvDlKbfQ — betway (@betway) June 18, 2014

Talking of goals, one in particular seemed to confuse BBC Sport commentator Jonathan Pearce the other day. It centred around France's second goal against Honduras, which required goal-line technology before it was awarded. Pearce's apparent confusion caused uproar on Twitter, but he has moved to defend himself. Find out what he's had to say here.

Perhaps the heat in Brazil got to Pearce and Costa Rica's Christian Bolanos is hoping that it also hampers England and Italy in a similar way. Ahead of his nation's group fixtures with those two, he told reporters: "We have to take advantage of the climate, as it's really hot here. We know the climate will be in favour of Costa Rica, and we have to take advantage of that."

You can read more from Copenhagen midfielder here.

Paul Scholes had found a voice all of a sudden, hasn't he? In his latest blog, the former England international has backed Wayne Rooney to shine against Uruguay tomorrow, providing that he is played in the right position.

He told Paddy Power: Wayne Rooney can destroy Lugano, if Wayne is played in his best position. I've read that Rooney stayed for extra shooting practice after training with England on Monday. It doesn't surprise me. That's standard Wayne – he'd be out all day and you'd have to drag him in. But I'll say it again, Wayne has to play up front. Rio Ferdinand and Alan Shearer have repeated it on the BBC. Play our best goalscorer in his best position and he'll get goals. His record at international level supports that. It's not rocket science."

Let's make the most of hearing something from Scholes, shall we? Here's his take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal's 4-0 defeat to Germany: Ronaldo is dedicated to his profession like nobody else. I've never met a harder-working player. The talent he's got is incredible. I've watched him train hard, go in and do weights, then afterwards he'd be there for two hours practising free-kicks. There is no doubt Ronaldo has become the absolute best he can.

"Ultimately though, against Germany on Monday, he was let down by his Portugal team-mate Pepe. What an absolute clown. One moment of madness can change everything."

Hands up who had Costa Rica beating Uruguay on Saturday?! That will be no-one then! Here, we've previewed their second group encounter against Italy, which will be played on Friday.

It seems that the Dutch will have a large following in Porto Alegre for their match with Australia, which gets underway in just over an hour from now:

Netherlands players bus surrounded by fans in Porto Alegre (via @OnsOranje ) pic.twitter.com/WqIXoNjuMH

— Dutch Football (@football_oranje) June 18, 2014

Staying with Holland, Louis van Gaal's starting lineup for the clash with the Aussies has just been released...

NETHERLANDS XI: Cillessen; Janmaat, Vlaar, De Vrij, Martins-Indi, Blind; De Jong, De Guzman, Sneijder; Robben, Van Persie

How do you improve a side that thrashed champions Spain 5-1? Unsurprisingly, you can't! Van Gaal has stuck with the same 11 players that shocked the Spanish, with the likes of Robin van Persie, Arjen Robben and Wesley Sneijder all included.

For a closer look at that Dutch team and the Australian players that they will be up against, here is our full team news piece.

That is my stint on this blog done for today, but a refreshed Jack Prescott will soon be returning to look ahead to the Dutch game, as well as plenty of other news from Brazil. Over to you Jack...

Thanking you, Liam. Right, our live text coverage for this evening's match between the Netherlands and Australia has just gone live. You can follow all of the action here.

Belgium winger Kevin de Bruyne has praised the patient approach of the team following their victory over Algeria. The Belgians scored two goals in the final 20 minutes on Tuesday as they came from behind to earn a 2-1 win in their Group H opener.

Didier Drogba has insisted that the Ivory Coast are not at the World Cup just to make up the numbers. The Elephants got their campaign off to a winning start on Sunday as they fought back to beat Japan 2-1.

Here's a reminder that you can follow Sports Mole's live text coverage of this evening's early kickoff between the Netherlands and Australia here. Just over 15 minutes until that one gets underway in Porto Alegre.

Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas has predicted that coach Vicente del Bosque will make few changes for the team's World Cup clash with Chile tonight. Del Bosque is thought to be considering multiple changes to his starting XI following last week's 5-1 thrashing by the Netherlands.

Uruguay captain Diego Lugano has been ruled out of his team's crucial World Cup encounter with England on Thursday due to a knee injury. Considering his performance against Costa Rica, we're not sure if that's a good thing or not for the Three Lions.

Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi has praised the impact of Andrea Pirlo on the national team. The 35-year-old played a key role for the Azzurri on Saturday during their opening win over England at the tournament.

We've had about 30 minutes of football in Porto Alegre and it's already produced plenty of action. It's currently 1-1 between the Netherlands and Australia, with Arjen Robben's impressive solo effort being cancelled out by a sensational volley from Tim Cahill. You can follow our live text updates here.

Edinson Cavani has urged his Uruguay teammates to stay focused when they face England on Thursday. Both sides come into the match needing a win after losing their respective opening fixtures of the tournament.

The half-time whistle has just gone in Porto Alegre, where it is 1-1 between Australia and the Netherlands. The match has already seen to brilliant goals, but that volley from Tim Cahill is one of the goals of the tournament so far. Read up on the opening 45 minutes with our report.

That's all from me for today, but I'll now be handing over to Pascal Lemesre to take you through all of the latest news for the next couple of hours.

Cheers JP. As Jack mentioned, a great first half that was highlighted by this tremendous strike from Cahill. Second-half updates here.

© Getty Images

Team news is already out for the second game of the day too, with Spain coach Vicente del Bosque dropping two of his most famous players for the game against Chile. Full lineups here.

GOAL for Australia! This World Cup just keeps on giving! The Socceroos are now 2-1 up as Crystal Palace's Mile Jedinak coolly slots home a penalty after a dubious Dutch handball.

And giving, and giving and giving! Netherlands strike back straight away as Robin van Persie matches Arjen Robben on three tournament goals with a rocket near-post finish. Brilliant!

Goodness me, what a game in Porto Alegre. The Aussies have a great chance to go in front, but can't take it and Netherlands race down the other end and score through Memphis Depay. 3-2 to the Dutch!

Big, big news coming out of the Portugal camp as Cristiano Ronaldo could miss the rest of the tournament.

© AFP

MATCH REPORT: Holland make it two wins out of two as they come from 2-1 down to beat Australia 3-2 in a Porto Alegre thriller.

#AUSvsNED: #Ned maintain their 100% #WorldCup record with a thrilling 3-2 victory over #Aus: http://t.co/aqqqxopAke pic.twitter.com/uDZgBL5PXl — Sports Mole (@SportsMole) June 18, 2014

Dear me, apparently there's some trouble at the Maracana ahead of Spain's vital meeting with Chile. Mirror journalist Ed Malyon tweets: "Chilean fans have invaded [the media centre] and are trashing the place. Walls, TVs going over. An astonishing amount of people keen to film it."

Here's a good picture of the chaos:

Total chaos at Maracana as dozens of Chile fans break through fences + charge into press centre. pic.twitter.com/zl9cCBJFlB

— Martyn Ziegler (@martynziegler) June 18, 2014

It's a real mess here. Hopefully no one hurt. pic.twitter.com/8QJ4Shc3IA — Matthew Stanger (@MatthewStanger) June 18, 2014

Scary moment we #CHI fans just broke down a barrier and stormed stadium. https://t.co/IeVbWrRnry — Sam Laird (@samcmlaird) June 18, 2014

Away from the chaos, you can follow our live text coverage of the match by clicking here.

Read more about the crazy scenes at the Maracana here.

Our World Cup previews continue as we look ahead to Friday's late game between Honduras and Ecuador.

The two sets of players have just walked out at the Maracan. Remember, you can follow detailed live updates with our minute-by-minute updates.

Anyhoo, that's my stint on the blog over and I'll now be handing over to Shane Callaghan, who will guide you through the next few hours of World Cup action. Over to you, Shane...

Cheers Pascal. Yes, I've got you for three hours folks so stay tuned for World Cup news and, of course, updates on Spain's clash with Chile at the Maracana.

As we've already told you, hoards of Chile fans forced their way into the stadium tonight via the press area so they're obviously expecting a cracker. We are, too. Join Matt Law for Sports Mole's live commentary.

GOAL! Spain 0-1 Chile (Vargas) Disaster for Spain as the reigning champions go behind in the Maracana thanks to Eduardo Vargas's 20th minute tap-in. Just a reminder that Spain need to avoid defeat here in order to keep alive their hopes of a last-16 spot!

The Netherlands all but sealed their passage to the last-16 stage of the World Cup with a 3-2 win over Australia earlier today. Click here to check out Joe Fish's match analysis of another Dutch win.

Arjen Robben believes that the Netherlands took a "big step" into the second round of the World Cup by beating Australia 3-2 earlier today.

It's half-time at the Maracana and Spain are on the brink of being eliminated from the World Cup as Chile boast a two-goal lead at the break! Follow our live commentary to see how the second half pans out for the reigning champions.

Phil Neville doubts that Luis Suarez is fully fit ahead of England's clash with Uruguay tomorrow night. There'll be plenty of Three Lions fans hoping that the Liverpool man is indeed bluffing over his condition!

They're back underway at the Maracana. Spain, trailing 2-0 courtesy of first-half goals from Eduardo Vargas and Charles Aranguiz, are 45 minutes away from being knocked out! Who would've thought that? Not me. Not Paul the Octopuss or the turtle we've got this year. They haven't won three successive major tournaments for no reason, though. Follow the remainder of the game here.

England boss Roy Hodgson has been speaking about Wayne Rooney ahead of tomorrow's huge clash with Uruguay. Although Hodgson refuses to say if the Manchester United ace will start, he does expect "big things" from the 28-year-old.

15 minutes left at the Maracana and Spain are yet to score one of the two goals they need in order to avoid an early elimination from the World Cup. Follow the final 15 minutes with Matt Law here.

It's all over in the Maracana and Spain, the defending champions, have been eliminated from the World Cup at the first hurdle! Catch the match report here and stay tuned for analysis, player ratings and reaction to what is truly incredible news.

It will be hard to follow that one in terms of drama, but Croatia and Cameroon will try their best. Join Barney Corkhill for the live commentary as these two contest their second Group A game. Please note that kickoff is scheduled for 11pm.

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque has admitted that his team deserve to be heading home from the World Cup after losing 2-0 to Chile at the Maracana tonight.

Click here to read Matt Law's in-depth analysis as defending champions Spain crashed out of the World Cup at the first hurdle following a 2-0 defeat to Chile tonight.

That's all from me folks. You're being left in the hands of Simon Sinclair, who will bring you updates on Cameroon vs. Croatia as well as further news on what has been another fine day of World Cup action. Cheers.

Cheers Shane, good evening everyone as promised I am Simon Sinclair and I'll be guiding through the rest of day's World Cup action and latest news. Cameroon vs. Croatia has just got underway and you can follow our minute-by-minute coverage here.

Ahead of England's crucial World Cup clash with Uruguay tomorrow, captain Steven Gerrard believes that his side need to approach the game like they would a cup final.

© Getty Images

GOAL! Croatia have taken the lead in the Group A game in Manuas as Ivica Olic has fired them ahead in the 11th minute.

Following his side's win over Australia earlier today, Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal has admitted that he was always confident that his side would take all three points, despite them falling behind early in the second half.

RED CARD! Just as we approach half time in the Group A clash between Croatia and Cameroon, matters have got worse for Volker Finke's side as Alex Song has just been sent off. So not only are they 1-0 down, but they are also forced to play the last 50 minutes with 10 men.

Half time in the Group A clash between Croatia and Cameroon and Ivica Olic's 11th-minute strike remains the difference between the sides. Volker Finke's side now face an uphill challenge to remain in the tournament as they need at least a point from the game, but they will have to do it with 10 men.

GOAL! They've just got back underway in the Manuas and Croatia have doubled their lead through Ivan Perisic, it's looking very bleak for 10-man Cameroon now. For minute-by-minute coverage follow all the action here.

GOAL! Croatia score again as Mario Mandzukic finds the net with a header and that appears to be it for Cameroon's hopes in this tournament. It's a shame for them it could end this way, as Croatia look like they are capable of scoring with every attack.

England boss Roy Hodgson has confirmed that winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will miss the Three Lions' crucial World Cup clash with Uruguay on Thursday. The 20-year-old suffered a knee injury in England's warm-up game and despite making a return to training this week he's not ready for a return to action. That's a bit of a blow for England.

© Getty Images

FULL TIME It's all over for Cameroon they are out of the World Cup as they have been hammered by Croatia 4-0 in Manuas. Mario Mandzukic bagged a brace for Niko Kovac's side while there were also goals for Ivan Perisic and Ivica Olic and it could have been so many more had they had their shooting boots. Croatia now face a showdown with Mexico in their final game for qualification for the second round.

Jump back to earlier in the day and Spain's shock exit from the World Cup. Matt Law has run the rule over each players' performance in Chile's win, so see who has come in for praise and criticism here. I'll give you a hint, Spain don't come out of it very well.

Check out our comprehensive report of the action from Cameroon's exit from the World Cup at the hands of Croatia here.

© Getty Images

Spain keeper Iker Casillas has admitted that he is bemused by his side's exit for the World Cup at the group stage following their 2-0 defeat to Chile. Considering La Roja had an excellent defensive record in their triumph in 2010, conceding seven goals in the first two games might have something to do with them crashing out.

Barney Corkhill has been hard at work analysing Croatia's thumping 4-0 win over Cameroon, which has seen Volker Finke's side eliminated from the World Cup. Check out Barney's article here.

England captain Steven Gerrard has been speaking again ahead of the Three Lions' crucial World Cup showdown with Uruguay. He along with Roy Hodgson and Frank Lampard have been stressing the importance of the fixture, as they could be eliminated with a defeat.

He told reporters: "We have got a must-win scenario. It could be a terrible long, frustrating summer if we don't get it right on Thursday. There is no hiding place for a player when you go out of a tournament."

One of the greats of the game has come out in support of Wayne Rooney. Brazil legend Pele has admitted that that Manchester United striker would be one of the first names on his teamsheet if he was England manager.

That does it for Sports Mole's live news coverage today. Check out our reports of today's games as Chile eliminated Spain from the World Cup, the Netherlands booked their place in the second round of the tournament with a win over Australia. While Cameroon crashed out of the tournament courtesy of a heavy defeat to Croatia.

Thanks for joining our coverage throughout the day and be sure to check back at 11am tomorrow when Matt Domm kicks off an important day for England in Brazil. But from me, it's goodbye.