Uruguay’s Luis Suarez left England on the brink of a FIFA World Cup exit as his double strike gave Uruguay victory this morning.
Liverpool striker Suarez was making his return after a month out following knee surgery and it proved to be bad timing for England and manager Roy Hodgson as his brilliance was the difference in a fiercely‑fought encounter.
Suarez put Uruguay ahead with a first‑half header then scored a superb winner six minutes from time after Wayne Rooney's first goal at a World Cup gave England hope of avoiding a second successive Group D loss.
England will be out unless Italy who overcame England on Sunday beat Costa Rica tomorrow.
England also need Italy to win their final game against Uruguay, which could then see England qualify on goal difference by beating Costa Rica next Wednesday.
No side has ever progressed to the elimination round after losing their first two FIFA World Cup matches.
England last won the World Cup in 1966.
Meanwhile, in other matches Colombia defeated Ivory Coast 2- 1 while Japan and Greece played to a nil-all draw.
This means that Colombia is through to the elimination round. They last reached the knockout stages in the 1990 World Cup held in Italy.
Still on the FIFA World Cup,
FIFA will give USD$35 million to the 2014 World Cup winner in prize money.
The total prize money is expected to hit 576 million US dollars with the runners‑up taking home USD $25 million while the third and fourth placed teams taking $22 million and $20 million, respectively.
Even the eliminated teams take home some cash. Those eliminated in the first round still pocket 8 million US dollars each.
This includes payments to clubs worldwide and an insurance policy to cover injured players' salaries.
FIFA also paid an additional 1.5 million US dollars to each national team to prepare for the World Cup tournament in Brazil.
At the 2010 World Cup, champion Spain earned USD$30 million.
