Following the 5-0 defeat by Russia in the opening match, Juan Antonio Pizzi made four changes to his starting line up, bringing on goalkeeper Mohammed Al Owais for Abdullah Al Mayouf, centre-back Ali Al Bulaihi for Omar Hawsawi, winger Hattan Bahebri for Yahya Al Shehri and striker Fahad Al Muwallad for Mohammed Al Sahlawi.

The changes produced a much-improved performance from Saudi Arabia as a solitary Luis Suarez strike was the difference at the final whistle.

Uruguay booked their place in the knockout stage along with Russia, as Luis Suarez scored the winner on his 100th international appearance.

The 31-year-old Suarez, whose previous two World Cups both ended in bans after his infamous 2010 handball against Ghana and bite on Italy's Giorgio Chiellini four years later, took advantage of a goalkeeping error by Mohammed Al Owais to put Uruguay ahead midway through the first half.

A lucky Diego Costa goal handed hopefuls Spain their first win of the World Cup although a resilient Iran came close to causing a major upset.

Costa, who scored twice in a 3-3 opening draw with Portugal in Sochi, courted controversy early in the Group B encounter when he stepped on the toes of Iran 'keeper Ali Beiranvand as he waited to kick the ball out.

His gesture went unpunished, and the Atletico Madrid striker required another stroke of luck on 54 minutes when his shot came off Ramin Rezaeian to beat Beiranvand after he had been sent through by Andres Iniesta.

The entire Iranian bench poured onto the pitch when Saeid Ezatolahi fired an equaliser for Team Melli just before the hour.

But the thousands of Iranian supporters that filled the stadium with the sound of vuvuzelas throughout were left disappointed when it was ruled out for offside.

The East Asians could not have got off to a better start when Carlos Sanchez was dismissed for handling Shinji Kagawa’s goalbound effort in the third minute and Kagawa coolly slotted the penalty home.

Colombia responded well and equalised through Juan Quintero before the interval, but Japan came back strongly and secured all three points after Yuya Osako’s decisive goal.

With all the teams having now played one match, the-AFC.com highlights some of the key statistics among the Asian sides in the first of our World Cup Stats Wraps.

Everything points to a highly competitive match-up between nations with respectable FIFA World Cup traditions, desperate to write new and successful chapters in their World Finals history books.

The onus is on Australia as they need to put points on the table after being edged by France 2-1 in their opening match, while Denmark will be motivated by the knowledge that three points could mean a spot in the knockout stage. 

The Danes also have the possibility of winning successive matches for just the second time in their World Cup history.

Long-distance catch-ups, post-match selfies, meet-and-greets with fans and training sessions all feature in this week’s selection of what’s going on in the players’ lives in Russia.