FRIDAY’S GAMES

GROUP E: BRAZIL VS. COSTA RICA

Where: St. Petersburg Time: 5 a.m. PDT TV: FS1, Telemundo The buzz: Brazil’s tournament got off to a ragged start in a draw with Switzerland, and now Neymar is limping out of training because of pain in his right ankle. But Costa Rica may be in even worse shape after losing to Serbia in a game that was dead even. That has the Central Americans needing at least a draw here to keep alive their hopes of getting out of the group.

GROUP E: SERBIA VS. SWITZERLAND

Where: Kaliningrad Time: 11 a.m. PDT TV: Fox, Telemundo The buzz: Aleksandar Kolarov’s stunning free-kick goal made Serbia the only team in the group to win its first game, leaving it in control of its own destiny. A win over Switzerland and it moves on to the knockout stage; even a draw would leave it wellpositioned to advance. For Switzerland, meanwhile, a loss wouldn’t be fatal but it would complicate things, while a win or draw would leave the Swiss in great shape heading into the final game.

GROUP D: NIGERIA VS. ICELAND

Where: Volgograd Time: 8 a.m. PDT TV: Fox, Telemundo. The buzz: Keeper Hannes Halldorsson’s save of a Lionel Messi penalty kick to preserve Iceland’s draw with Argentina is one of the memorable moments of the tournament thus far. Iceland played a selfless and unattractive defensive game, parking the bus in front of the net and absorbing 26 shots. Expect it to use a similar approach against a quick and athletic Nigeria team. As the only team in the group without a point, Nigeria needs at least a draw against Iceland to keep its knockout hopes alive.