It is all to play for on Thursday when Group H rivals Algeria and Russia meet in Curitiba for a place in the last 16 of the World Cup.

With Belgium already through thanks to maximum points from their first two games, the Algerians and the Russians will battle it out to join them in the second round.

Algeria lost their opening match of the tournament, but a 4-2 victory over South Korea has put them in a prime position to progress.

A draw or a win for Vahid Halilhodzic's side on Thursday is likely to see them get beyond the group stage for the first time in their history.

Meanwhile, with just one point to show so far, Fabio Capello's Russia have to claim three points if they want to leapfrog their opponents and make it through.

Similar to Algeria, the Russians have never reached the second round of a World Cup.

Algeria have no fresh injury worries ahead of the match, while Aleksandr Kozlov is expected to undergo a late fitness test for Russia after suffering a knock during his team's defeat to Belgium.

Recent form

Algeria: WWWWLW

Russia: WWDWDL

Possible starting lineups

Algeria: Mbolhi; Bougherra, Mesbah, Halliche, Mandi Bentaleb; Feghouli, Medjani, Brahimi; Slimani, Djabou

Russia: Akinfeev; Kombarov, Berezutskiy, Ignashevich; Glushakov, Kokorin, Shatov, Samedov, Fayzulin; Kozlov, Kanunnikov

Sports Mole says: 2-2

Written by
Jack Prescott

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