Ecuador bow out of the World Cup in a lacklustre clash, whilst France progress from Group E with Switzerland to the last 16.
For a World Cup that is beginning to gain a reputation for the huge amount of quality matches and goals, this game will be quickly swept under the carpet and forgotten about in FIFA's archives.
The game started evenly, with both sides creating chances and testing the opposition goalkeeper. However, a rather uneventful first half was brought to an end with the scores still at 0-0, with the only real chance coming from Ecuador. A wonderful cross from Manchester United's Antonio Valencia was met by the head of Enner Valencia, who rose like a salmon, only to nod it down into Hugo Lloris' feet.
The scoreline was justified: France had not broken sweat, whilst Ecuador lacked the cutting edge to find the goal they so desperately needed. Instead, the South Americans seemed resigned to their fate as third-place in the group, bowing before the indifferent French.
When Ecuador needed a hero, someone to save the day, they looked to their captain. Antonio Valencia, however, had other ideas. A studs-up challenge on Lucas Digne earned him a straight red card after the referee Noumandiez Doue had consulted his assistant. He, along with Ecuador's hopes of qualifying, exited the pitch in the 50th minute. Trying to hit France on the counter worked, but the finish was never good enough. A three-on-two breakaway in Ecuador's favour was wasted after the (what looks like) a tea-cosy-clad Christian Noboa sliced a shot dreadfully wide from the edge of the area.
Karim Benzema spurned numerous chances in the second half to put France into the lead, as Didier Deschamps looked to Olivier Giroud to provide a moment of magic to excite the fans. Chance after chance fell to Benzema, yet time and again he was beaten by the heroics of goalkeeper Alexander Dominguez who produced an inspired display to keep the Europeans at bay.
The French were not ruffled. They held on comfortably, easily dominating the match stats - 60% possession, 20 shots and 13 on target. Ecuador, in comparison, only had 7 on target and commited 11 more fouls, whilst never really forcing Lloris to be at his best to keep his clean sheet intact.
As Switzerland won 3-0 against Honduras thanks to a Xherdan Shaqiri hat-trick, Ecuador head out, whilst France secured top spot with a rotated side. The magnificent Karim Benzema had an off-day, yet they were never troubled and always had the game under their spell.