Italy will face Costa Rica on Friday at the Arena Pernambuco in Recife with the winner likely advancing to the knockout stages of the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Italy, the 2006 World Cup champions, jump-started their campaign in the Brazil tournament with an impressive win over England, getting two goals from Claudio Marchisio and Mario Balotelli, while surrendering a goal from Daniel Sturridge.

Costa Rica, on the other hand, had one of the most surprising performances in the tournament when they pulled off an emphatic 3-1 win against Uruguay, who played without star striker Luis Suarez.

England, who absorbed a 2-1 loss to Uruguay on Thursday, will also be interested spectators in the Italy-Costa Rica match. A win for Italy will keep the Three Lions' hope of advancing to the knockout stages alive.

The Azzurri will be favored heading into Friday's match, but Italy coach Cesare Prandelli insisted that they have no time to relax after Costa Rica proved in their first match that they are a force to reckon with in this year's tournament.

"I said before that Costa Rica are a real team, not just now that they have beaten Uruguay," Prandelli said via Yahoo! Sports UK. "Only those who don't know football can think there are weak teams at a World Cup. Costa Rica know how to take the field and we'll have to be at our best, otherwise we'll undo the good work we've done."

Italy also got a morale-boosting development as reports confirmed that veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will return on Friday after missing their match against England due to an ankle injury.

Costa Rica will also have a healthy lineup in the all-important match, and coach Jorge Luis Pinto is not expected to make changes to their lineup or style of play following his statement after winning against Uruguay.

"We blasted Uruguay's defensive line and attacked. We didn't alter our style of play nor our way of playing football even though we were facing a world-class rival. I had said before that we were up to the challenge of going one-on-one against any team here," Pinto previously said.

Schedule, Date, Where to Watch

The Italy-Costa Rica match is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. ET and fans can watch the crucial match on ESPN and through WatchESPN.

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