Both teams had three points from their first games.

From the same stadium where England's World Cup dream will be decided, on Wednesday, Khalil Al Ghamdi was quick to put Humberto Suazo in his notebook; not for scoring.

A double save by Diego Benaglio, in the 10th minute, kept Switzerland in the game; the second Chile attempt going out for a corner.

The referee - Khalil Al Ghamdi, of Saudi Arabia - seemed to have his whistle stuck, which in turn broke down the flow of play.

The players should have been more cautious because of how the referee set out his stall so early but Switzerland's Valon Behrami paid the price for trying to shake two players off his back; his case wasn't helped by the usual dose of over-acting by Chile's Arturo Vidal after Jean Beausejour was left in Behrami's slipstream.

Reduced to ten men, Ottmar Hitzfeld waited eleven minutes before sacrificing captain Alexander Frei, for Tranquillo Barnetta.

Half-time: 0:0

One decision that Khalil Al Ghamdi did get right was disallowing an early Chile goal for offside; and Switzerland remained on course to beat Italy's record for playing the most World Cup Finals minutes without conceding a goal.

Around the hour mark, the referee seemed to deal out cards like an apprentice croupier.

In the 67th minute, Switzerland surpassed Italy's record by not conceding a World Cup Finals goal since going out to Spain in USA 1994. Meanwhile, Switzerland's Roger Federer clawed his way back from two sets down to beat the Colombian, Alejandro Falla at Wimbledon.

Chile finally cracked the Swiss vault in the 75th minute, when Diego Benaglio rushed off his line and gave the two substitutes a chance to pull off the heist together; Esteban Paredes crossing from the right, for Mark Gonzalez to head down and past Stephan Lichtsteiner trying to cover the line.

Switzerland tried valiantly to get back on level terms but the referee's watch was ticking against them. It didn't help that Eren Derdiyok could hardly believe he was given a golden opportunity to score and fluffed his lines in the 90th minute.

The final act in the game was when Khalil Al Ghamdi booked Chile's Jorge Valdivia for trying to con a penalty, in the 92nd minute.

Chile 1 Switzerland 0

Spain and Switzerland were the last two teams to kick their World Cup campaign off.

Spain, one of the favourites to win the World Cup, started as expected; looking comfortable on the ball, with plenty of possession. Switzerland would have been chasing shadows, if the sun were shining.

Even when Switzerland earned a corner, in the ninth minute, it was Spain who almost scored; breaking out with snappy passing, but David Villa missed the option of Sergio Ramos at the far post.

Diego Benaglio spread himself at the feet of Gerard Piqué to deny Spain, then Reto Ziegler forced a save from Iker Casillas; when he fired a low free-kick at the other end, in the 26th minute.

Switzerland worked hard to keep the Spanish attacking threat neutralised and for most part, despite a few scares, it worked.

Despite intricate flashes of brilliance from Iniesta and David Villa on the left, the dim reality is that it's goalless at half-time for the ninth time - out of sixteen matches played.

Half-time: 0:0

The second-half started as the first finished, with Spain mostly attacking down their left.

From a long Swiss clearance down the middle, the ball was flicked on then, amid plenty of rolling and tumbling in the Spain penalty area, Gelson Fernandes emerged as the unexpected hero; the European Champions a goal down.

Spain continued to press forward: Fernando Torres closed down; Alonso hits the bar; Switzerland holding out.

Spain were very nearly two goals down, with fifteen minutes to go, when Eren Derdiyok lost the defenders long enough to flick the ball onto the post with the outside of his foot.

With Spain pushing everyone forward, Switzerland continued to pose problems on the counter-attack. The minutes seemed to tick away like seconds for Spain, yet drag on like hours for Switzerland.

The Swiss fans looked nervous; five minutes away from an historical moment. Then fireworks exploded in the tiny Alpine country and car horns sounded from Appenzell to Zurich.

Spain 0 Switzerland 1