The unexpected comeback - World Cup Day 17 in pictures

When Spain won the World Cup four years ago in South Africa, The Netherlands had to settle for second place. In this year's group stage, the Dutch cooly dispatched their former nemsis 5-1 and cruised to the Round of 16 match against Mexico as group winners.

In the three group stage matches, Mexico conceded only a single goal in the final match against Croatia. They still only finished second in the group (largely due to their 0-0 draw against group winner Brazil), but it would certainly be a challenge for the Netherlands, who scored the most goals of any team in the group stage.

Mexico's keeper, Guillermo Ochoa, saved the day several times for Mexico throughout the duration of the game. He made several key saves, including this excellent stop of a shot off a corner from very close range.

An official 'cooling break' occured for a few minutes in each half due to the heat and humidity in Fortaleza. It was a tough slog for players and fans alike, but the breaks were agreed upon before the match.

Shortly after halftime, El Tri took the lead thanks to a great solo effort by Gio Dos Santos. Coming into the match, Mexico had never lost when Dos Santos scored.

A late corner provided the chance the Netherlands needed to equalize: Arjen Robben took the kick, and substitute Klaas-Jan Hunterlaar leapt for a header and played away from the goal toward Wesley Sneijder. He blasted a low volley that Ochoa had no chance of saving.

Six minutes of injury time were added on to the end of the second half - mostly due to the water break. This proved to be a boon for The Netherlands - Rafael Marquez fouled Robben on the touch line, and the ref whistled for a penalty. Huntelaar - who missed both penalties he took for Schalke in the Bundesliga this year - took the kick and scored the game winner.

The loss meant Mexico have been eliminated in the Round of 16 for the sixth straight World Cup. They played an excellent tournament and deserve credit for putting plenty of pressure on the Netherlands.

It was bound to be a record-setting match for one of the teams in Sunday's second Round of 16 match - both Costa Rica and Greece had never made it to the quaterfinal of a World Cup.

With neither team really expected to still be in the tournament, Costa Rica and Greece were cautiously holding back in the opening 45 minutes of the match in Recife to avoid conceding the lead. At the break, the score was even 0-0.

The team that topped a group with three world champions made their first step toward World Cup history thanks to Bryan Ruiz's goal in the 52nd minute. Cristian Bolanos found Ruiz in front of the goal, whose slow dribbler trickled past Greek keeper Orestis-Spyridon Karnezis.

In the 66th minute, Greece caught a break when Costa Rica's Oscar Duarte saw his second yellow of the match and was sent off. With the man advantage, the Greeks would see several good chances on goal - but had trouble finding the back of the net.

Greece's persistance finally paid off as injury time began at the end of the second half. Costa Rican keeper Keylor Navas had made several spectacular saves until that point, but Greece finally wore him down. Borussia Dortmund's Sokratis scored the equalizer that sent the game to extra time.

Costa Rica somehow managed to keep the Greeks from scoring for the long 30 minutes of extra time, and the match headed to penalties. Both sides converted the penalties for three rounds, when another block by Costa Rica's Navas set up his teammate Michael Umana to sink the fifth penalty for the win. Costa Rica will face the Netherlands in their first World Cup quarterfinal on Saturday.