Colombia and Ivory Coast will go up against each other on Thursday at the Nacional in Brazil with both sides aiming to secure a spot in the knockout stages as the 2014 World Cup continues.

Colombia jump-started their 2014 FIFA World Cup campaign with an impressive 3-0 win over Greece on Saturday, while Ivory Coast scored a come-from-behind 2-1 win against Japan in their opener.

With both sides starting the tournament on the right foot, the winner of Thursday's match will likely finish on top of Group C and avoid a Round-of-16 clash against the winner of Group D.

Colombia will be a heavy favorite heading into the match based on their performance against Greece wherein James Rodriguez, Pablo Armero and Teofilo Gutierrez scored one goal apiece.

Gutierrez, who took the place of injured star striker Radamel Falcao, is expected to lead Colombia's attack again, and will have to exert more effort as Carlos Bacca is expected to be out for the remainder of the group stages after limping out of their recent training camp due to muscle strain.

Colombia coach Jose Pekerman praised his squad for their performance against Greece, but he insisted that there is no room for complacency if they want to advance to the knockout stages for the first time since the 1990 World Cup in Italy.

"Ivory Coast is one of the strongest African teams," Pekerman said via Yahoo! Sports UK. "They have already played in World Cups and have players that have a lot of experience. Besides the important players that they have, the fact that they have played at big competitions gives them that necessary calmness to know what is at stake."

However, Ivory Coast is expected to go all out, as they are also aiming to improve their chances of making noise in the next round of the tournament.

Ivory Coast coach Sabri Lamouchi is not expected to make changes on his starting XI, which means that Didier Drogba will likely come off the bench again, as he did in their opening match.

"People love Didier Drogba and I know there are a lot of lovers of Drogba's style," Lamouchi said. "But you have to understand the last time he played 90 minutes was a few months ago in Turkey. He's just recovered from injury. He made a lot of sacrifices to be here at the World Cup."

Schedule, Date, How to Watch

ESPN will broadcast the Colombia-Ivory Coast match that is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. EST. Fans can also watch the game online through this link.

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