Great start by Colombia as Juan Cuadrado shows great trickery on the right before feeding a low ball into the area for Pablo Armero, who steers his shot just inside the post. Bedlam in the stands as Colombian fans explode in joy.

Image source, Getty Images

It is simply a sea of yellow in the Estadio Mineirao as Colombian fans comfortably outnumber their Greek counterparts. On the pitch, it is Colombia who starts brightly as they press forward through Teofilo Gutierrez, but his shot is blocked. Georgios Samaras then wins Greece a free kick to allow his side to regroup.

James:, external Bravo Colombia, bravo! The passion and enthusiasm in that rendition of their national anthem was amazing!

Mike:, external My heart wants a Greek victory but my head tells me Colombia can't lose.

Matt:, external Colombia singing the living daylights out of their national anthem. Superb.

Greece, decked out all in blue, get the first Group C match under way. Colombia are in their yellow and white home kit.

South American football expert Tim Vickery, speaking on Match of the Day: "Falcao may be an injury casualty but the key man for this side is James Rodriguez, setting up the chances for a still dangerous group of strikers. Their lack of pace may be exposed at the back, but there is hope that this could be the tournament where Colombia claim a place at football's high table."

The players are out on the pitch for the national anthems, always a good indicator of which team has the most, and most vocal, supporters in attendance. The Colombia anthem is first, with every player belting out the words. They should know them, given it is played on national radio at 6am and 6pm every day.

Pat Nevin
BBC Radio 5 live

"Falcao has shown a brilliant attitude. It's what you want to see from your top players. It's amazing how many wouldn't think to do that in that situation, Any player would be disappointed in that situation, particularly as their talisman, but he's there trying to give them a lift."

Colombia: Ospina, Zuniga, Zapata, Yepes, Armero, Sanchez Moreno, Aguilar, Rodriguez, Cuadrado, Gutierrez, Ibarbo. Subs: Vargas, Arias, Carbonero, Mejia, Balanta, Bacca, Ramos, Quintero, Martinez, Valdes, Mondragon.

Greece: Karnezis, Manolas, Torosidis, Papastathopoulos, Holebas, Maniatis, Katsouranis, Kone, Salpingidis, Gekas, Samaras. Subs: Glykos, Tzavelas, Moras, Tziolis, Mitroglou, Karagounis, Vyntra, Christodoulopoulos, Fetfatzidis, Samaris, Tachtsidis, Kapino.

Referee: Mark Geiger (USA)

Radamel Falcao is with the Colombia squad to provide moral support and he hugs each and every one of his team-mates before they head out on to the pitch.

Huge smile on the striker's face, despite his injury absence.

Colombia's World Cup record may be no great shakes, but they have some great players on show at this tournament, despite the absence of injured Radamel Falcao.

James Rodriguez has been fantastic for Monaco, scoring 11 goals last season and finishing top of the Ligue 1 assists chart with 12.

Then there is Jackson Martinez, who rattled in 29 goals in 51 games for Porto and Carlos Bacca, who was also prolific for Sevilla last season. Both of those are on the bench today.

The atmosphere is fantastic at the Estadio Mineirao, with Greek fans dressed as centurions chanting 'ole, ole, ole' and Colombians in all manner of bright yellow outfits dancing.

Image source, Getty Images

This is the stadium where England will play Costa Rica in their final group game on 24 June.

Just away from Brazil briefly, England's women are in action against Belarus in their World Cup qualifier and lead 2-0 with the game entering its final stages. Eni Aluko and Steph Houghton with the goals.

Image source, Getty Images

There are some superbly dressed fans in the stands at Estadio Mineirao. Here is the Mask being photobombed by a jester in the Colombia end.

The players have just gone back down the tunnel after warming up in the Brazilian sunshine. Kick off in just under 20 minutes.

Greece's qualification for the World Cup was built on a solid defence as they conceded just four goals in 10 games on their way to finishing runners-up to Bosnia in their group.

They went on to beat Romania 4-2 in the play-offs with Kostas Mitroglou grabbing three goals.

Yes, it may be hard to believe based on his Fulham form this year, but Kostas, nicknamed "Mitrogoal" was in deadly form last year, scoring 23 goals in 23 games for former club Olympiakos and Greece. He is on the bench today.

Playing at the World Cup is both a rare and relatively new experience for Greece fans.

Their first appearance was at USA '94 but it was far from a memorable one as they were trounced 4-0 by Argentina, battered 4-0 by Bulgaria and beaten 2-0 by Nigeria.

It took them 16 years to make the finals of another World Cup and it finally provided Greece fans with something to cheer as they defeated Nigeria 2-1. They lost their other games to Argentina and South Korea - both by 2-0 scorelines - and exited at the group stage.

A bit of breaking news coming out of the Italy camp to bring you ahead of their game against England later. Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon looks set to miss the game after injuring his ankle in training on Friday, with Paris St-Germain's Salvatore Sirigu set to deputise.

Buffon, 36, tweeted: "There are many ways to be important, even if you can't be a protagonist on the pitch...So go Salvatore."

Georgios Samaras is in the Greece side, but I wouldn't be rushing off to stick a cheeky bet on him scoring today. As the stat above shows, it has been two years and 16 games since he last scored for his country.

Teofilo Gutierrez will start on his own in attack for Colombia, who were forced to leave the injured Monaco striker Radamel Falcao out of their squad, with Jackson Martínez, Adrián Ramos and Carlos Bacca all on the bench.

Greece defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos is passed fit after recovering from a muscle problem that kept him out of his team's last two friendlies, while Fulham's Kostas Mitroglou is on the bench with Theofanis Gekas the lone striker. Georgios Samaras, without a club after leaving Celtic, is also in the first XI.

Colombians absolutely love their football, but it has been a fair old wait to see their side at the World Cup once again.

This is the first time they have qualified since France '98, but they were impressive on their path to Brazil.

Their coach, Jose Pekerman, took over after they had won just one of their first three games and helped them to qualify with ease as they won eight of their next 13 games to finish second to Argentina.

Image source, Getty Images

From Rene Higuita's eccentric goalkeeping to Carlos Valderrama's superb skills (hair), Colombia have provided some memorable World Cup moments over the years.

However, their actual playing record at the tournament isn't particularly great.

The only time they have progressed from the group stage was at Italia '90, when they exited in the second round, Higuita gifting Cameroon striker Roger Milla the winner.