The perfect records compiled by the Red Devils and their Central American counterparts after two rounds of matches have provided four of the five wins recorded by teams not sporting Adidas, Nike or Puma shirts.

These five wins, plus the draw secured by Iran against Nigeria, mean that the five World Cup teams not supplied by one of the Big Three have picked up more than half the points theoretically available to them - a feat that has proved beyond any of their better-known rivals, with 50 per cent of tournament matches now completed.

All told, the teams supplied by Lotto (Costa Rica), Burrda Sport (Belgium), Marathon (Ecuador), Joma (Honduras) and Uhlsport (Iran) have accumulated 53.3 per cent of points available, more than five percentage points ahead of Adidas, which remains just about the best-performing of the Big Three brands.

Costa Rica, sponsored by Lotto, have already upset the odds by making it through to the last 16 of the World Cup ©Getty Images



Both Puma (45.8 per cent) and Nike (43.3 per cent) are close behind Adidas's 48.15 per cent total, however, leaving everything still in the balance.

What is more, Adidas's nine teams are suddenly finding it remarkably difficult to score in this surprisingly open tournament, mustering just six goals in their respective second matches in Brazil, including the trademark close-range strike by veteran Miroslav Klose that got Germany out of trouble against Ghana.

Contrast this with Nike, whose 10 teams - including four-goal Croatia and five-goal France - averaged more than two goals each in their second matches.

Algeria were surprise top scorers for Puma in the second round of matches, with four.

Burrda, which is owned by Qatar Sports Investments, took on Belgium in 2010, a year which started with the now much-fancied team ranked 66th in the world, below the likes of Macedonia and Lithuania.