Even in this age, where it is possible to tune into the most obscure competitions from the comfort of your own home, certain teams arrive at a World Cup shrouded in mystery.

One of those in this year’s edition is undoubtedly Peru – for both their long-term disappearance from the global stage and the potential they have as one of the summer’s best supporting actors.

Of all the South American nations to have made it to football’s blue riband event, the team that is emblazoned by a red sash has endured the longest wait to return.

Their dismal performance in 1982 proved portentous of what was to come but it was in the 1970s, and the era of Teofilo Cubillas, which proves just how rich a football tradition belongs to Peru.

Cubillas is one of the best players you may never have heard of. The attacking midfielder sits alongside Germany’s Miroslav Klose and Thomas Muller as the only players to have scored five goals or more in separate World Cups and was the spearhead as Peru twice reached the knockout stages in the decade.

In the intervening years, allegations of corruption, government interference, player indiscipline and an air crash involving Peruvian club Alianza Lima has seen the country hit the canvas time and again. Now the challengers from the north west of South America have risen once more, though this is no simple tale of an underdog.

After a rocky start in qualifying, Los Incas conceded just four goals from their last seven games, including a stalemate in Argentina and the 2-0 aggregate win over New Zealand which sent them into the finals. Style has not been sacrificed for solidity as Peru play a possession-based game which is easy on the eye and produced more goals (27) than any other nation in CONMEBOL qualifying apart from top two finishers Brazil and Uruguay.

Boss Ricardo Gareca possesses a locksmith for defences in Christian Cueva, legerdemain from wide areas in Edison Flores and the aging but effective export to Europe, Jefferson Farfan.

He also has a legitimate goalscorer in Paolo Guerrero.