Group B kicks off with a bang on Friday evening with a repeat of the 2010 final as current world and European champions Spain begin their defence of the World Cup against Louis van Gaal’s Netherlands side.
This is a group that had me gripped from the very moment it was announced. Not only does it boast the nation currently sitting at the summit of the FIFA rankings (Spain), it also contains the lowest ranked nation (Australia), and then two of the more interesting and perhaps unpredictable sides that will be dreaming of glory as they make the trip to Brazil, namely Chile and the aforementioned Netherlands.
The obvious favourites to progress from the group as leaders are the reigning champions, and the first of the two teams affectionately known as La Roja in this exciting group.
Spain are many people’s favourites to retain their crown and it seems to be the general consensus among the footballing world that it will either be Vicente del Bosque’s men or the hosts who will be celebrating come July 12th.
Spain look as strong as ever heading into the tournament with very much the same spine in their team this time around as the one that won the World Cup in South Africa, with the most obvious exception being Carles Puyol.
The most intriguing aspect of this group looks likely to be the battle for second place. It is very much a two horse race as Chile look set to go toe-to-toe with the Dutch.
The South American representatives will fancy their chances of qualifying for the second round under the guidance of Jorge Sampaoli. 
‘The second’ La Roja of Group B are a side that don’t seem to be overly concerned with defending and play in a way which very much seems to say: “if you score three we’ll score four”.
Italian football fans will be familiar with the likes of Arturo Vidal, Mauricio Isla, Carlos Carmona, Mauricio Pinilla and even Alexis Sanchez who are all present in Chile’s 23 man squad.
Sampaoli led Chile to a strong qualification after a disastrous start during the spell of Claudio Borghi in which they conceded a total of eight goals while only scoring once in their opening two qualification matches. Sampaoli cleaned up the mess he was greeted with and Chile went on to win nine of their remaining 14 matches and earned a third place spot behind Argentina and Colombia.
If there is one game you are to watch from this group make sure it is on June 23rd as Chile play the Netherlands in what should be a winner takes all contest. I fully expect both sides to have three points going into the final match and this will decide who proceeds to the second round.
Despite a strong qualification in which they won nine and drew one of their ten games, 
I expect this Dutch side to ultimately come up short as they try to get out of the group. Their failure at Euro 2012 was well documented and I wouldn’t be overly surprised to see more of the same from a side that seem to be fighting among themselves before a ball has even been kicked.
Arjen Robben and Bruno Martins Indi were involved in a training ground spat and the latter admitted that he felt the Bayern Munich man went to ground needlessly during a session before kicking out at the Feyenoord defender. Martins Indi went on in a press conference to reveal there was a bit of irritation between the two and this would suggest that all is not well in the Dutch camp.
Last, and most definitely least in the group is the not so mighty Australia. They look to be nailed on to finish bottom of the group and I wouldn’t be surprised if they went home without finding the net in their three group games. The Socceroos are still trying to recover as their golden generation is very much now a thing of the past. This current selection is barely a shadow of the side that went to the 2006 tournament in Germany. 
Having spoken to people more knowledgeable on the topic of the Australian national team, such as Neil Sherwin and Marco Credentino, it is apparent that this side would struggle in any group, never mind a group as strong as this one.
Follow Conor Clancy on Twitter: @concalcio
