Group B of the 2014 FIFA World Cup consisted of Spain, the Netherlands, Chile, and Australia. This group contained the finalists of the previous World Cup in 2010: Spain (reigning champion) and the Netherlands (runners-up). Play began on 13 June and ended on 23 June 2014. The Netherlands and Chile progressed to the knockout stage, while Australia and Spain were eliminated after suffering two defeats in their opening two matches. Chile was eliminated by Brazil in the second round after penalties, while the Netherlands made their way to the semi-finals in which they lost to Argentina on penalties. The third place match was won by the Netherlands with a convincing 3–0 victory against Brazil.

Draw position	Team	Confederation	Method of qualification	Date of qualification	Finals appearance	Last appearance	Previous best performance	FIFA Rankings
								October 2013[nb 1]	June 2014
B1 (seed)	Spain	UEFA	UEFA Group I winners	15 October 2013	14th	2010	Winners (2010)	1	1
B2	Netherlands	UEFA	UEFA Group D winners	10 September 2013	10th	2010	Runners-up (1974, 1978, 2010)	8	15
B3	Chile	CONMEBOL	CONMEBOL third place	15 October 2013	9th	2010	Third place (1962)	12	14
B4	Australia	AFC	AFC fourth round Group B 2nd runners-up	18 June 2013	4th	2010	Round of 16 (2006)	57	62

Notes

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Netherlands	3	3	0	0	10	3	+7	9	Advance to knockout stage
2	Chile	3	2	0	1	5	3	+2	6
3	Spain	3	1	0	2	4	7	−3	3
4	Australia	3	0	0	3	3	9	−6	0

• Netherlands advanced to play Mexico (runner-up of Group A) in the round of 16.
• Chile advanced to play Brazil (winner of Group A) in the round of 16.

External videos
Spain v Netherlands (Brazil 2014) on YouTube

The two teams had met in 9 previous matches, including in the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final, won by Spain 1–0 after extra time.^[1] This was the first time in the FIFA World Cup that the previous finalists met in the group stage.

Halfway into the first half, the referee judged that Diego Costa caught a trailing leg from Stefan de Vrij's attempted tackle. Xabi Alonso scored the penalty kick for Spain, shooting into the bottom-right corner with his right foot, putting them into the lead. They were unable to keep the lead until half time though, with Robin van Persie scoring a 15-yard diving looping header after a long ball from Daley Blind from the left after he spotted Iker Casillas slightly off his line.^[2] In the second half, Blind assisted another goal for Netherlands, this time setting up Arjen Robben who controlled the pass before coming inside to finish with his left foot from ten yards out. Twelve minutes later, Netherlands scored again, as De Vrij headed the ball in from a tight angle from a Wesley Sneijder free kick on the left. Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas protested that he had been fouled by Van Persie, but the goal was allowed to stand and Casillas received a yellow card for his protest. Not long after this, a backpass from Sergio Ramos was miscontrolled by Casillas with his left leg, resulting in Van Persie gathering the ball and scoring into an empty net for his second goal of the game. The fifth goal for Netherlands was a solo effort from Robben. Having received the ball near the halfway line from a Wesley Sneijder pass, he outran Ramos, Jordi Alba and Casillas, before slotting the ball into the net from 10 yards out with his left foot.^[3][4][5]

The 5–1 scoreline was the biggest loss margin for a defending champion in the FIFA World Cup, and also Spain's second biggest loss in the World Cup after their 6–1 thrashing against Brazil in 1950.^[6] With their goals, Van Persie and Robben became the first Dutch players to score in three World Cups.^[7] Casillas and Xavi joined Andoni Zubizarreta as the only Spanish players to appear in four World Cups.^[8]

13 June 2014

16:00 BRT (UTC−3)

Spain	1–5	Netherlands
Alonso 27' (pen.)	Report	Van Persie 44', 72' Robben 53', 80' De Vrij 64'

Itaipava Arena Fonte Nova, Salvador

Attendance: 48,173

Referee: Nicola Rizzoli (Italy)^[9]

Spain

Netherlands

GK 1 Iker Casillas (c)  65' RB 22 César Azpilicueta CB 3 Gerard Piqué CB 15 Sergio Ramos LB 18 Jordi Alba RM 8 Xavi CM 16 Sergio Busquets LM 14 Xabi Alonso  62' RW 21 David Silva  78' LW 6 Andrés Iniesta CF 19 Diego Costa  62' Substitutions: FW 9 Fernando Torres  62' FW 11 Pedro  62' MF 10 Cesc Fàbregas  78' Manager: Vicente del Bosque

GK 1 Jasper Cillessen CB 2 Ron Vlaar CB 3 Stefan de Vrij  41'  77' CB 4 Bruno Martins Indi RWB 7 Daryl Janmaat LWB 5 Daley Blind CM 8 Jonathan de Guzmán  25'  62' CM 6 Nigel de Jong AM 10 Wesley Sneijder CF 9 Robin van Persie (c)  66'  79' CF 11 Arjen Robben Substitutions: MF 20 Georginio Wijnaldum  62' DF 13 Joël Veltman  77' FW 17 Jeremain Lens  79' Manager: Louis van Gaal

The two teams had met in five previous matches, including in the 1974 FIFA World Cup group stage, a 0–0 draw.^[10]

Chile took a 2–0 lead within the first 15 minutes. First, Alexis Sánchez controlled an Eduardo Vargas header in the penalty area to slot home. Two minutes later, Jorge Valdivia's shot from a Sánchez pass doubled the lead. Australia pulled one back through a Tim Cahill header from a cross by Ivan Franjic before half time.^[11] Australia could not find the equaliser in the second half, and in stoppage time, Chilean substitute Jean Beausejour converted the rebound after Mauricio Pinilla's shot was saved by Mathew Ryan.^[12]

With their respective goals, Cahill became the first Australian player to score in three World Cups,^[13] while Beausejour became the first Chilean player to score in two World Cups.^[14]

13 June 2014

18:00 AMT (UTC−4)

Chile	3–1	Australia
Sánchez 12' Valdivia 14' Beausejour 90+2'	Report	Cahill 35'

Arena Pantanal, Cuiabá

Attendance: 40,275

Referee: Noumandiez Doué (Ivory Coast)^[9]

Chile

Australia

GK 1 Claudio Bravo (c) RB 4 Mauricio Isla CB 17 Gary Medel CB 18 Gonzalo Jara LB 2 Eugenio Mena RM 20 Charles Aránguiz  86' CM 21 Marcelo Díaz LM 8 Arturo Vidal  60' RF 7 Alexis Sánchez CF 10 Jorge Valdivia  68' LF 11 Eduardo Vargas  88' Substitutions: MF 16 Felipe Gutiérrez  60' MF 15 Jean Beausejour  68' FW 9 Mauricio Pinilla  88' Manager: Jorge Sampaoli

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 2 Ivan Franjic  49' CB 22 Alex Wilkinson CB 6 Matthew Špiranović LB 3 Jason Davidson CM 15 Mile Jedinak (c)  58' CM 5 Mark Milligan  67' RW 7 Mathew Leckie AM 23 Mark Bresciano  78' LW 11 Tommy Oar  68' CF 4 Tim Cahill  44' Substitutions: DF 19 Ryan McGowan  49' MF 10 Ben Halloran  68' MF 14 James Troisi  78' Manager: Ange Postecoglou

The two teams had met in three previous matches, all in friendlies, most recently in 2009.^[15]

The Netherlands took the lead after Arjen Robben collected a Daley Blind headed pass at the halfway line, burst into the penalty area and scored with a low shot to the goalkeepers left. Soon after the restart, Australia equalised through Tim Cahill's left-foot volley into the goal from the underside of the bar from Ryan McGowan's cross.^[16] Australia took the lead in the second half with Mile Jedinak's penalty, awarded for a handball by Daryl Janmaat, but Robin van Persie equalised after he received substitute Memphis Depay's pass and scored. Ten minutes later, Memphis Depay received a pass from Jonathan de Guzmán and his long-range effort beat Australia goalkeeper Mathew Ryan.^[17]

At the age of 20, Depay's goal made him the Netherlands' youngest scorer at World Cups.^[18]

18 June 2014

13:00 BRT (UTC−3)

Australia	2–3	Netherlands
Cahill 21' Jedinak 54' (pen.)	Report	Robben 20' Van Persie 58' Depay 68'

Estádio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre

Attendance: 42,877

Referee: Djamel Haimoudi (Algeria)

Australia

Netherlands

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 19 Ryan McGowan CB 22 Alex Wilkinson CB 6 Matthew Špiranović LB 3 Jason Davidson CM 15 Mile Jedinak (c) CM 17 Matt McKay RW 7 Mathew Leckie AM 23 Mark Bresciano  51' LW 11 Tommy Oar  77' CF 4 Tim Cahill  43'  69' Substitutions: MF 13 Oliver Bozanić  51' MF 10 Ben Halloran  69' FW 9 Adam Taggart  77' Manager: Ange Postecoglou

GK 1 Jasper Cillessen CB 2 Ron Vlaar CB 3 Stefan de Vrij CB 4 Bruno Martins Indi  45+3' RM 7 Daryl Janmaat CM 8 Jonathan de Guzmán  78' CM 6 Nigel de Jong LM 5 Daley Blind AM 10 Wesley Sneijder CF 9 Robin van Persie (c)  47'  87' CF 11 Arjen Robben Substitutions: MF 21 Memphis Depay  45+3' MF 20 Georginio Wijnaldum  78' FW 17 Jeremain Lens  87' Manager: Louis van Gaal

The two teams had met in ten previous matches, including twice in the FIFA World Cup group stage, both won by Spain (1950: 2–0; 2010: 2–1).^[19]

Chile opened the scoring when Charles Aránguiz squared a pass to Eduardo Vargas to score home in the penalty area. Near the end of the first half Alexis Sánchez's free kick was parried by Spanish goalkeeper Iker Casillas to Aránguiz who put in the rebound.^[20] Spain, which needed at least a point to stay alive in the competition, had its best chance in the second half which fell to Sergio Busquets, but he missed from close range.^[21] Spain's loss confirmed the qualification of both Chile and the Netherlands into the knockout stage, and eliminated both Spain and Australia.

Spain became the fifth defending champions to be knocked out in the group stage.^[22]

18 June 2014

16:00 BRT (UTC−3)

Spain	0–2	Chile
	Report	Vargas 20' Aránguiz 43'

Estádio do Maracanã, Rio de Janeiro

Attendance: 74,101

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States)

Spain

Chile

GK 1 Iker Casillas (c) RB 22 César Azpilicueta CB 4 Javi Martínez CB 15 Sergio Ramos LB 18 Jordi Alba CM 16 Sergio Busquets CM 14 Xabi Alonso  41'  46' RW 21 David Silva AM 6 Andrés Iniesta LW 11 Pedro  76' CF 19 Diego Costa  64' Substitutions: MF 17 Koke  46' FW 9 Fernando Torres  64' MF 20 Santi Cazorla  76' Manager: Vicente del Bosque

GK 1 Claudio Bravo (c) CB 17 Gary Medel CB 5 Francisco Silva CB 18 Gonzalo Jara RM 4 Mauricio Isla CM 20 Charles Aránguiz  64' CM 21 Marcelo Díaz LM 2 Eugenio Mena  61' AM 8 Arturo Vidal  26'  88' CF 11 Eduardo Vargas  85' CF 7 Alexis Sánchez Substitutions: MF 16 Felipe Gutiérrez  64' MF 10 Jorge Valdivia  85' MF 6 Carlos Carmona  88' Manager: Jorge Sampaoli

The two teams had never met before.^[23] Australia forward Tim Cahill was suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards.^[24]

In a match between two already-eliminated teams, Spain went in front in the 36th minute after Andrés Iniesta threaded a pass down the right to overlapping full-back Juanfran, who then crossed the ball low to David Villa to finish with a back flick of his right foot low to the net.^[25] In the second half, Fernando Torres scored Spain's second with a low finish from the left of the penalty area after a pass from Iniesta, before substitute Juan Mata, receiving a pass from Cesc Fàbregas, scored from the right of the penalty area with a low shot between the goalkeeper's legs.^[26]

Villa's goal was his ninth career World Cup goal. Already Spain's record World Cup goalscorer, he also joined Fernando Hierro, Raúl and Julio Salinas as Spanish players who had scored in three World Cups.^[27]

23 June 2014

13:00 BRT (UTC−3)

Australia	0–3	Spain
	Report	Villa 36' Torres 69' Mata 82'

Arena da Baixada, Curitiba

Attendance: 39,375

Referee: Nawaf Shukralla (Bahrain)

Australia

Spain

GK 1 Mathew Ryan RB 19 Ryan McGowan CB 6 Matthew Špiranović  88' CB 22 Alex Wilkinson LB 3 Jason Davidson CM 17 Matt McKay CM 15 Mile Jedinak (c)  90+2' CM 13 Oliver Bozanić  72' RW 7 Mathew Leckie CF 9 Adam Taggart  46' LW 11 Tommy Oar  61' Substitutions: MF 10 Ben Halloran  46' MF 14 James Troisi  61' MF 23 Mark Bresciano  72' Manager: Ange Postecoglou

GK 23 Pepe Reina RB 5 Juanfran CB 2 Raúl Albiol CB 15 Sergio Ramos (c)  62' LB 18 Jordi Alba CM 14 Xabi Alonso  83' CM 17 Koke AM 6 Andrés Iniesta RW 20 Santi Cazorla  68' LW 7 David Villa  56' CF 9 Fernando Torres Substitutions: MF 13 Juan Mata  56' MF 10 Cesc Fàbregas  68' MF 21 David Silva  83' Manager: Vicente del Bosque

The two teams had never met before.^[28] Netherlands forward Robin van Persie was suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards.^[24]

With both teams already assured of qualifying for the knockout stage after their first two matches, this match would decide which team would win the group: the Netherlands needed only a draw while Chile needed a win. The Netherlands went in front in the 77th minute with a header from six yards by substitute Leroy Fer after a Daryl Janmaat cross from the right. Another substitute Memphis Depay got the second in injury time, when he scored from close range after Arjen Robben had made a run down the left before crossing from the byline.^[29] With this win the Netherlands won Group B with a perfect record of three wins out of three, while Chile finished as group runners-up.^[30]

23 June 2014

13:00 BRT (UTC−3)

Netherlands	2–0	Chile
Fer 77' Depay 90+2'	Report

Arena de São Paulo, São Paulo

Attendance: 62,996

Referee: Bakary Gassama (Gambia)

Netherlands

Chile

GK 1 Jasper Cillessen RB 7 Daryl Janmaat CB 2 Ron Vlaar CB 3 Stefan de Vrij LB 5 Daley Blind  64' RM 20 Georginio Wijnaldum CM 6 Nigel de Jong LM 15 Dirk Kuyt  89' AM 10 Wesley Sneijder  75' SS 11 Arjen Robben (c) CF 17 Jeremain Lens  69' Substitutions: MF 21 Memphis Depay  69' MF 18 Leroy Fer  75' DF 14 Terence Kongolo  89' Manager: Louis van Gaal

GK 1 Claudio Bravo (c) CB 17 Gary Medel CB 5 Francisco Silva  25'  70' CB 18 Gonzalo Jara RWB 4 Mauricio Isla LWB 2 Eugenio Mena CM 20 Charles Aránguiz CM 21 Marcelo Díaz AM 16 Felipe Gutiérrez  46' CF 7 Alexis Sánchez CF 11 Eduardo Vargas  81' Substitutions: MF 15 Jean Beausejour  46' MF 10 Jorge Valdivia  70' FW 9 Mauricio Pinilla  81' Manager: Jorge Sampaoli

• Australia at the FIFA World Cup
• Chile at the FIFA World Cup
• Netherlands at the FIFA World Cup
• Spain at the FIFA World Cup

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2014 FIFA World Cup Group B.

• 2014 FIFA World Cup Group B, FIFA.com