Spain vs Netherlands 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. 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. 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. 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. With their goals, Van Persie and Robben became the first Dutch players to score in three World Cups. Casillas and
Xavi joined
Andoni Zubizarreta as the only Spanish players to appear in four World Cups.
Chile vs Australia The two teams had met in five previous matches, including in the
1974 FIFA World Cup group stage, a 0–0 draw. 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. 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. With their respective goals, Cahill became the first Australian player to score in three World Cups, while Beausejour became the first Chilean player to score in two World Cups.
Australia vs Netherlands The two teams had met in three previous matches, all in friendlies, most recently in 2009. 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. 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. At the age of 20, Depay's goal made him the Netherlands' youngest scorer at World Cups.
Spain vs Chile 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). 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. 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. 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.
Australia vs Spain The two teams had never met before. Australia forward
Tim Cahill was suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards. 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. 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. 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.
Netherlands vs Chile The two teams had never met before. Netherlands forward
Robin van Persie was suspended for the match due to accumulation of yellow cards. 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. ==See also==