SPAIN , HOLLAND , CHILE , AUSTRALIA

WORLD CUP HISTORY For years , Spain were considered the underachievers of World Cup football . Always blessed with a team full of talent until 2010 and the drama of South Africa , the Furia Roja had failed to break their Jules Rimet drought .

That fruitless spell , however , belies a record in international football ' s biggest competition that is more than respectable . Their worst spell coincided , paradoxically , with Real Madrid ' s dominance of the 1950s and 1960s . Since hosting in 1982 , Spain have qualified and made the knockout stage of every competition .

Previous World Cup appearances ( 13 ): 1934 , 1950 , 1962 , 1966 , 1978 , 1982 , 1986 , 1990 , 1994 , 1998 , 2002 , 2006 , 2010 .

ROAD TO BRAZIL 2014 The holders emerged unbeaten over their eight matches , with back-to-back home draws against Finland and France a mere blip . They did not trail at any stage of qualification .

STAR MAN

ANDRES INIESTA : Pass , pass , and pass again . Barcelona ’ s midfield man will torment any side making them chase all day for possession – and then chase some more . He might be out of the limelight at the club level with Lionel Messi and Neymar both operating at the Camp Nou , but he ' s the last man to score in a World Cup , notching the extra-time winner against the Netherlands in the 2010 final . An elegant , refined playmaker who stands out despite Spain having a boatload of creative players , Iniesta is virtually impossible to defend against when he ' s on his game .

16 COMPLETE FOOTBALL

WE ’ RE THE CHAMPS : La Furia Roja desperate to retain World Cup title

Spain . The defending World Champions are also double European Champions , and as such they ' re automatically one of the favorites in whichever tournament they ' re playing in . That ' s not to say that Spain are invincible , they lost their first group stage game four years ago but they ' re very , very good . Formed mostly from an impressive core of Real Madrid and Barcelona players , La Roja boast the likes of Andres Iniesta , Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos . And the emergence of Diego Costa as one of La Liga ' s top scorers means that the questions over their centre forward position may well have been resolved .

Spain have won the last three major tournaments they have entered , so you have to fancy them ! The only thing that ' s stacked against them is history as no European team has won the World Cup in South America . This Spain team remains more than capable of changing that though .

MISSION : The holders will fancy their chances of keeping their beloved trophy and gaining a second star on their crest with a successful campaign in Brazil . Vital to this dream becoming a reality is that they top Group B , leading to the likelihood of a game

KEY MAN

SERGIO RAMOS : Playing at centre back in a team bristling with stars can result in getting overlooked but Spain would truly miss enterprising yet robust defender Sergio Ramos . Capped 115 times at the age of 27 , he has started 18 of their last 19 tournament matches and was everpresent during qualifying . against Mexico or Croatia instead of hosts Brazil .

PREPARATION : Spain , just like African champions Nigeria will feature in an eight-team 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil warm-up tournament to be staged in the United States between 27 May and 10 June .

The ' Road To Brazil ' event , organised by Major League Soccer , also f e a t u r e s B o s n i a - Herzegovina , Greece , Côte d ' Ivoire , Honduras , as well as two teams not going to Brazil - Bolivia and El Salvador .

HIGH POINT : Andres Iniesta ’ s e x t r a t i m e winning goal in the South Africa 2010 final ended y e a r s o f underachieveme nt by Spain – and m e a n t t h e beautiful game triumphed over H o l l a n d ’ s attempts to kick them off the park .

LOW POINT : In the quarter-finals of USA ' 94 , La Furia Roja suffered what was probably their most frustrating defeat in their entire history in the tournament , losing to Italy 2-1 after Julio Salinas had gone on one-on-one with Gianluca Pagliuca with five minutes remaining but failed to beat the Italy ' keeper . It would have surely been the winning goal and secured Spain ' s place in the semi-finals . After that missed chance by Salinas , Italy scored the winning goal through Roberto Baggio and then the referee ignored a stone-wall penalty for Spain

COACH VINCENTE DEL BOSQUE : A 62-year-old genius who found a way to end the traditional feuds between players from Barcelona and Real Madrid and got all the talents pulling in the same direction . Only man to win three major tournaments in a

Juan Fran

Navas

STRONGEST LINE-UP

Pique

Xavi

Casillas

Busquets

Costa

Ramos

Iniesta

FORMATION : 4-1-4-1

KEY

MAN DIEGO COSTA : Striker Diego Costa has chosen adopted nation Spain over Brazil , the country of his birth , and can expect a hostile reception next summer if selected . The Atletico Madrid forward has confirmed himself as one of the world ' s most prolific strikers over the course of the 2013-14 season . At the World Cup , he will have the chance to show Spain that he can be the centre-forward who leads them to a

Jordi Alba

Pedro