Spain's Iniesta, Torres and Casillas walk off the pitch at the end of their 2014 World Cup Group B soccer match in Rio de Janeiro
(L-R) Spain's Andres Iniesta, Fernando Torres and Iker Casillas walk off the pitch at the end of their 2014 World Cup Group B soccer match against Chile at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro June 18, 2014. REUTERS/Pilar Olivares

Final Score

Australia 0 Spain 3

Overview

The thirty fifth match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Australia and Spain. The Group B match is the last chance for both Australia and Spain to restore some pride as both failed to secure a place in the "group of 16."

Teams

Australia: Nobody expected much from Australia which came to the tournament as the least ranked team. However, Australia showed that it would be unwise to write it off against any opposition. Its best performance came against Chile when its highest goal scorer of all time Tim Cahill scored a stunner which was considered to be the best goal until then by many. However, the Aussies fell short against the Netherlands which scored thrice to reach the knock-out stage with the win. Cahill, arguably the best player of the Australian team, will miss this match due to consecutive yellow cards in the last couple of matches. Australia looked highly impressive against the Netherlands. It will try to finish the tournament on a positive note by defeating the current world champion Spain.

Spain: The present world champion will no longer be one after this world cup. It was an unceremonious exit for Spain which failed to secure a win even after two matches. In fact, it conceded 7 goals in 2 matches scoring only 1, that too from a penalty. The glorious record of the Spanish team in the last 6 years will remain one of the best in the history but it is probably time for several of the legendary footballers in the team to hang their boots after the world cup. Before they do so, they will have one more chance to show their true colour. This match will be the last match for many great Spanish footballers.

Head to Head

These two teams never played against each other before.

Key Players

Australia: Mile Jedinak

Spain: Iniesta and Ramos

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 1 pm (local time) on June 23, which means it is 2 am on June 24 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Arena da Baixada in Curitiba.

Prediction

Spain will finally score even though Australia will continue to be impressive. Spain will win 2-0.

Group Predictions

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G & Group H

Reference: FIFA

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au