Highlights: England 3 Slovenia 1 & Spain 3 Belarus 0

After an uninspiring first half, Slovenia’s opener early in the second looked set to make it a miserable evening for Roy Hodgson at Wembley. But a Wayne Rooney penalty followed by Danny Welbeck’s brace helped secure a 3-1 win. 

Much like the World Cup group stages were hailed as a triumph, the European Qualifiers have proven surprisingly entertaining with the new format seeming to invigorate mid-ranking sides enlivened by the prospect of qualification. But while England appeared immune to the fun on offer in Brazil, they’ve also avoided any of the subsequent drama this season.

Germany, Spain, Netherlands and Portugal have all suffered defeats in Euro 2016 qualifying. Meanwhile, England’s 3-1 win over Slovenia makes it four wins from four in Group E. It may not have been exhilarating but it only requires a cursory glance at the results around Europe to appreciate that the Three Lions are faring better than most so far this season. 

Until they registered their unexpected three goals in just 13 thrilling minutes — with Danny Welbeck claiming two to take his tally to five in this qualifying campaign — this was certainly not the event that Rooney would have imagined and dreamt of and craved for as he was presented with that cap by Charlton prior to kick-off.

Jack Wilshere later said England were becoming horrible to beat. For a while they were simply horrible.

It appeared it would be all about England running out of ideas, looking flat and listless and showing precious few signs of progressing from their World Cup disappointment. Plus a deserved shoeing for the Football Association for chasing the dollar — quite literally — in allowing those American Football teams, the Dallas Cowboys and the Jacksonville Jaguars, with their huge, hulking players to run riot over the Wembley turf. So much for a sacred surface.

There were dark patches and scars all over the turf which, evidently, also cut up although not as roughly as England manager Roy Hodgson had feared.

Isco scored a sublime goal as Spain stayed three points behind leaders Slovakia in Group C of Euro 2016 qualifying with victory over Belarus.

The Real Madrid midfielder opened the scoring when he curled the ball home from 18 yards in the 18th minute.

Barcelona's Sergio Busquets drove in the second from outside the area almost straight from the restart.

And club-mate Pedro completed the scoring when he smashed a shot high into the net from inside the box.

Highlights: Luxembourg 0 Spain 4 & Estonia 0 England 1

Luxembourg 0 Spain 4 

Estonia 0 England 1

Euro 2016 Qualification: England vs San Marino 5-0 & Slovakia vs Spain 2-1

England vs San Marino 5-0

Slovakia vs Spain 2-1

Highlights: Italy 2 Netherlands 0, France 1 Spain 0, Argentina 4 Germany 2 & England 1 Norway 0

Italy 2 Netherlands 0

France 1 Spain 0

Argentina 4 Germany 2

England 1 Norway 0

Match Report & Highlights: Spain vs Australia

Spain ended their 2014 World Cup on a positive note with a comfortable victory over Australia in Group B.

The defending champions had already known they would exit the competition at the group stage after losing to Netherlands and Chile but, playing for pride against the Socceroos, they secured their first points in Brazil.

Fielding a much-changed team, Spain scored in open play for the first time at this summer's tournament when David Villa flicked in a cut-back from former Atletico Madrid club-mate Juanfran for his 59th international goal.

Villa had announced at the start of the month that he would end his international career after the tournament and was in tears after being substituted for Juan Mata in the second half.

Fernando Torres then made it 2-0 as he latched onto a perfectly weighted Andres Iniesta pass before tucking into the net, and Mata rounded off the scoring when he found space at the far post to control a Cesc Fabregas pass and slot home.

Netherlands 2 Chile 0

Match Report & Highlights: Chile 2 Spain 0

Defending champions Spain have fallen at the first hurdle as a 2-0 defeat to Chile means they have no hope of progressing from Group B.

Vicente del Bosque had led Spain to glory at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 but, following his side's 5-1 humbling against Netherlands on Friday, a reaction was required to avert a group-stage exit.

They had produced such a reaction four years ago when bouncing back from a defeat in their opener to Switzerland, but La Furia Roja appeared for the most part to be a pale imitation of their 2010 vintage.

On 20 minutes, Chile broke the deadlock, carving the Spain defence open as Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez and Charles Aranguiz combined before setting up Eduardo Vargas to skip around Iker Casillas and finish.

Just before halftime, Spain's fate worsened as Casillas failed to deal with a Sanchez free kick, allowing Aranguiz to poke home a second.

Spain injected more urgency into their game at the start of the second half, and Sergio Busquets spurned a golden opportunity to bring his side back into the game, but they could never exercise the kind of control that had been the hallmark of their success in recent years and were unable to force a goal.

Spain and Australia have both failed to register a point from their opening two fixtures and have no chance of progressing to the round of 16. Chile and Netherlands will meet in Sao Paulo on Monday to determine who will advance as group winners.

Spain suffered the humiliation of being the first reigning champions to be knocked out of the World Cup after just two matches as Chile sent their tens of thousands of fans in the Maracana into rapture.

A tactical masterpiece from Chile's Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli laid the foundation for the South Americans to humble their more-glamorous European opponents with goals from Eduardo Vargas and Charles Aranguiz securing a 2-0 win.

It is not the first time the reigning world champions have failed to make the knockout rounds -- among others, Italy suffered that indignity in 2010 and so did France in 2002 -- but never before has it happened after the first two games.

The 5-1 hiding handed out by Netherlands in the opening match was still reverberating for Spain, and the pattern of that nightmare second half of last Friday night continued in the same agonising vein.

Vincente del Bosque's side appeared frozen into inaction, and it did not help that they were playing a Chile side whose spirit was stoked by tens of thousands of fans bouncing off the walls of the Maracana -- in some cases literally as thousands without tickets remained outside the stadiums with around 200 bursting through a security cordon prior to kick-off.

From the start, Chile - who have looked hugely impressive in the last couple of years -- were fired up for this fray. They served noticed of their threat when Gonzalo Jara headed over from a good position.

Spain knew they had to win and Claudio Bravo in the Chile goal stood in Xabi Alonso's way when the Real Madrid midfielder pounced on Andres Iniesta's deflected pass with only the keeper to beat.

He looked certain to score but Bravo stopped it with one hand at close range, and Alonso's next involvement was to lose the ball in the move which saw Chile go ahead.

Alexis Sanchez snapped up possession and played in Charles Aranguiz, who picked out Vargas with a brilliant centre. The Valencia forward kept his head while Spain were losing theirs and neatly sidestepped Iker Casillas before sliding it home.

Alonso attempted to make amends but blasted high and wide from Diego Costa's lay-off, before the striker scuffed a shot into the turf and side-netting as Spain's frustrations increased.

Two minutes before halftime and Spain's looming crisis became a fully-fledged disaster.

Casillas, heavily criticised after the Netherlands debacle, did himself no favours with a poor double-handed fist at Sanchez's gentle free kick and the ball dropped to Aranguiz, who controlled it and then toe-poked back past the sorry keeper to make it 2-0.

Another bad miss from Costa, who was mercilessly taunted by the Chile fans, was followed by Jordi Alba spraying his shot wide as desperation set in for Spain in the second half.

Chile then turned rather wasteful, failing to kill off the game completely with Vargas shooting straight at Casillas, Mauricio Isla scooping over at full-stretch and Sanchez dallying too long when in space.

Del Bosque sent on Fernando Torres and Santi Cazorla to try a last-ditch rescue attempt and the Arsenal midfielder came close to scoring, denied by a sprawling save low to his right by Bravo with 10 minutes left.

Bravo was bravura to the last with more top-class saves, notably from Cazorla's free kick.

Spain looked like broken men. After the 2010 triumph sandwiched by two European Championship wins, their world has come crashing down.

Match Preview & Predicted Lineups: Spain vs Chile

Spain v Chile

Maracana, Rio De Janeiro

Kick-off: 3.30 am Sri Lankan Time

Referee: Mark Geiger (United States).

Tonight’s match will be taking place at the World Cup final venue but Spain failed to convince anyone that they will be there on July 13. The defending champions must hope their wounds after the 5-1 mauling by the Netherlands have healed enough because Chile pose a serious threat, as proven by their dominant 3-1 win against Australia.

Vicente del Bosque is expected to make changes after the 5-1 defeat by Holland.

One possible change could see Chelsea's Cesar Azpilicueta make way for Juanfran.

Chile coach Jorge Sampaoli is expected to keep faith with the side that beat Australia.

Spain have never lost to Chiles, in 10 meetings, with eight wins and two draws to boast about.

If they fail to make that 11 unbeaten and, more imprtantly, a ninth win, then the holders will be almost certainly out.

Hard to imagine, and there is still a chance thye could retain the World Cup.

But they must perform much better than they did against Holland, while Chile may need more than just the help of a referee to win this one.

PAST THREE MEETINGS…

Spain 2 (Soldado, Navas) Chile 2 (Vargas 2), International Friendly, September 2013

Spain 3 (Iniesta, Fabregas 2) Chile 2 (Isla, Vargas), International Friendly, September 2011

Chile 1 (Millar) Spain 2 (Villa, Iniesta), World Cup, June 2010

The four-goal margin led to Spain setting the record of heaviest defeat by a defending World champion.

Last time Spain conceded more than five goals was against Brazil in 1950 where the Furia Roja lost 6-1.

Both sides have faced each other 10 times but Chile were never able to beat Spain. The defending champions have won eight of their last meetings.

After beating Australia last week, Chile have now won three of their last 18 matches in the World Cup finals since 1962.

Spain (Possible, 4-3-2-1): Casillas; Juanfran, Ramos, Martinez, Alba; Alonso, Busquets, Cazorla; Xavi, Iniesta; Fabregas.

Chile (Possible, 4-1-3-2): Bravo; Isla, Medel, Jara, Mena; Diaz; Aranguiz, Valdivia, Vidal; Sanchez, Vargas.

Highlights and Match Report: Netherlands 5 Spain 1

The Netherlands garnered a spectacular dose of revenge for their World Cup final loss to Spain four years ago by kicking off their 2014 campaign with a thrilling and resounding 5-1 win over the world champions in Salvador.

It was a match that could not have been in sharper contrast to the dour affair in Johannesburg. This time the Netherlands came to play and after going down to a Xabi Alonso penalty following a foul on Diego Costa they crudely exposed the deficiencies in Spain’s backline and particularly with their goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

Robin van Persie equalized before half-time with a sumptuously directed header from 15 yards. From another majestic ball over the top of Spain’s straying back line from Daley Blind, Arjen Robben put the Dutch in front shortly after the interval. Having conceded two goals in a major tournament for the first time since their dominance of the international arena began in 2008, Spain were rattled. They were soon to concede two more as defeat turned to ignominy and Dutch joy turned to glee.

Casillas came and failed to get to a free-kick, although had a strong claim for a free-kick for Van Persie’s challenge, before Stefan de Vrij looked the most surprised man on the pitch to have bundled in his first goal for his country. Things then went from bad to worse for Spain’s goalkeeper, who has remained No.1 for his country, despite not having been so for his club for 18 months. Van Persie caught him in possession and poked the ball into the empty net to seal the win with 18 minutes remaining. That still proved enough time for the brilliant Robben to run clear and fire the ball into the net for his second and the Netherlands’ fifth.

Match Preview: Spain vs Netherlands

Title holders Spain are ready to square off against 2010 finalists Netherlands in what seems to be the most anticipated match of the 2014 World Cup group stage. The final in South Africa consisted of numerous hard challenges, memorable highlights and an overall bad temper between two recognised sides and the only difference from tonight is that this will be just a group B match.

The Furia Roja are looking to make history and become the first and only team to win two back-to-back European championships and World Cups in just six years. Striker Diego Costa did not show any signs of pain during Tuesday’s practice and seems to have overcome his hamstring injury sustained at Atletico Madrid’s closing match in Camp Nou.

Netherlands manager Louis van Gaal will be hoping that striker Robin van Persie’s fitness is up to par after suffering a groin injury. The Manchester United player was also involved in a strange accident with a kitesurfer on Monday but got away with minor scratches and a headache. Nevertheless, The Oranje captain is very confident that he can perform and carry out his part during the competition.

These teams have met nine times before, sharing four wins apiece and a draw. Spain won 1-0, after extra-time and after Johnny Heitinga was shown a red card, when the two sides met in the final of the 2010 World Cup.
Dont expect to see a similar game to the brutal match in South Africa four years ago, as Netherlands will look to contain Spain without kicking them off the park. Netherlands will sit back deep to try and frustrate the Spanish attackers, and as soon as the Dutch get the ball they will look to set off Robin van Persie, and Arjen Robben up front.

PAST THREE MEETINGS…

Netherlands 0 Spain 1 (Iniesta), World Cup final, July 2010

Netherlands 1 (Frank de Boer) Spain 0, International friendly, March 2002

Spain 1 (Hierro) Netherlands 2 (Hasselbaink, Frank de Boer), International friendly, November 2000

SPAIN v NETHERLANDS PROBABLE LINEUPS

Spain (4-3-3): Casillas – Juanfran, Sergio Ramos, Pique, Jordi Alba – Xavi, Busquets, Xabi Alonso – David Silva, Diego Costa, Iniesta.

Netherlands (4-3-1-2): Cillessen – Janmaat, de Vrij, Vlaar, Martins Indi – de Guzman, de Jong, Blind – Sneijder – Van Persie, Robben.

Netherlands - Team to lose 3 World Cup finals

Netherlands is the only team in the World Cup to qualify for 3 finals and lose all 3. Details about their all 3 final defeats here

1974 World Cup finals vs Germany 

West Germany was led by Franz Beckenbauer, while the Dutch had their star Johan Cruyff, and their Total Football system which had dazzled the competition. The start of the match was delayed as the ground staff at the stadium had removed the corner flags for the tournament's closing ceremony (which preceded the final) but then forgot to put them back. With just a minute gone on the clock, following a solo run, Cruijff was brought down by Uli Hoeneß in the German penalty area, and the Dutch took the lead from the ensuing penalty by Johan Neeskens before any German player had even touched the ball. West Germany struggled to recover, but they were awarded a penalty of their own in the 25th minute after Bernd Hölzenbein was fouled within the Dutch area. Paul Breitner took responsibility for the kick, and scored. These two penalties were the first to be awarded in a World Cup Final. West Germany now pushed for a winner, which eventually came in the 43rd minute through Gerd Müller. It turned out to be Müller's last ever goal for the West German team, as he retired from international football after the tournament. As the teams walked off the pitch at half-time, Cruyff was booked for arguing with the referee.

The second half saw chances for both sides. Müller thought he had scored when he put the ball in the net, only to be denied by the linesman flagging for offside. In the 85th minute, Hölzenbein fell to ground in the Dutch penalty area again, but referee Taylor did not believe it was a foul. When the final whistle went, West Germany were crowned world champions for 1974, in addition to their European title from 1972. This was the only case of the reigning European champions winning the World Cup until Spain accomplished the feat in 2010, although France have also held both trophies at the same time by winning the 1998 World Cup followed by Euro 2000.

The Brazilian João Havelange (former FIFA President from 1974 to 1998) made an unfounded claim that the 1966 and 1974 World Cups were fixed so that England and Germany would win respectively

1978 World Cup finals vs Argentina

 The match was contested by hosts Argentina and the Netherlands. The match was won by the Argentines in extra time by a score of 3–1. Mario Kempes, who finished as the tournament's top scorer, was named the man of the match. The Netherlands lost their second World Cup final in a row, both times to the host nation, after losing to West Germany in 1974.

The final is mired in some controversy as the Dutch accused the Argentines of using stalling tactics to delay the match. The host team came out late and questioned the legality of a plaster cast on René van de Kerkhof's wrist, which the Dutch claimed allowed tension to build in front of a hostile Buenos Airescrowd.The Netherlands refused to attend the post-match ceremonies after the match ended.

2010 World Cup finals vs Spain

The final was played on 11 July 2010 at Soccer City, Johannesburg. Spain defeated the Netherlands 1–0, after an extra time goal by Andrés Iniesta.

The match had the most yellow cards awarded in a World Cup final, more than doubling the previous record for a final, set when Argentina and West Germany shared six cards in 1986.^[8] Fourteen yellow cards were awarded (nine of which to the Netherlands), and John Heitinga of the Netherlands was sent off for a second yellow. One yellow card was for Nigel de Jong's studs-up kick to the chest of Xabi Alonso during the first half, for which Rob Hughes of the New York Times, among others, believed the referee should have given a red card.The referee, Howard Webb, later said after reviewing the foul that it should have been a red card, but that his view during play was partially obstructed.

The Netherlands had several chances to score, most notably in the 60th minute when Arjen Robben was released by Wesley Sneijder putting him one-on-one with Spain's goalkeeper Iker Casillas, but Casillas pushed the shot wide with an outstretched leg. Meanwhile, for Spain, Sergio Ramos missed a free header from a corner kick when he was unmarked. Dutch captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst was substituted in the 105th minute by Edson Braafheid; Real Madrid midfielder Rafael van der Vaart, who had come on as a substitute in the 99th minute for Nigel de Jong, took over as captain for the last 15 minutes. From the 109th minute on the Dutch played with 10 men due to Heitinga's second yellow card. With a penalty shootout seeming inevitable, Jesús Navas sprinted into opposing territory and began a series of passes that led to Iniesta finally breaking the deadlock four minutes before the end of extra time, scoring with a right footed half-volleyed shot low to the goalkeeper's right after receiving a pass fromCesc Fàbregas on the right of the penalty area.

Just before the goal was scored, the Dutch team had a free kick that hit the wall (apparently taking a deflection off Fàbregas) before going out. Despite the deflection, which should have given possession and a corner kick to the Dutch, a goal kick was given to Spain, starting the play that led to the goal. The Dutch, however, momentarily had possession of the ball near the Spanish penalty area in between the goal kick and Iniesta's goal. Joris Mathijsen was yellow-carded for his strong protests to the referee after the goal, and other Dutch players criticised Webb for this decision after the match.

Source:  Wikipedia

Highlights: England vs Honduras, Spain vs El Salvador, Argentina vs Slovenia and Belgium vs Tunisia

England 0 Honduras 0 

England could not find a way past 10-man Honduras and their final warm-up before the World Cup ended goalless. 

Spain 2 El Salvador 0

David Villa scored twice and Cesc Fabregas missed a penalty as Spain defeated El Salvador in their final World Cup warm-up game.

Argentina 2 Slovenia 0

Argentina easily beat Slovenia 2-0 in their last World Cup warm-up match with goals from Ricardo Alvarez and Lionel Messi on Saturday.

Belgium 1 Tunisia 0

Dries Mertens scored in the 89th minute as Belgium clinched a 1-0 victory over Tunisia in their final warm-up game for the World Cup on Saturday.

Winning goal of FIFA World Cup 2010 by Andres Iniesta