What was perceived to be one of closest group provided the two qualifiers in the easiest possible way. The first two matches of teams were enough to separate the two qualifiers from the two knocked out teams. The last matches were mere formality of deciding the group winner and pride for the knocked out teams. After 6 matches, Group B announced Netherlands as the topper. They won all the three matches, while Chile finished second with 2 wins.
Summary: Group A
FIFA World Cup 2014: Points Table, 2014 Football World Cup: Schedule and Results in Indian Standard Time, Goal Statistics of FIFA World Cup 2014, Goal Scores of Brazil World Cup
Group B Statistics
- 22 goals in 6 matches produced one of the highest goal percentage of a group in the 2014 World Cup.
Netherlands scored maximum 10 goals, highest for all groups.
Australia conceded maximum 9 goals, highest for all groups.
Australian Cahill was suspended for their last match vs Spain, due to two yellow cards earned before.
Group B Records
Spain
-
First time in FIFA World Cup last edition’s finalists met at the Group Stage.
Spain became the fifth defending champion to be knocked out in the first Round at FIFA World Cup.
Spain became the first defending champion to be knocked out only after two games in groups where four teams played.
1-5 loss is the biggest for a defending champion in the World Cup.
Group Stage History of All Four
- Chile qualified for 2nd round only third time in their 9 appearances at World Cup.
Australia failed 3rd time in 4th attempts to reach the 2nd round.
Defending champion Spain failed to qualify for the 2nd round on 4th occasions in their 14th World Cup.
Netherlands is a regular at 2nd round in 10 attempts, except 1934 and 1938.
Individual Records
- Cahill of Australia became the 5th player, playing in the 2014 World Cup, to score in 3 World Cup editions.
Van Persie and Robben are now the only two Dutch players to score in three World Cups.
Depay’s goal against Australia made him the youngest Dutch Goal Scorer in World Cup.
Robben is the only player of the group to earn 2 Man of the Match Awards.
Group B Points Tally
M=Matches, W=Won, L=Loss, D = Draw, GS=Goals Scored, GC=Goals conceded, GD= Goal difference, P=Points
Group B
| Team | M | W | L | D | GS | GC | GD | P |
| Netherlands | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 9 |
| Chile | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 3 | +4 | 6 |
| Spain | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 3 |
| Australia | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 9 | -6 | 0 |
Group B Match Results
- 1. Netherlands def Spain 5-1, Man of the Match: Robin van Persie.
2. Chile def Australia 3-1, Man of the Match: Alexis Sánchez.
3. Netherlands def Australia 3-2, Man of the Match: Arjen Robben.
4. Chile def Spain 2-0, Man of the Match: Eduardo Vargas.
5. Netherlands def Chile 2-0, Man of the Match: Arjen Robben.
6. Spain def Australia 3-0, Man of the Match: David Villa
Goal Scorers of Group B
- Netherlands: 10 (3: Robin Van Persie, Arjen Robben, 2: Memphis Depay, 1: Stefan de Vrij, Leroy Fer)
Chile: 5 (1: Charles Aránguiz, Jean Beausejour, Alexis Sánchez, Jorge Valdivia, Eduardo Vargas)
Spain: 4 (1: Xabi Alonso, David Villa, Fernando Torres, Juan Mata)
Australia: 3 (2: Cahill, 1: Mile Jedinak),
Leave a Reply