Last World Cup: Winners
Nickname: La Roja (not all teams have nicknames as good as the Africans)
Coach: Vicente del Bosque
Star man: Andres Iniesta
Tournament best: Winners 2010

Having enjoyed the best spell in their country's history there is a sense that Spain are not as strong as they once were as their golden generation loses some of its lustre. However, that does not mean the depth of their talent should be underestimated as the likes of Roberto Soldado, Alvaro Negredo, Jesus Navas and Michu have added new impetus while the quality of Iniesta, David Silva and Xavi remains.

Strengths: Having conceded just three goals in qualifying while scoring in every match, Spain are still the team that everyone will want to avoid. Despite their reputation for crafting exquisite passing moves, they created more than one in five of their goals from corners: a higher proportion than all but three sides. Their impressive defence conceded no goals from outside the area nor from the wings - not that much of a pattern can be discerned from such a miserly total.

Weaknesses: The reigning world champions did let two leads slip during qualifying, with both Finland and France coming from behind to take a point from them. Given their relatively modest scoring total, a solitary goal might be enough to take a point from them on a good day.

Prospects: The draw wasn't overly kind to Spain, with their opening game against their 2010 final opponents the Netherlands one of the toughest and most fascinating starts imaginable. Chile's defence have been weakest in the centre of the pitch where Spain's attack have been the strongest, with only Argentina creating more of their goals away from the flanks. Australia are their weakest opponents on paper but the number of late goals they scored – over half came in the final 15 minutes–means that they shouldn't be dismissed too readily.