Chile

Brief History: Though one of the original 13 countries to play in the first ever finals in 1930, Chile doesn’t share a great footballing tradition as their more illustrious neighbours of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. In their first finals, they defeated Mexico and France but lost out to Argentina. Fast-forward 32 years later where they played hosts to the prestigious event. Chile produced their best performance to date, qualifying from the group stage after defeats of Switzerland and Italy, the latter being the infamous ‘Battle of Santiago’ in which the teams needed police protection to leave the field.

World Cup Wins: Chile has never won the World Cup

How they made it: Chile qualified after finishing second in the CONMEBOL qualifiers behind Brazil. They pulled off a famous victory over Diego Maradona’s Argentina and secured qualification through a 4-2 victory over Colombia.

Key Players: Humberto Suazo (Monterrey), Alexis Sanchez (Udinese) and Matias Fernandez (Sporting CP).

Coach: Marcelo Bielsa

Strengths: Chile is a very attacking team with a mind-set of offence. They will press continually even when they have the advantage.

Weaknesses: The defence is a concern for the Chileans. Their lack of height at the back severely hampers their aerial ability. Another concern is the errors caused by their high press game.

Expected finish: Chile has the potential to go beyond the group stage and will do just that.

Honduras

Brief History: This will be Honduras’ second World Cup appearance having qualified for the 1982 edition in Spain. They put up a creditable performance as they drew with hosts Spain and Northern Ireland but lost out to Yugoslavia in the final game which cost them a second round birth.

World Cup Wins: Honduras has never won the World Cup.

How they made it: The road to South Africa was not as smoothe as the Hondurans would have liked. They finished third in CONCACAF with 16 points just bellow USA and Mexico. Honduras fought it out with Costa Rica to the death and only qualified at the expense of the rivals due to a better goal difference.

Key Players: David Suazo (Inter Milan), Amado Guevara (Toronto FC) and Carlos Pavon (Real Espana, Honduras).

Coach: Reinaldo Rueda

Strengths: Honduras will rely on its sturdy defence which conceded the least amount of goals during qualification and their counter-attacking play.

Weaknesses: Honduras has a bit of a goalkeeping problem as first choice Noel Valladares made a number of blunders during the qualification round. They will need to plug this hole if they are to progress beyond they group stage.

Expected finish: Honduras will attempt to go beyond the group stage which will prove to be too much for them.

Spain

Brief History: After finishing fourth in only their second World Cup appearance, the Spanish team has evolved into perennial underachievers. They always possess quality players on paper but their on-the-field performances were always questionable. However, their form of the last three or so years has made them to team to fear around all regions of the World; allowing to actually be the first non-World Cup winner to claim top spot in the FIFA Rankings.

World Cup Appearances: Their trip to South Africa will make it the 13th time they are participating in a World Cup.

World Cup Wins: Spain has never won the World Cup, their best finish is fourth.

How they made it: Sublime form is an understatement for a team that won all 10 of their qualification fixtures while conceding only five goals.

Key Players: Midfielder Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona), Strikers David Villa (Barcelona) and Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

Coach: Vicente Del Bosque

Strengths: A strong defensive unit, midfield creativity and attacking prowess. While possessing numerous individual stars it is simply amazing to see them perform as a single unit and this is what allows them to be so efficient.

Weakness: They are always touted as being an easily frustrated them, strong physical play from opposition may be enough to throw them off their game.

Expected finish: World Cup champions. Their undisputed class in every area of the pitch is arguably second to none and if everyone clicks it will be difficult to stop them.

Switzerland

Brief History: The Swiss team has always been one rise to the occasion and get the job done. While they have had qualification struggles in many of their World Cup they can boast the fact that they have always made it past the first round whenever they embark on a World Cup conquest.

World Cup Appearances: The Swiss have made it to the World Cup on five previous occasions.

World Cup Wins: They have never managed to claim top prize at a World Cup.

How they made it: While it was no easy feat by any standard, the Swiss qualified directly for the World Cup by topping their group in the qualifiers.

Key Players: Midfielder Eren Derdiyok and Winger Tranquillo Barnetta (both of Bayer Leverkusen), Striker Alexander Frei (FC Basel)

Coach: Ottmar Hitzfeld

Strengths: They may not possess the best players but they always capitalise and make use of what they have at their disposal. They always operate as a unit and combined with their constant self-motivation they tend to cause a lot of problems.

Weakness: While evidence supports that they rise to the occasion when facing tougher opponents, they always seem to let down their guard against team they are expected to dominate.

Expected Finish: Based on the opposition in their group they should progress through to the next round as with every other World Cup but their journey should end there.