The World Cup 2014 kicks off with Brazil and Croatia and the game is live on TV from ESPN at 4 pm ET and comes from Arena Corinthians in Sao Paulo as the tournament starts and the live stream coverage is from WatchESPN online as Group A has their opener and this is the only match of the day before things continue on Friday and that has numerous matchups with Chile, Spain, Mexico, Australia, Cameroon and the Netherlands all in action.
Brazil comes into the tournament looking to win it all and they are one of the favorite teams to take the Cup this time and they also will be up against teams like Germany and Argentina, while Spain comes in as defending champions. Spain won the last World Cup in South America for their first one ever and they now are one of the favorites as well and they won the Euros, but Brazil did win the Confederations Cup and that is a World Cup warm-up and while that doesn't mean they will win the whole thing, it was a very important title to get and now they have even more confidence than they had coming into the tournament.
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Neymar will be key for the team and he has players like Hulk, Willian, Oscar and Ramires to back him up and if he can play up to usual standards, there's no reason to think Brazil won't be there at the end. Argentina has Lionel Messi, but they are not as deep as Brazil, while Germany is dealing with a number of injuries coming into the tournament. The Group A matchups start on Thursday and continue on Friday and that has Cameroon and Mexico playing in Natal and Brazil will have their second game against Mexico later next week before finishing up with Cameroon.
The schedule continues with Group B on Friday and that has Spain and the Netherlands playing, while Chile and Australia will matchup as well. Cameroon and Mexico is the other match for the day and then things pick up on Saturday with Group C and Group D and that has some of the most anticipated matches of the tournament. Spain is coming in with some fierce power and they will be a favorite and on Saturday England and Italy will be playing and that comes from Manaus at the Amazon Stadium and that match is huge for both sides. England is trying to have a nice showing and this will be crucial if they want to make it to the knockout stage.
Some of the top players in the tournament include Luis Suarez, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Wayne Rooney, Michael Bradley, Clint Dempsey and Cristiano Ronaldo and those players will have tons of pressure on them in the tournament. Suarez is coming off of the best year of his career after playing with Liverpool and leading the English Premier League in scoring and he will be key for Uruguay and they open against Costa Rica. Ivory Coast plays Japan and they will rely on the Toure brothers, while Ronaldo looks to be back after dealing with an injury. Brazil has tons of pressure to perform and they will get a boost from their home fans.
Check here for the World Cup coverage for Brazil and Croatia and the first game of the tournament.