Team profile: Spain

Keep your eyes on Xavi Hernández. A national team that many consider the best ever revolves around his play — much like FC Barcelona — and Spanish success in Brazil with depend on his form. The 34-year-old has lost a step in the past two seasons, and a diminished role in Brazil will add playmaking pressure on the likes of Cesc Fàbregas and Andrés Iniesta.

Undoubtedly, South Africa 2010, when the reigning European Cup champions fulfilled the full potential of the "Golden Generation" of Spanish football and were crowned world champions. European Championship victories sandwiched around South Africa 2010 place the current team on the pedestal of all-time greats.

The world champions have a legitimate chance of winning back-to-back World Cup titles, as they fuse upcoming young stars into the core group that won in South Africa. The experience — and cool nerves — that comes with winning the previous World Cup and two European Championships should see them lead their qualifying group and avoid Brazil in the Round of 16. With a little bit of luck, that know-how will see them through to at least the semifinals.

Spain is spent and will have a hard time surviving a first-round group that includes upstart Chile and Holland, which placed second in South Africa in 2010. Blame title fatigue. Most players have nothing to prove, having won every major title on the international stage since 2008, when Spain took home the European Cup. Summoning the sheer will to succeed may prove a bigger challenge than any team they meet on the field, Brazil included.

Diego Costa became the fifth Brazilian-born player to side with Spain when coach Vicente del Bosque named the Atlético de Madrid star to the 23-man squad. He scored 27 times during the Spanish season and should land a starting spot with Spain, despite having played with Brazil last year during two friendlies. But he looked uncomfortable with the star-laden Brazilian side, and Brazilian coach Felipe Scolari never named him to the national team again, telling the public that Costa had "turned his back on Brazil."