World Cup: Today’s games

GROUP A

Cameroon v Croatia (Manaus, 11pm)

Defeat for either will see the trap door opened with a game still to play but victory will propel them back into contention for second place.

Cameroon were dreadful in their opener against Mexico, who should have won by more than one goal, but they cannot perform much worse even without their main man Samuel Eto’o, who has a knee injury.

In contrast, Croatia welcome their striker Mario Mandzukic back from suspension.

They played without fear against Brazil while Cameroon were far too conservative against Mexico and are now without their talisman. Croatia should have more than enough to secure the win and set up a fascinating shoot-out with Mexico in Recife on Monday.

Verdict: Croatia

GROUP B

Australia v Holland (Porto Alegre, 5pm)

Amidst the mayhem on Friday night, where Spain lay shell-shocked in Salvador and Holland celebrated one of the great World Cup moments, Louis Van Gaal did his best to keep a lid on the excitement.

“We have achieved nothing yet,” the Dutch manager said, cautious of expectation levels rocketing after a remarkable result, and although Australia are considered the weakest side in Group B, they still need to win this evening to avoid a tricky duel with Chile.

Australia remain too reliant on Tim Cahill to find the net but did show some battling qualities in the second-half against the Chileans, Matthew Leckie in particular impressing. Yet if Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie remain in the mood — that’s never guaranteed — it could be a long evening for the Socceroos.

Verdict: Holland

Spain v Chile (Rio de Janeiro, 8pm)

Could this be the end of one of the great teams? Or are Spain going to send everybody a reminder that the obits have been a tad premature?

Vincent del Bosque is set to make changes — Pedro, Cesc Fabregas and Javi Martinez are in line for starts — after the Holland debacle and a renewed Spanish effort is certain.

Defensively, expect them to be much tighter and although in Alexis Sanchez, who will be so familiar to the Spanish squad,

Chile have a player capable of creating a moment of magic, it would remain a shock if normal service was not resumed.

There are doubts over the inclusion of Diego Costa, a figure of pantomine hate among supporters of the hosts, but Spain could revert to a strikerless side to get back on track.

Verdict: Spain