This may be Honduras’ first World Cup for 28 years but they are unlikely to repeat their heroics of 1982 when they drew with Spain and Northern Ireland and were unlucky to go out to Yugoslavia. They were not especially impressive in qualification, losing three out of four games to Mexico and the United States and with much depending on their 36-year-old centre-forward, Carlos Pavon. However, their key midfielder, Tottenham’s Wilson Palacios has recovered from an abductor muscle tear that threatened his entire World Cup.

Chile, like their opponents, have been anxiously monitoring the fitness of a key player, this time Humberto Suarez, whose 10 goals were a key element in Chile’s impressive campaign that saw them qualify second behind Brazil, having scored more goals and won more games than the Selecao. That Suarez is likely to play should be a huge boost for Marcelo Bielsa’s side, who have won their four warm-up games without conceding a goal.

Before every World Cup, the South American focus is squarely on Argentina and Brazil but it would be foolish to ignore Chile who might go a very long way in this tournament. Their form in qualification and in pre-tournament friendlies is impressive and the only danger seems to lie on Bielsa, who suffered a disastrous time when leading Argentina in the 2002 tournament, placing too much pressure on his players. He has insisted on a siege mentality at their training camp near Nelspruit and that might backfire. Verdict: Chile to win.