World Cup Brazil 2014: Fixture Schedule, Groups, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

The most anticipated sporting event of the year is fast approaching, and fans now have less than two weeks to wait until the 2014 World Cup kicks off in Brazil.

Nations both big and small will assemble in South America, each with the same intention of proving their mettle to the rest of the world, and the hosts Brazil, who are current favourites to succeed in front of a home audience.

However, 31 other teams will be looking to ensure that isn't the case, and to guarantee you're there every minute of every match, read on for a full breakdown of the groups, fixture schedule and the games most likely to have the biggest impact in the first stage.

Via Bleacher Report

Date	Match	Time	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 12	Brazil vs. Croatia	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Sao Paulo	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 13	Mexico vs. Cameroon	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Natal	ITV1/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 17	Brazil vs. Mexico	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Fortaleza	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 18	Cameroon vs. Croatia	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Manaus	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 23	Cameroon vs. Brazil	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Brasilia	ITV(TBC)/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 23	Croatia vs. Mexico	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Recife	ITV(TBC)/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 13	Spain vs. Netherlands	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Salvador	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 13	Chile vs. Australia	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Cuiaba	ITV1/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 18	Spain vs. Chile	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Rio de Janeiro	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 18	Australia vs. Netherlands	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Porto Alegre	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 23	Australia vs. Spain	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Curitiba	ITV(TBC)/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 23	Netherlands vs. Chile	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Sao Paulo	ITV(TBC)/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time (ET)	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 14	Colombia vs. Greece	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Belo Horizonte	BBC1/ABC	BBC Website/ABC Go
June 14	Ivory Coast vs. Japan	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Recife	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 19	Colombia vs. Ivory Coast	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Brasilia	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 19	Japan vs. Greece	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Natal	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 24	Japan vs. Colombia	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Cuiaba	BBC(TBC)/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 24	Greece vs. Ivory Coast	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Fortaleza	BBC(TBC)/ESPN2	BBC Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time (ET)	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 14	Uruguay vs. Costa Rica	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Fortaleza	ITV1/ABC	ITV Website/ABC Go
June 14	England vs. Italy	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Manaus	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 19	Uruguay vs. England	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Sao Paulo	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 20	Italy vs. Costa Rica	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Recife	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 24	Italy vs. Uruguay	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Natal	ITV(TBC)/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 24	Costa Rica vs. England	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Belo Horizonte	ITV1/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time (ET)	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 15	Switzerland vs. Ecuador	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Brasilia	ITV1/ABC	ITV Website/ABC Go
June 15	France vs. Honduras	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Porto Alegre	BBC1/ABC	BBC Website/ABC Go
June 20	Switzerland vs. France	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Salvador	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ ESPN Player
June 20	Honduras vs. Ecuador	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Curitiba	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ ESPN Player
June 25	Honduras vs. Switzerland	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Manaus	BBC(TBC)/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 25	Ecuador vs. France	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Rio de Janeiro	BBC(TBC)/ESPN2	BBC Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time (ET)	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 15	Argentina vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Rio de Janeiro	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 16	Iran vs. Nigeria	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Curitiba	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 21	Argentina vs. Iran	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Belo Horizonte	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 21	Nigeria vs. Bosnia-Herzegovina	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Cuiaba	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 25	Nigeria vs. Argentina	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Porto Alegre	ITV(TBC)/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 25	Bosnia-Herzegovina vs. Iran	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Salvador	ITV(TBC)/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time (ET)	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 16	Germany vs. Portugal	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Salvador	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 16	Ghana vs. United States	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Natal	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 21	Germany vs. Ghana	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Fortaleza	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 22	United States vs. Portugal	8 p.m. BST/3 p.m. ET	Manaus	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 26	United States vs. Germany	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Recife	BBC(TBC)/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 26	Portugal vs. Ghana	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Brasilia	BBC(TBC)/ESPN2	BBC Website/ESPN Player

Date	Match	Time (ET)	Venue	TV Info	Live Stream
June 17	Belgium vs. Algeria	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Belo Horizonte	ITV1/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 17	Russia vs. South Korea	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Cuiaba	BBC1/ESPN	BBC Website/ESPN Player
June 22	Belgium vs. Russia	11 p.m. BST/6 p.m. ET	Rio de Janeiro	BBC1/ABC	BBC Website/ABC Go
June 22	South Korea vs. Algeria	5 p.m. BST/12 p.m. ET	Porto Alegre	ITV1/ABC	ITV Website/ABC Go
June 26	South Korea vs. Belgium	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Sao Paulo	ITV(TBC)/ESPN	ITV Website/ESPN Player
June 26	Algeria vs. Russia	9 p.m. BST/4 p.m. ET	Curitiba	ITV(TBC)/ESPN2	ITV Website/ESPN Player

Must-Watch Matchups

Spain vs. Chile, June 18

Luis Hidalgo/Associated Press

Vicente del Bosque could certainly have hoped for an easier beginning to his side's World Cup trophy defence, but as things stand, Spain have a hard task ahead of them in topping Group A in front of the Netherlands, Chile and Australia.

La Roja will go up against the Oranje in a restaging of their 2010 World Cup final fixture, but Chile are something of a more unknown quantity and Jorge Sampaoli's tactical nuances could prove troublesome for the tiki-taka enthusiasts.

Chile are being billed as a team to keep one's eye on at this summer's World Cup, but Sky Sports' South American correspondent Paulo Freitas believes that Chile's pedigree is overstated:

Sampaoli's fondness for fielding three at the back, a formation centred around switching quickly from defence into attack, could prove troublesome to any who encounter it.

Spain may become more destabilised than others when not allowed to play their brand of football for long stretches.

Uruguay vs. England, June 19

Group D will also be a tossup between three sides who sit within six places of one another in the official FIFA world rankings: Uruguay (sixth), Italy (ninth) and England (11th).

Matilde Campodonico/Associated Press

And as is sure to be the case for any team fortunate enough to be based in that part of the world, Uruguay will be more accustomed to the humidity of Brazil, gifting them an advantage in the hunt for a top-two spot in the pool.

Much to England's detriment, the Mail Online reports that Luis Suarez is well on his way to recovering from knee surgery and could be fit to face the Three Lions on June 19:

Costa Rica will be looked upon as the one Group D outfit unlikely to win any of their three matchups in the competition's first phase, and Uruguay will be seeking to improve upon their semi-final finish at the 2010 World Cup, presenting England with what will very arguably be their most difficult group fixture.

Germany vs. Portugal, June 16

Germany have a not-too-distant history with Portugal after beating Paulo Bento's side in the group stages of Euro 2012, and the two sides are once again set for a pivotal pool clash in Brazil.

Francisco Seco/Associated Press

On that occasion, Joachim Low's men walked away as 1-0 victors, but OptaJoe points out that this Group G opener will have a slightly more significant meaning for Die Mannschaft:

After Spain, Germany will be considered one of Europe's hot favourites to succeed in South America, boasting as deep a pool of talent as ever, and Bundesliga writer Jonathan Harding thinks the World Cup stalwarts could see their entire tournament destabilised should they stumble at the first hurdle:

Cristiano Ronaldo couldn't hope for a more conveniently timed World Cup opportunity given age and recent form, but there will be far more to this game than what just one man can offer.

Ghana and the United States risk being nothing more than bystanders in the pool should they fail to take any results away from this pair, but both Germany and Portugal will see their first outing as the big one, likely to dictate how the rest of their tournament plays out.