Rio de Janeiro: The king is dead. The World Cup will have a new champion. Just like France in 2002 and Italy in 2010, defending champion Spain are going home with their tail between their legs.
Chile's 2-0 win over Spain in the Maracana Stadium brimming with fevered supporters ends an uninterrupted 6-year era of dominance for the European and world champions.
The Netherlands look an increasingly good prospect to take the vacated crown.
Demolishing Spain 5-1 last week showed the Dutch can be spectacular. Toughing out a come-from-behind 3-2 victory against Australia on Wednesday showed them to be resilient.
Spain had hoped to join Italy - winners in 1934 and 1938 - and Brazil -champions in 1958 and 1962 - as the only nations to retain the World Cup.
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