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LONDON (AP) — World Cup contenders will hope to find out this week if they are better prepared for the tournament than some of the Brazilian stadiums they will be playing in.
The 32 finalists will mark 99 days until the opening match in Brazil by playing exhibition game Wednesday, the last chance for many coaches to test players before selecting their World Cup rosters.
Eighteen of the qualified nations will play against each other, including a matchup between defending champion Spain taking Italy. The United States, missing its Major League Soccer-based players, meets Ukraine in a game moved to Larnaca, Cyprus, because of violence in Ukraine.
Here after five things to know about Wednesday's matches:
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DIEGO COSTA'S SPAIN DEBUT
This is more than just an exhibition for Diego Costa. It's a chance for the Brazilian-forward striker to make his long-awaited debut for Spain.
The naturalized Spanish citizen brings a more physical, tenacious forward to the squad, with coach Vicente del Bosque dropping Fernando Torres and David Villa, key players from successful World Cup and European Championship campaigns.
Diego Costa has 21 goals for Atletico Madrid this season — second in Spain to Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo.
"He's done enough to merit being here," Spanish defender Sergio Ramos said. "He can bring a lot of positive qualities."
Diego Costa will collect make his first appearance on familiar territory: Atletico's Vicente Calderon Stadium.
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IMMOBILE GETS THE CALL
The focus is on the strike force for Italy, too.
Mario Balotelli and Giuseppi Rossi are injured, and Daniele De Rossi was dropped because he is serving a Serie A suspension with Roma. So Torino forward Ciro Immobile has been called for up the first time after scoring 13 goals this season.
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FRENCH REDEMPTION
Antoine Griezmann, third in the Spanish league with 15 goals, could make his French national team debut against the Netherlands.
Griezmann was previously banned from representing France until the end of 2013 for going to a nightclub in 2012 during the playoffs for the 2013 Under-21 European Championship.
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NEW FACES FOR GERMANY
With Sami Khedira and Ilkay Gundogan sidelined by injuries, Germany coach Joachim Loew must test other options before the World Cup.
It still was a surprise move to put four newcomers on the roster to face Chile — especially Sampdoria defender Shkodran Mustafi. Although Mustafi has played for all German junior teams, his club soccer has been mainly abroad and he is hardly known in Germany.
Apart from the injured Thomas Mueller and Sven Bender, Loew also left out Mario Gomez, Mats Hummels, Marco Reus, Julian Draxler and Benedikt Hoewedes, who all only recently returned to action. Forward Max Kruse and goalkeeper Rene Adler have been in poor form and were also dropped.
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THE HOSTS
Four World Cup stadiums are still under construction, and work outside many of the venues is far from over in Brazil.
There were concerns about South Africa's readiness four years ago, as well, and Brazil's players will be going to the scene of the 2010 final at Soccer City in Johannesburg to play the previous hosts.
It seems that Brazil's roster is in better shape than the country's World Cup infrastructure.
"We have everything that allows us to be the best team," Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari said.
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