Chile manager Jorge Sampaoli is confident his team have more than enough quality to defeat the Netherlands and finish top of Group B. 

While both countries have already sealed their places in the round of 16, the winners of tonight’s clash in Sao Paulo are likely to avoid Brazil in the next stage of the competition. 

A bullish Sampaoli says his team are on their way to the top and the Dutch can be another scalp on their ever-improving resume. 

“It will be a strategically difficult match for us because we have a coach against us who looks at different variables and they will try to control us,” he said. “But we have the power to uncover certain Dutch deficiencies. 

“The team that wins will be the one who has the necessary will. We are modest, but we have qualities, and the collective is more important than the individual player. 

“We are moving forward as the matches go by, the team is maturing and we are growing up to being one of the best in the world.” 

Chile have been eliminated by Brazil in all three of their previous forays into the knockout stages of the World Cup, the last time coming four years ago when they were beaten 3-0 by the Selecao in South Africa. 

Sampaoli rejects the idea he is already thinking about the possibility of facing Brazil and insists he will continue to play each and every game at the tournament like it is the final. 

“We cannot decide whether we play Brazil, the qualification decides,” he said. “The next opponent is always the most difficult and we will play as we can no matter who it is waiting [in the last 16].

“Our priority is this game,” he added. “We will have to win this group and we need players that will help us develop the play and we will see if the game demands that they play. We will treat it as if it is a final.”