HOW IT WORKS
We conducted a poll of Eurosport-Yahoo! writers, asking them to rank each team based on their expected performance if the World Cup were to start tomorrow. We then took an average mark from the poll results to create this list. The tournament draw is not taken into account - it is an assessment of performance level, not likelihood of success.
We will publish revised rankings every day until the end of the World Cup, with countries moving up and down based on friendly results, injuries, scandals and other factors.
WORLD CUP POWER RANKINGS
1 (1) - Spain - Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas both vowed they were thinking only of South Africa when they had to deal with questions about their respective club futures.
2 (2) - Brazil - The five-times world champions remain above Spain at the top of the FIFA rankings.
3 (4) - Netherlands - Robin van Persie scored twice as the Dutch beat Mexico in a friendly in Freiburg, Germany, and are now unbeaten in 17 matches.
4 (3) - Argentina - Maxi Rodriguez (2), Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Angel di Maria were all on target as Diego Maradona's side recorded a morale-boosting 5-0 win over Canada.
5 (5) - Italy - Marcelo Lippi is considering tinkering with the Azzurri back line: "A three-man defence is not just chatter, it's an option."
6 (6) - England - Reports have emerged that Fabio Capello is Internazionale's top target to replace Jose Mourinho as their manager.
7 (7) - Portugal - They say there are no easy matches in international football, but questions will be asked after the team ranked third by FIFA were held to a goalless draw by the 117th-ranked Cape Verde Islands.
8 (9) - Germany - Joachim Loew's side smashed a whopping 24 goals without reply against amateur side Eppan at their pre-World Cup training camp in Italy.
9 (8) - France - It took an own goal and a late strike from Mathieu Valbuena for an unconvincing France to scrape a win over Costa Rica.
10 (10) - Ivory Coast - Striker Aruna Dindane has agreed a move to Qatari club Al-Shorti, so any worries over his wages from Portsmouth during the World Cup can now be put to one side.
11 (11) - USA - Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden insists he has fully recovered from the fractured fibula sustained in March, on the day coach Bob Bradley is set to announce his final squad.
12 (12) - Mexico - Javier Aguirre's side have now lost twice in a week, but there is reason for hope in their performances against England and Holland.
13 (13) - Ghana - Michael Essien is still waiting for the all-clear to join the squad following his lengthy absence with a knee injury.
14 (14) - Serbia - Striker Nikola Zigic, all 6'8" of him, goes into the tournament with his future secure after sealing a £6m move to Birmingham City.
15 (15) - Cameroon - Without captain and star striker Samuel Eto'o, the Indomitable Lions were held to a goalless draw by Georgia.
16 (16) - Chile - Highly-rated Alexis Sanchez came off the bench to score twice in La Roja's 3-0 win over Zambia.
17 (17) - Australia -The Socceroos were the first squad to land in South Africa, over two weeks before the start of the tournament.
18 (19) - Uruguay - All 16 players in the matchday squad got a run-out as Uruguay beat Israel 4-1.
19 (18) - Paraguay - The Albirroja lost 2-1 to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, but a debut goal for Argentine-born Lucas Barrios will provide a boost for their Group F hopes.
20 (20) - South Africa - The hosts still do not have an opponent for a final friendly match this weekend. Venezuela or Panama have been mooted, but coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is holding out for tougher opposition.
21 (21) - South Korea - Captain Park Ji-sung scored the opener as Korea ran out 2-0 winners in Japan.
22 (22) - Denmark
23 (23) - Greece - A 2-2 draw against North Korea doesn't bode well for the 2004 European champions, who face South Korea, Nigeria and Argentina in their group.
24 (24) - Slovenia
25 (25) - Switzerland
26 (26) - Nigeria - Held to a stale 0-0 draw by Saudi Arabia, who failed to qualify. Not the best way to prepare for their opening match against Argentina.
27 (27) - Slovakia
28 (28) - Japan - Former Japan coach Philippe Troussier has heavily criticised current boss Takeshi Okada's tactics, attitude and deployment of star midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura
29 (29) - North Korea - Drawing 2-2 with Greece in Austria is, on the face of it, an encouraging result for the team from the Democratic People's Republic.
30 (30) - Algeria - Influential midfielder Mourad Meghni has been ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.
31 (31) - Honduras
32 (32) - New Zealand - All Whites vice-captain Tim Brown is rated as '50-50' of making the World Cup as he requires surgery on a shoulder fracture sustained in the bruising 2-1 'friendly' defeat to Australia.
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