With the opening few matches of the tournament having been played, we assess the World Cup contenders from one to 32.
1 (1) - Spain - Liverpool striker Fernando Torres will definitely sit out the European Champions opening match against Switzerland - but Cesc Fabregas has declared himself fit and Andres Iniesta should start.
2 (2) - Germany - Kaiser Franz Beckenbauer would do well to keep schtum after slamming the English for what he called long-ball tactics. Gerd Mueller, another Germany great, focused on the positive, hailing Thomas Mueller as the next big thing.
3 (3) - Brazil - A 2-1 win over North Korea does NOT warrant a rise in the rankings. Yes, they dominated possession but were matched by the Koreans, who scored a good goal and could have got another.
4 (4) - Argentina - Lionel Messi does NOT like the new ball. "The ball is very complicated for the goalkeepers and for us (outfield players). I hope we gradually get used to it because we have no choice."
5 (5) - Netherlands - Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk was annoyed after their police escort got lost: "I saw it happen, one car turned left like we always do and the other two in front of the column turned right and our coach followed. Therefore we had less time to prepare but I instructed my team to let it go and that these things can happen at a big event."
6 (7) - USA - Carlos Bocanegra wants his team-mates to take Slovenia and Algeria as seriously as England: "For us to keep raising the bar, to take the next step, we need to be consistently at the same level whether it's against England, Italy or whoever. We've got to be consistent. We need to keep the intensity up in maybe a game that's not going to be as hyped up all around the world as our opening match was."
7 (7) - England - Fabio Capello's next team-talk is an easy one after Beckenbauer's aforementioned rant.
8 (9) - Ghana - After the 1-0 win over Serbia boss Milovan Rajeva praised Portsmouth midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng. "He (Boateng) has adjusted well and he might be one of the most intriguing players at the World Cup."
9 (8) - Italy - Gianluigi Buffon's injury could well be the worst thing to come out of the draw with Paraguay - he may now miss the whole thing.
10 (10) - Ivory Coast - Didier Drogba returned with a cast but Ivory Coast could not find a way past Portugal, despite pushing them hard.
11 (12) - Mexico - Rafael Marquez has warned Mexico not to be complacent despite France's poor striking form: "They're maybe not in the kind of form that we're used to seeing them in but that can change in an instant."
12 (11) - Portugal - A tepid draw with the Ivorians was compounded by poor performances from Ronaldo - who one shot against the post aside did little - and Deco, who was woeful.
13 (13) - Chile - Mathias Fernandez insisted there is no bad blood between him and fellow playmaker Jorge Valvidia: "Quite apart from the different characteristics we have as players, I'm working hard to be in the starting line-up and Jorge is too. All of us are. In every position there are two players and we're all fighting to play. But that's normal."
14 (14) - France - Winger Florent Malouda was forced to deny rumours he had a row with boss Raymond Domenech: "The day before the match, I made two fouls (in training) and he (Domenech) raised his voice a bit, that was all."
15 (15) - Uruguay - Uruguay boss Oscar Tabarez said his side feel no pressure facing the hosts and are too young to remember the extend of a winless streak extending to 1990: "We do not have any added pressure at all. You could say we have our own natural pressure but it should not be excessive. Most of the players were little kids back then (in 1990). We cannot discus the causes of that (winless streak) because they run deep. We are all aware of this, players and coaches. But now we are in a position where we can change our record."
16 (16) - South Korea - The Koreans got off to a great start, beating Greece 2-0 thanks to goals by Lee Jung-soo and Park Ji-sung. That said, the opposition wasn't up to much.
17 (17) - Slovenia - Robert Koren, match-winner against Algeria, says 'bring on the Yanks'. Kind of: "Our minds are already on the US. There is no time to celebrate too much."
18 (19) - Paraguay - A very creditable draw with Italy gives them a great chance of winning the group, with matches against weaker opposition coming up.
19 (18) - South Africa - The celebrations after Tshabalala's rocket in the opening match have sparked a new dance craze across the world. The vuvuzelas may well catch on too, with the children of players and fans alike demanding daddy bring one home.
20 (25) - Japan - Trade places with Cameroon after a surprising 1-0 win gave them their first World Cup victory outside their homeland. Clap clap.
21 (21) - Serbia - Coach Radomir Antic will ring the changes after defeat to Ghana. "We were far too nervous and we have to change our approach for the next two matches because we have to put some points on the board," he said.
22 (23) - Switzerland - Switzerland captain Alexander Frei and midfielder Valon Behrami are doubts, and with Spain's Andres Iniesta set to start they have a hell of a game in prospect.
23 (22) - Slovakia - Slip a place after conceding a late goal to draw with New Zealand, landing a huge blow to their hopes of qualifying from the group.
24 (24) - Denmark - The Danes sweat on the fitness of strikers Nicklas Bendtner and Jon Dahl Tomasson as they try to rebound from defeat to the Dutch and get second place in their group.
25 (26) - Nigeria - Better news as full-back Taye Taiwo was given the all clear to resume training after he came off injured in the loss to Argentina.
26 (28) - New Zealand - A very good draw came about when Winston Reid scored at the death against Slovakia - their first ever point at the World Cup. Well done.
27 (25) - Cameroon - After their poor win to Japan things got worse for the Lions, as it rained hard on them as they trained the next day.
28 (27) - Honduras - More problems for the underdogs ahead of the Chile game as Julio Cesar de Leon pulls up with a muscle strain.
29 (29) - Algeria - Their greatest chance to win a match at the tournament went begging as Slovenia pinched a 1-0 win, courtesy of the second major goalkeeping blunder of the tournament.
30 (32) - North Korea - What an effort. They held Brazil for 56 minutes with an almighty rearguard action and, after going two down to exceptional goals, pulled one back in a late rally. If they play like this against the other two they could well spring an upset.
31 (30) - Australia - After the disastrous thumping by Germany and the sending off of Tim Cahill, the Socceroos will look to Harry Kewell for inspiration as they seek wins from their last two group games.
32 (31) - Greece - Defender Vassilis Torosidis admitted that Greece are at rock-bottom after losing 2-0 to South Korea. "The most important thing is to play the way we played in the preliminaries. If we don't play like that, if we don't respond in the match, it doesn't matter if we are playing Nigeria or the worst team in the world - we have no chance."
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