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 each week, with countries moving up and down based on friendly results, injuries, scandals and other factors.

WORLD CUP POWER RANKINGS - Top 16:

1 (2) - Brazil - Adriano might have missed training with Flamengo, but Robinho is happy at Santos, Ronaldinho is in form and Pato is returning to fitness.

2 (1) - Spain - Fernando Torres and David Villa were out of sorts for their clubs on Monday, and Real Madrid suffered Champions League embarrassment.

3 (5) - Netherlands - The Dutch have key players in fine form, with Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart all starring for their clubs.

4 (3) - England - Worrying revelations that the team were bugged have been compounded by another injury, this time to Wes Brown.

5 (4)- Italy - A grim, although not unexpected, week in the Champions League. And Alessandro Nesta has rejected talk of an international return.

6 (6) - Argentina - A standard week for Diego Maradona, who was accused of being a 'love rat' in a new book.

7 (8) - France - Lyon's European success has raised spirits, and Thierry Henry must be pleased FIFA have rejected video technology.

8 (7) - Germany - Jens Lehmann is at it again - the 40-year-old has declared himself the "perfect" choice for the World Cup.

9 (10) - USA - The public campaign to keep Landon Donovan at Everton is further proof of the American skipper's quality.

10 (9) - Portugal - Cristiano Ronaldo sulked his way through Real Madrid's Champions League exit - and Jose Bosingwa is out of the World Cup.

11 (12) - Mexico

12 (13) - Serbia

13 (14) - Ghana

14 (11) - Ivory Coast - Still sorting out a manager for the finals, but it looks increasingly like they'll get Philippe Troussier, not Guus Hiddink.

15 (15) - Chile

16 (16) - Paraguay

AND THE REST:

17- Cameroon, 18- Australia, 19- Uruguay, 20- Denmark, 21- Greece, 22- South Korea, 23- Switzerland, 24- Nigeria, 25- South Africa, 26- Slovenia, 27- Japan, 28- Slovakia, 29- Algeria, 30- Honduras, 31- North Korea, 32- New Zealand.

Alex Chick / Eurosport