1 (1) -Spain-The European champions were the last team to arrive in South Africa, where they were given a rapturous reception featuring traditional music and dancing. Midfielder Andres Iniesta remains a doubt fortheir opener againstSwitzerland and Fernando Torres appeared with heavy strapping on his knee for training, but Spain are still our team to beat.

2 (2) - Brazil - A poll of over 12,000 football enthusiasts has revealed the Selecao as favourites to win the trophy. But we still think Spain are better.

3 (3) -Netherlands-Coach Bert van Marwijk has indicated the Dutch may not hold any more open training sessions after vuvuzela trumpets drowned out his instructions in the build-up to the Oranje's opener against Denmark.

4 (4) -Germany-Jogi Loew's side will kick off their campaign with their finest squad in at least six years, liberated from the stereotypes associated with their style of play. Well, that's what they say anyway.

5 (5) - England - Gareth Barry has recovered from injury but Fabio Capello will name him only on the bench. Nevertheless, it's a huge boost for the Three Lions and one which means Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard will not have to play together in the middle of the park after Saturday.

6 (6) -Argentina- Lionel Messi is not, contrary to reports, absolutely knackered heading into the tournament. He is, like all Argentina players, "in optimum condition", according to team doctor Donato Villani.

7 (7) -Italy- Azzurri midfielder Danielie De Rossi sat out a friendly 6-0 win over local representative side Gauteng All Stars with a slight calf strain. But his omission was only precautionary and the Roma man should be fit for Monday's opener against Paraguay.

8 (9) -Mexico-Rafa Marquez struck to pull Mexico back onto level terms against hosts South Africa and earn a deserved point as the tournament got underway at Soccer City.

9 (8) -USA- The USA's preparations for the England game were briefly delayed after an elephant blocked the route of the team bus. A team spokesman said the squad had to wait around five minutes while the animal ate food from a tree on the road leading from the team's hotel.

10 (10) -Ivory Coast - Skipper Didier Drogba could start their opening World Cup game against Portugal next week, coach Sven-Goran Eriksson said, despite breaking his arm only last week.

11 (11) -Portugal- With Nani out, Cristiano Ronaldo firing blanks and Simao Sabrosa far from top form, Danny has been tipped to star for Portugal at this year's tournament.

12 (12) -Ghana- Midfielder Sulley Muntari could feature against Serbia on Sunday after recovering from a thigh injury - great news with Michael Essien already ruled out.

13 (13) -Chile - The South American side ended their preparations for the tournament with a 2-0 victory over fellow tournament hopefuls New Zealand.

14 (14) -France-A goalless draw for the third time in succession in their opening game at a major tournament may not be disastrous, but Raymond Domenech's side did little against Uruguay to suggest they have what it takes to set this tournament alight.

15 (15) -Uruguay - Uruguay hadn't scored a goal against France for 44 years - and that wait will go on after the stalemate in Cape Town. Still, it could have been worse had Thierry Henry got his way with a handball shout late on.

16 (16) -Serbia-Coach Radomir Antic seemingly has no selection dilemmas for Serbia's opening game against Ghana in Pretoria on Sunday, with his first XI beating the reserves 1-0 in training thanks to several flying tackles in the closing stages.

17 (17) -Australia- Goalkeeper Brad Jones, who went home to be with his ill child, will not return to South Africa. Eugene Galekovic has been drafted in instead.

18 (20) -South Africa- The first goal of the tournament was not enough for Bafana Bafana to claim victory against Mexico, but the performance did much to instil a sense of self-belief that the hosts can exit the group stage.

19 (18) -Paraguay - Gerardo Martino has been talking up the attacking credentials of his squad as they prepare for their opening match against Italy.

20 (19) -South Korea- Striker Lee Dong-guk has made a speedy recovery from his thigh injury and could be fit for the Asian side's opener against Greece. And with Park Ji-sung also fit, coach Huh Jung-moo will be confident against the former European champions.

21 (21) -Cameroon- Arsene Wenger believes that of all the African nations at the World Cup, Cameroon have the best chance of shining.

22 (22) -Slovenia - Slovenia have been given a boost with news that striker Zlatan Ljubijankic is fit to start in his side's World Cup opener against Algeria.

23 (24) -Slovakia - Key defender Martin Skrtel returned to training with his team-mates on Friday after an ankle problem but midfielder Miroslav Stoch sat out part of the session with a minor knee injury.

24 (23) -Denmark - Denmark will launch their World Cup campaign without striker Nicklas Bendtner, who has been bothered by a nagging groin injury.

25 (25) -Nigeria - Nwankwo Kanu believes Nigeria are capable of causing an upset when they face Argentina in their World Cup opener at Ellis Park.

26 (26) -Switzerland - Switzerland captain Alexander Frei is doubtful for their opening game against Spain next week after hurting his right ankle in training.

27 (27) -Greece - The 2004 European champions have been rocked by a theft that saw three members of their squad have cash stolen from their hotel rooms in the northern suburbs of Durban.

28 (28) -Japan- Rising CSKA Moscow star Keisuke Honda says he does not mind upsetting Japan's order of seniority when it comes to boosting the side's badly needed firepower.

29 (29) -Honduras - Hondurans can breathe a sigh of relief after the groin injury sustained by Wilson Palacios in a warm-up game against Romania turned out to be nothing more than a scare. The Spurs midfielder will be fit for their opener against Chile. "Thank God it's nothing serious," he said.

30 (30) -Algeria - Captain Yazid Mansouri has been dropped for their opening World Cup match against Slovenia and replaced by Hassan Yebda.

31 (31) -New Zealand- Captain Ryan Nelsen sat out the warm-up loss against Chile with an ear infection. Defeat sees them drop a spot.

32 (32) -North Korea - Striker Jong Tae-se has predicted a shock victory over Brazil - we don't believe him.

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.

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