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1. Brazil
As always, the Samba Boys of Brazil are the pre - tournament favorites and 2 out of every 5 football fans will swear that Brazil will win the gold cup. Indeed, Brazil has very intimidating World Cup pedigree: the only country ever to have taken part in all the previous 18 editions of the FIFA competition and with an all - time record of 64 wins, 14 draws and 14 defeats to show for it.
Brazil has won the World Cup for a record 5 times and in 1970, Brazil became the first and only country till date allowed by FIFA to keep the 1st FIFA World Cup - the Jules Rimet Trophy - for life.
Brazil is currently rated number one in the latest FIFA rankings released on May 26, 2010 and their team coach, Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri ''Dunga'' who, as captain in 1994 won the World Cup in U.S.A, believes Brazil will win the cup in South Africa for a record 6 times. The Brazilian team is awash with stars: from Kaka (voted the 2007 World Best Footballer) to Robinho, Maicom, Kleberson, Nilmar, Luis Fabiano to Lucio, the squad is every football coach's dream team.
2. Spain
Spain is currently the 2nd best football country in the world, behind the mythical Brazil according to the FIFA rankings of May 26, 2010. They are the current European Champions and its football armory can boast of world class players like David Villa, Xabi, Cesc Fabregas, Iniesta and Fernando Torres, a lethal striker with renowned scoring prowess.
Spain had a 100% record winning all of their 10 qualifying matches for the World Cup. The country has also taken part in 12 previous editions of the FIFA tournament and they were 4th in Brazil 1950 which is their best performance till date.
3. Portugal
South Africa 2010 will be Portugal's 5th FIFA World Cup appearance and they occupy the 3rd place in the current FIFA rankings. Their best achievement in the World Cup was 3rd place at England 1966, a feat achieved with their legendary player, Eusebio proclaimed the best player of the tournament.
The current Portuguese national team has a surfeit of stars like Cristiano Ronaldo (the 2008 World Best Footballer), Pepe and Deco and it is expected that Portugal will break their perennial World Cup underachievement jinx this time around.
4. Netherlands (Holland)
Holland twice reached the World Cup finals in 1974 and 1978, but lost on both occasions to Germany and Argentina respectively. Like Portugal and Spain, they are also looked upon as underachievers who fail to triumph when it matters most.
However, the orange boys under their new coach, Bert Van Marwijk, had a good World Cup qualifying campaign and are currently ranked 4th best team in the world.
5. Italy
The Azuris are the defending champions having won Germany 2006 by defeating France 5 - 4 on penalties after a grueling 120 minutes 1 - 1 score line. After Brazil, they the 2nd best achievement at World Cup having qualified for 17 of the 19 editions and have won the World Cup 4 times (1934, 1938, 1982 and 2006).
Stars in the formidable Italian squad include Fabio Cannavaro, Buffon, Gilardino and Battuso. Marcello Lippi, Italy's coach, is confident that the team is the best in the world and will win the 19th edition for the 5th time to match Brazil's record.
Italy is rated 5th best in the World in the FIFA rankings.
6. Germany
Germany has a strong World Cup pedigree having won the cup three times - 1954, 1974 and 1990 - 17 World Cup appearances. Famous stars to watch include Miroslav Klose, Pudolski and Phillip Lahm.
They will sorely miss their star midfielder and captain, Michael Ballack, due to injury, but he has been replaced by an equally talented player, Bastian Schweinsteiger.
Germany occupies the 6th position in the FIFA rankings.
7. Argentina
Argentina is currently the 7th best football country in the world according to the current FIFA rankings. They are two-time champions of the World Cup having won in 1978 and 1986. Argentina is perhaps the most star-studded team in South Africa particularly with the awesome presence of Lionel Messi, the current World Best Footballer.
Messi is also currently Europe's leading scorer with 47 goals in all club competitions. Other stars to watch in the Argentine soccer war chest include Diego Milito, Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez.
8. England
England is the World's 8th best football playing country as released by FIFA in their current World rankings of May 26, 2010.
England has featured in the previous eleven World Cup editions including their debut at Brazil 1950. They won the World Cup in their backyard in 1966 at Wembley Stadium and that has been their best performance till date.
However, in qualifying for South Africa 2010, they won 9 of their matches scoring 34 goals in the process. They are thus poised to go all the way to win the big one - the trophy - especially with their array of stars like Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerald, Fredrick Lampard and John Terry under the able guidance of Fabio Capello, the team coach.
9. France
Le Bleus as the French National team is called have appeared in 12 World Cups, winning on home soil in 1998. Although their qualification for South Africa was difficult (and no thanks to another ''hand of God'' incident by Thierry Henry in their play-off with Ireland), they have players with World Cup experience and this can just turn the table in their in South Africa 2010 for the 2nd time.
France is currently ranked 9th in the world by FIFA.
10. United States of America (U.S.A)
United States of America also has a relatively slim chance of springing a surprise at South Africa 2010. The team came tops in their World Cup qualifying group of North, Central America and Caribbeans. U.S.A was also second at the FIFA Confederation Cup held in South Africa last year and had in fact led almighty Brazil in the final by 2 - 0 before Brazil leveled up and went on to win by 3 - 2!
South Africa 2010 will be the United States' 6th consecutive appearance at the tournament and they are currently ranked 14th in the world.
11. South Africa
South Africa, the host nation, is Africa's best prepared team for the competition, having played more friendly matches than any other African team. They recently defeated Denmark 1 - 0 to add to their increasing tally of victories in friendly matches.
Only Cameroon (at Italia '90) and Senegal (at Korea/Japan 2002) have ever reached the World Cup Quarter-finals - the best achievement by any African side.
In the latest FIFA rankings of May 26, 2010 - the last ranking before the World Cup on June 11, 2010 - South Africa was the only country out of 208 listed countries in the ranking to achieve the highest movement of 7 places from 90th position to 83rd position.
This writer tips South Africa - well ahead of Cote D'Ivoire (currently touted as Africa's World Cup hope and ranked 27th in the FIFA rankings), Cameroon (currently ranked 19th in the world), Ghana (currently ranked 32nd in the world), Nigeria (currently ranked 29th in the world) and Algeria (currently ranked 30th in the World) - to, at least, equal the quarter-finals record of Cameroon and Senegal.
Egypt, the king of African football and winners of the African Cup of Nations for a record 6 times - including the last 3 editions which they won consecutively - sadly failed to qualify for South Africa 2010. They lost 0 - 1 to Algeria in a tension-soaked play-off in Sudan. Egypt is the only African team in the top 15 of the FIFA rankings and, perhaps, if they had qualified, they could have won the Cup for Africa for the first time, but this is not to be for now.
So, which one of these 11 hottest countries will lift the World Cup on July 11, 2010?
The next and last article on South Africa 2010 by this writer will take the bulls by the horn by using the 4 Ps for World Cup success - Preparation, (team)Power, Pedigree and Providence - to predict the most likely winner of the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup.
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