World Cup 2010 - Rankings: Japan rising

（Eurosport - Thu, 24 Jun 23:17:00 2010）

We assess the World Cup contenders from one to 32.

1 (1) - Argentina - Argentina are seen at the World Cup as playing the beautiful game normally associated with Brazil but according to winger Jonas Gutierrez they simply want to produce no-frills, winning football in South Africa.

2 (2) - Brazil - Elano, who scored in their first two World Cup group games, will miss Friday's match against Portugal because of an ankle injury.

3 (3) - Netherlands - Just when the orange juggernaut was threatening to falter, Arjen Robben flew to the rescue, coming from the bench to set up the winner in a 2-1 victory over Cameroon.

4 (4) - Germany - England are the favourites to beat Germany in the last-16 of the World Cup according to Germany's assistant coach Hansi Flick.

5 (5) - Spain - David Villa says Spain must take better advantage of their chances in the make-or-break World Cup clash with Chile in Pretoria.

6 (6) - Uruguay - Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez believes the opportunity to mix with the best at the World Cup is bringing the greatest football out of his players. South Korea await.

7 (7) - USA – The US believe they have a huge opportunity to do something special in this World Cup and forget the sense of finality and pain from 2006 when they lost at the hands of their next opponents, Ghana.

8 (8) - England - England will treat their World Cup second round meeting with old rivals Germany as 'just another game' according to striker Jermain Defoe.

9 (11) - Paraguay - Paraguay qualified atop Group F and helped ensure the holders were knocked out of the World Cup but coach Gerardo Martino was hardly satisfied after his side drew 0-0 with New Zealand. They face Japan next.

10 (9) - Chile - Chile's leading striker Humberto Suazo might not start Friday's final Group H match against Spain, coach Marcelo Bielsa said. They need a point.

11 (10) - Portugal - Carlos Queiroz is hoping for a spectacular feast of football when Portugal meet Brazil in the World Cup on Friday, but would settle for the point that will ensure his team reach the World Cup second round.

12 (16) - Japan - Japan gave notice of their potential when they beat Denmark 3-1 in their final Group E fixture and clinched a place in the last 16 of the World Cup on foreign soil for the first time.

13 (20) - Slovakia - Coach Vladimir Weiss celebrated "the second best day of his life" after his World Cup debutants stunned holders Italy 3-2 and stole their place in the last 16.

14 (12) - Mexico - Forward Carlos Vela has recovered from injury and will be available for his country's last 16 meeting with Argentina at Soccer City on Sunday.

15 (13) - South Korea - Captain Park Ji-sung was all smiles as his team reached their goal of making it to the last 16 as they booked a meeting with Uruguay in the knock-out round on Saturday.

16 (14) - Ghana - Ghana, having emulated their second round showing at the World Cup of four years ago, have given Africans belief that their involvement in the tournament is far from over.

17 (18) - Switzerland - Switzerland will undergo a makeover for their must-win Group H finale against Honduras, shedding their conservative, defensive style for an offensive approach.

18 (21) - Slovenia - Coach Matjaz Kek asked for his players to be given time to mourn after their dreams of qualifying for the second round of the World Cup were crushed by a late US goal

19 (22) - Australia - Tim Cahill and Brett Holman scored second half goals to give Australia a 2-1 victory over Serbia but the victory was not enough to stop the Socceroos going out of the competition.

20 (23) - South Africa - South Africa became the first host nation to go out of the World Cup in the first round since the tournament began in 1930 but victory over France restored pride in Bafana Bafana.

21 (19) - New Zealand - Unheralded New Zealand bowed out of the World Cup unbeaten and ahead of the world champions, a far cry from the three heavy defeats in their only other appearance at the finals.

22 (24) - Serbia - Serbia, who beat Germany 1-0 in their last match, lost their chances of advancing and finished bottom of the group but only an offside flag against Marko Pantelic denied them a place in the last 16.

23 (25) - Ivory Coast - Need a big win against North Korea and must hope Brazil beat Portugal to stand any chance of reaching the second round.

24 (17) - Denmark - Lost their record of having never been eliminated in the group stage as they were outclassed by Japan at the Royal Bafokeng stadium with a spot in the second round at stake.

25 (26) - Greece - We would love to put them near the bottom for their anti-football tactics but they did win a game before bowing out with a whimper against Argentina.

26 (15) - Italy - Father Time finally caught up with poor old Italy when they were deposed as world champions after suffering a dramatic and shocking 3-2 defeat at the hands of World Cup debutants Slovakia.

27 (27) - Nigeria - Defender Joseph Yobo said the Super Eagles had only themselves to blame for blowing an extraordinary chance to reach the last 16 of the World Cup by drawing 2-2 with South Korea.

28 (28) - Algeria - Became the fourth African side to be eliminated and went home without scoring. They have now failed to score from open play in their last seven matches, their only goal since January's African Nations Cup quarter-final coming from a penalty.

29 (29) - Honduras - Honduras's dreams of progressing in the World Cup are all but over following their 2-0 defeat by Spain, but the Central Americans are still clinging to a small glimmer of hope,

30 (30) - Cameroon - French coach Paul Le Guen has quit after his side's exit from the World Cup where they failed to earn a single point.

31 (31) - North Korea - North Korea are pondering a change in tactics for their final Group G match against the Ivory Coast as they try to salvage some pride from their first World Cup appearance for 44 years

32 (32) - France - President Nicolas Sarkozy called for a wholesale review of French football following the national team's humiliation in the World Cup, and said no player should receive bonuses after their dire showing.