World Cup 2010 - Power Rankings: Spain cleared of bribes

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.

1 (1) - Spain - FIFA has found no basis for allegations from Lord Triesman that Spain were working with Russia to bribe referees at the Cup. So they won't have the referees on their side, but at least that distraction is out of the way.

2 (2) - Brazil - Julio Cesar is horrified by the ball which will be used at the World Cup, likening it to a cheap one bought from a supermarket.

3 (3) - Netherlands - Arjen Robben says that his international team-mate Rafael van der Vaart wants to join him at Bayern Munich next season - happy families..

4 (4) - Argentina - Argentina forward Lionel Mess has picked out Brazil, Spain and England as their main rivals.

5 (5) - Italy - Defender Giorgio Chiellini insists that the champions' squad is not too old: "There are nine of us in the squad that won the World Cup four years ago, that's a good ratio. The current squad is a mix of youth who are enthusiastic to show what they can do and experienced players who want to do just as well, and win the World Cup in the process."

6 (6) - England - Fabio Capello is a "candidate" for the Internazionale job, will that become a distraction in the England camp?

7 (8) - Germany - Bayern Munich defender Philipp Lahm will captain Germany in place of injured Michael Ballack and Manuel Neuer will be the starting goalkeeper .

8 (7) - Portugal - They say there are no easy matches in international football, but questions will be asked after the team ranked third by FIFA were held to a goalless draw by the 117th-ranked Cape Verde Islands.

9 (9) - France - France have been awarded Euro 2016 but how many of their aging squad will be around in the six years time?.

10 (10) - Ivory Coast - Striker Aruna Dindane has agreed a move to Qatari club Al-Shorti, so any worries over his wages from Portsmouth during the World Cup can now be put to one side.

11 (11) - USA -The United States' injury plagued defence will face a major test when they take on Turkey in their 'send-off' game on Saturday before leaving for the World Cup.

12 (12) - Mexico - Javier Aguirre's side have lost twice in a week, but there is reason for hope in their performances against England and Holland.

13 (14) - Serbia - Striker Nikola Zigic, all 6'8" of him, goes into the tournament with his future secure after sealing a £6m move to Birmingham City.

14 (13) - Ghana - Ghana will need a tactical rethink for the World Cup after losing Michael Essien, described by coach Milovan Rajevac as arguably the best player in the world in his position.

15 (16) - Chile - Highly-rated Alexis Sanchez came off the bench to score twice in La Roja's 3-0 win over Zambia.

16 (17) - Australia - Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer expects to remain at Fulham despite speculation linking him with Arsenal. It show his class though that he is being linked with the Gunners.

17 (15) - Cameroon - The Lions slip after striker Samuel Eto'o threatened not to go to South Africa after comments from Roger Milla. They will fall further if he carries the treat through.

18 (18) - Uruguay - All 16 players in the matchday squad got a run-out as Uruguay beat Israel 4-1.

19 (19) - Paraguay - The Albirroja lost 2-1 to the Republic of Ireland in Dublin, but a debut goal for Argentine-born Lucas Barrios will provide a boost for their Group F hopes.

20 (20) - South Africa -. Unbeaten in their last 10 matches, South Africa have now been tipped to reach the second round by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

21 (21) - South Korea - Striker Lee Dong-gook will discover on Sunday if he has recovered sufficiently from a hamstring strain in time to make the final squad.

22 (22) - Denmark - The Danes beat Senegal 2-0 in Aalborg this week, but the win potentially came at a cost, as star defender Simon Kjaer was stretchered off with nine minutes remaining. However, he has been included in Morten Olsen's final 23-man squad.

23 (23) - Greece - A 2-2 draw against North Korea doesn't bode well for the 2004 European champions, who face South Korea, Nigeria and Argentina in their group.

24 (24) - Slovenia - Slovenian Ego TV has voted their national team's kit the worst at the World Cup. At least they are not the worst team!

25 (26) - Nigeria - John Obi Mikel joined the Nigeria squad on Friday for the first time since knee surgery last month and will be fit for the World Cup

26 (25) - Switzerland - Striker Marco Streller had had to pull out of the squad with a hamstring injury. Manager Ottmar Hitzfeld has called up Nuernburg striker Albert Bunjaku as a replacement.

27 (27) - Slovakia - We will get a better idea of the Slovaks strength after they have faced Cameroon on Saturday.

28 (28) - Japan - Takeshi Okada is planning no major changes to his World Cup-bound team despite coming under fire after a 2-0 defeat to South Korea earlier this week.

29 (29) - North Korea - A 0-0 draw against Congo in Le Mans is hardly enough to convince you that the Koreans can survive in the group of death. .

30 (31) - Honduras - Striker David Suazo has now fully recovered from a leg muscle injury and is expected to partner Carlos Pavon up front for

31 (30) - Algeria - Algeria's 3-0 defeat in Dublin to Republic of Ireland has failed to convince doubters that the Africans will be anything other than whipping boys.

32 (32) - New Zealand - Doctors have announced that surgery on vice-captain Tim Brown's fractured shoulder has been a success. Forward Chris Killen will miss Saturday's testing friendly against Serbia because he is flying to England to get married.