Defending champion Brazil remains a favorite. When a team can count on an attacking crew of Kaká, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Robinho and Adriano, it’s almost not fair. Argentina, however, has historically played Brazil at least even. With a midfield that combines the toughness of Javier Mascherano with the play-making of Juan Román Riquelme and the attacks of 18-year-old Lionel Messi, the Argentineans can hang in with anybody. Paraguay and Ecuador accompany them from South America, but two-time champion Uruguay was eliminated by Australia.

In Europe the question is whether host country Germany can rise to the occasion as German teams usually do, or play like what it is—a side that, beyond midfielder Michael Ballack and aging goalkeeper Oliver Kahn, in my opinion has no indisputably world-class players. Italy once again can lay claim to the world’s best defensive team, with Alessandro Nesta and Fabio Cannavaro at the back, plus the customary assortment of midfield tough guys. Then there is France: Can what remains of the generation that won the 1998 tournament and the 2000 European Championship—the great Zinedine Zidane, defensive midfielder Patrick Vieira, attackers Thierry Henry and David Trezeguet—combine with younger players to bring France another day of glory?

England has its hopes up, thanks to David Beckham’s magical right foot, the tireless midfield work of Steven Gerrard, and the speedy striker Michael Owen. The Czech Republic, with Pavel Nedved and Karel Poborsky, and Portugal's team of Deco and Luis Figo, runner-up in the 2004 European Championship, may make themselves heard. Other European contenders include the Netherlands and Spain, traditionally talented teams that just as traditionally find ways to lose. Can Dutch striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and his Spanish counterpart Raúl score enough to break tradition?

In North America, contenders Mexico, the United States, and Costa Rica will likely remain just that. In Africa, traditional powers Cameroon and Nigeria were both eliminated and Angola, Ivory Coast, Togo, Ghana, and Tunisia take their place. In contrast, the favorites in the Asian zone qualified: Iran, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and South Korea.