As England fans nervously await the outcome of their next two games to see whether their country can book their place at next summer's World Cup Finals in Brazil, other sets of fans are comfortably resting easy in the knowledge that their nation has already ensured that it will play its part in the biggest show in football. Thus far there are ten teams that are already booking a flight to Rio for June, ranging from some of the big hitters of world football to teams for whom their qualification is likely to be the high point of the whole campaign. So let's look at the countries already set to compete in World Cup 2014 and assess their chances of eventually going home with the biggest prize of all.
10. Brazil
How the qualified: As hosts
Last time: Quarter-Finals, lost 2-1 to Netherlands
FIFA Ranking: 8
What are their chances in Brazil? The only nation to compete in every World Cup Finals and the most successful competitor of them all with five wins, Brazil are always amongst the favourites for every World Cup, but this time there's the additional element that they are the host nation as well. Expectation and demand will be high from the people of this football obsessed nation for a sixth win for o selecao. Hosting the competition gives the boost of home support, but may be more of a blessing than a curse. The last host nation to win was France in 1998 and, before that, Argentina in 1978. Being host means a lack of competitive match practice without having to play through qualifiers and the team's form has been distinctly average in recent friendlies, losing to Mexico, England and Switzerland. Coach Mano Menezes was fired in November after just two years in the job and replaced by 2002 World Cup winner Luiz Felipe Scolari. "Big Phil" has just 18 months to put together a winning team and his friendly results have proved no more impressive than Menezes'. More than this, the Brazilian people have not been entirely behind their country's hosting efforts, feeling that there might be better uses for the huge sums of money being spent on staging the tournament. Meanwhile, Brazilian fans are notoriously partisan and many may refuse to support or actively cheer against players from rival clubs or regions, making the "home" crowd often quite a hostile atmosphere. It's not all doom and gloom though. A team featuring the likes of Neymar and Oscar picked up a silver medal at the London Olympics and went on to win the Confederations Cup earlier this year. Their comfortable 3-0 win over World Champions Spain in the final showed a team with a great deal of class and skill and the tournament gave the talented Neymar a chance really to announce himself on the international stage. Brazil won the Confederations Cup prior to the World Cups in Germany and South Africa as well, so expect similar performances from them this time round: competitive to the latter stages, but probably not winning the whole thing.