5. Argentina
How they qualified: Already guaranteed a top 4 finish in the South American group
Last time: Quarter-Finals, lost 4-0 to Germany
FIFA Ranking: 2
What are their chances in Brazil? In South Africa a highly rated Argentina team, managed by their greatest ever player Diego Maradona, were amongst the favourites for the tournament. With the likes of the world's top player Lionel Messi, in addition to Maradona's son-in-law Sergio "Kun" Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain, Argentina had an embarrassment of riches in the forward positions. Tactical naivety and the quality of the young German team that they came up against in the Quarter-Finals resulted in a humiliating 4-0 defeat and Maradona losing his job. Since the last World Cup, Argentina's fortunes have been mixed, but the same set of extremely talented players is likely again to be among the favourites this time. With two matches to go and the final three qualifying spots still hotly contested between Colombia, Chile, Ecuador and Uruguay, Argentina have breezed through the South American World Cup qualifying group with just one defeat in 14 games, away to Venezuela. Of course, the case could be made that the qualifying round was less of a contest in the absence of age old rivals Brazil, but Argentina have beaten the World Cup hosts twice since June. Former Sheffield United midfielder Alejandro Sabella, who took over from Maradona's replacement Sergio Batista in 2011, has so far managed to get this set of talented individuals playing together as a team that are organised and capable of beating anyone. Both their previous World Cup wins have been in Latin America and playing in South America, but without the difficulties Brazil may face as host, may prove perfect for Argentina. Batista, for his part, lasted just a year in the job, after a disastrous Copa America campaign that saw the team fail to beat lowly Bolivia before being knocked out in the Quarter-Finals. This does cast a little doubt over Argentina's big competition temperament (they haven't won South America's premiere competition since 1993), but this World Cup could be their chance to rise to the occasion. The one thing that holds Messi back from being considered a legend on a par with, or even greater than, Maradona is a great World Cup performance. The Atomic Flea is at the peak of his powers, having scored 18 goals in 16 games for the national team in the last two years and reaching 300 goals in his Barcelona career earlier this year. He could be the one thing that makes the difference between Argentina and their rivals this summer. Argentina have not progressed beyond the World Cup Quarter-Finals since they were defeated by West Germany in the Final of Italia 90. Expect them to break that streak next year. In fact, you wouldn't want to bet against them going all the way.