Uruguay were the first team to win the FIFA World Cup in 1930. They won the trophy again in the 4th edition in 1950 as well. They have participated in 10 World Cups in all and since that triumph in 1950 have made it to the semi-finals on 2 occasions in 1954 and 1970. Their more recent trip to the grandest stage of them all came in 2002 where they failed to go past the group stages after drawing 2 and losing 1 of their 3 encounters.

Uruguay are ranked 18th in the world and have been placed in Group A. They have France, hosts South Africa and Mexico in their group and qualification for the knockout rounds is definitely not a foregone conclusion for them. France, ranked 10th, are the Group favourites,while South Africa at 90th are the second lowest ranked team in the entire tournament.

The team from the land of chocolates, Roger Federer and bank accounts make their 9th Journey to the World's biggest stage in the hope of finally making its way past the Quarter-finals. The last time Switzerland graced the last 8 of the FIFA World Cup was over 50 years ago, and since then the team that should run like clockwork has been an irregular visitor to the World Cup Finals.

The Swiss are placed in Group H along with Spain, Chile and Honduras. With Spain firm favourites to top the group, Switzerland will fight it out against Chile and Honduras for the second knockout round spot. Chile are ranked higher than the Swiss and are likely to be the team to beat after an excellent South American qualifying campaign that saw them finish second behind Brazil.

Spain's best ever World Cup finish came 60 years ago when they reached the semi-finals in the 1950 World Cup hosted by Brazil. In 2006, Spain crashed out against eventual runners-up France in the Round of 16. This was deemed as a huge disappointment after the Spaniards showed signs of putting together a solid run in the group stages.

Spain did convert years of promise into silverware by winning Euro 2008, playing some scintilating football along the way. Spain then participated in the Confederations Cup 2009 hosted by South Africa and were on a world record equalling 15 game winning streak before they were shocked by the United States in the semi-finals. The Americans ended Spain's undefeated streak with a 2-0 beating and went on the finals to face Brazil.

South Africa have the honour of the being the first African nation to host the FIFA World Cup. They get to be participants of one of the sports' most watched spectacles for the 3rd time, but this time playing host instead of visitor. With the added incentive of playing in front of a highly partisan home crowd, South Africa will undoubtedly look to do one better than their two previous outings when they failed to make it beyond the group stages. Bafana Bafana's first appearance was in France 1998 where they nailed out two draws but failed to qualify from the group stage, and despite picking up their solitary finals win over Slovenia at Korea-Japan 2002, South Africa fell once again at the Group Stage.

The hosts are currently ranked at a lowly 90th position in the FIFA rankings and are placed in a tough group alongisde favourites France, Mexico and Uruguay. Their only saving grace against such powerful opposition is 50 million fans who will be totally be besotted with World Cup fever, and will drive will raise the roof in every single stadium with their vivid Vuvuzela musical instruments.