The football teams of forty-eight countries set out with a chance of winning the World Cup on June 11, and the hopes of just four nations remain alive.The top four teams in the FIFA rankings, with eight previous titles between them, will lock horns on Tuesday and Wednesday to try to secure a place in what is set to be the grandest of showpiece occasions in sport: the World Cup Final at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday, July 19.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listAl Jazeera ranks the contenders for the title: Argentina’s Lionel Messi takes a break during the quarterfinal [Lee Smith/Reuters]4. ArgentinaWhat’s this? The defending champions as the outsiders?Well, Algeria, Austria, Jordan, Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland must be one of the kindest ever paths to the business end of a World Cup, and La Albiceleste have not exactly been convincing along it.They were made to sweat by Cape Verde and Egypt in the knockout stages before finding a way to prevail in dramatic circumstances, and the pattern was repeated against Switzerland in Kansas City on Saturday night, when they went almost 90 minutes without a shot on target following Alexis Mac Allister’s early opening goal.Their ageing side eventually prevailed after 120 minutes in sweltering conditions. Had Switzerland kept 11 men on the field, things might have been very different, but, once again, in the end, the defending champions found a way to win when they were well below their best.Surely they cannot get away with another performance like that against England? W …
