209 days — that’s how long the world is still being made to wait for the opening game of the 2018 World Cup. It’s close, in that all 32 berths have been secured, but still so far, in that the draw is still two weeks away.
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Perhaps then, and only then, will it begin to feel really real.
According to our esteemed panelists — Joe Prince-Wright, Nicholas Mendola, Kyle Bonn, Matt Reed, Dan Karell and yours truly — four clear-cut favorites for the semifinals have separated themselves from the rest of the pack, followed by another six or eight sides with one half of their squad firing on all cylinders but some serious kinks to work out elsewhere.
[ MORE: Round 1 of the WC power rankings | Round 2 ]
Finally, the latest edition of PST’s 2018 World Cup Power Rankings, now featuring all 32 teams qualified for Russia…
| Team | Points | Best | Worst | |
| 1 (1) | Germany | 189 | 1 | 2 |
| 2 (2) | Brazil | 188 | 1 | 3 |
| 3 (4) | Spain | 177 | 3 | 5 |
| 4 (3) | France | 176 | 3 | 5 |
| 5 (8) | Argentina | 158 | 4 | 10 |
| 6 (5) | Belgium | 156 | 4 | 10 |
| 7 (7) | Portugal | 153 | 6 | 10 |
| 8 (11) | England | 150 | 5 | 12 |
| 9 (6) | Uruguay | 141 | 6 | 14 |
| 10 (9) | Colombia | 140 | 7 | 12 |
| 11 (10) | Mexico | 129 | 8 | 14 |
| 12 (12) | Poland | 125 | 10 | 14 |
| 13 (20) | Croatia | 118 | 7 | 20 |
| 14 (17) | Switzerland | 115 | 12 | 16 |
| 15 (NR) | Sweden | 92 | 16 | 19 |
| 16 (NR) | Denmark | 86 | 13 | 23 |
| 17 (NR) | Serbia | 83 | 9 | 28 |
| 18 (NR) | Peru | 80 | 15 | 25 |
| 19 (15) | Iceland | 79 | 15 | 24 |
| 20 (16) | Japan | 71 | 16 | 27 |
| 21 (NR) | Egypt | 66 | 18 | 27 |
| 22 (NR) | South Korea | 64 | 13 | 32 |
| 23 (NR) | Senegal | 63 | 17 | 26 |
| 24 (18) | Nigeria | 58 | 15 | 27 |
| 25 (19) | Costa Rica | 57 | 14 | 29 |
| 26 (NR) | Morocco | 48 | 18 | 29 |
| 27 (NR) | Australia | 45 | 22 | 30 |
| 28 (NR) | Russia | 36 | 20 | 32 |
| 29 (NR) | Iran | 34 | 22 | 31 |
| 30 (NR) | Tunisia | 30 | 23 | 31 |
| 31 (NR) | Panama | 19 | 28 | 32 |
| 32 (NR) | Saudi Arabia | 9 | 31 | 32 |