32 national teams have qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals, with expectations varying wildly. The odds for the outright winner stretch from around 4-1 for favourites Spain right out to 2000-1 for rank outsiders New Zealand. But who are the dark horses in the field? Here we look at five teams who could very well exceed expectations in South Africa. This is a follow up on the article we recently posted about the five most overrated teams in the 2010 World Cup.

1 – USA (80-1)

The USA is not a great footballing nation. Football is far from being the most popular sport to play or watch for Americans. This does not, however mean that they aren’t any good. The American top flight soccer league, called the MLS (Major League Soccer), is growing in popularity and those involved with the sport there are working hard to raise its profile. A number of English teams including Chelsea have their off season friendly tours in the US, which allows MLS teams to draw new crowds and get people more interested in the sport. The short spell David Beckham spent playing for LA Galaxy also helped the MLS gain publicity.

With the drive to make soccer a bigger deal in the USA, the team will be keen to show what they can do on the biggest football stage there is, and manager Bob Bradley is not short of decent players to choose from, with strong American players in both the MLS and in other leagues around the world. Everton’s Landon Donovan is likely to be a key part of this squad.

The USA is in a relatively easy group, on paper, with England, Slovenia and Algeria, so there is a strong chance they will make it through the group stage to go on to meet an opponent from Group D. This is where it could get tricky for the Americans, with Group D being very competitive with Germany, Australia, Ghana and Serbia. The round of 16 should be the real test of their mettle.

2 – Ghana (66-1)

Odds on Ghana seem to be settling around the 66-1 mark at the moment, but if you shop around you can get as much as 80-1.

It makes sense that there is a lot of interest in the African teams going into the cup, in the last three tournaments African teams have impressed, and with the number of star African players in the European leagues now there are a lot of familiar players to look out for. With the tournament taking place on African soil for the first time, these teams have a stronger chance than ever to go all the way, with the climate working in their favour and hopefully a lot of support from fans.

The favourite African team is the Ivory Coast, who are a good bet at 25-1 and feature Didier Drogba, arguably one of the best strikers in the world. Ghana however have got a very strong midfield led by Drogba’s Chelsea team mate Michael Essien.

Ghana was the youngest team at the 2006 World Cup, which was their first time in the tournament, and these players will have built a lot of experience in the last four years. That’s not so say that we won’t be seeing some impressive young footballers – Ghana won the FIFA Under 20 World Cup last year, beating football giants Brazil in the final.

They are in one of the toughest groups, but if they can make it through the first stage there is a lot of potential in this team.

3 – Australia (125-1)

As with the USA, Australia is a country where football is not the most keenly followed sport, but where interest is growing. Unlike with the USA, the best Australian players are nearly all lured away from the domestic league, with all but one of the team it looks like coach Pim Verbeek has selected at the time of writing playing outside of Australia. Whether long standing 30 year old star Mark Viduka will be in the squad has not yet been announced, but other familiar players like Tim Cahill and Rhys Williams are likely to put on a good show. This international experience combined with the fact it just isn’t the Australian way to be bad at sport, suggest that 125-1 is a very good price on the Socceroos.

4 – South Africa (125-1)

A country better known for its rugby team, South Africa should not be discounted. Those who remember the quite remarkable performance by South Korea in the 2002 World Cup will understand the strength lesser footballing nations draw from being the hosts, and, whilst it might be a somewhat cynical view, if you saw the game between South Korea and Spain in that tournament, it is not unheard of for decisions to be made in favour of the hosts… It is good for the tournament and the atmosphere to have the home country do well. Though maybe not so good for their opponents.

5 – Greece (150-1)

As you move down the list, with the odds getting longer, you can’t help but notice Greece there just above the real underdogs like Honduras, New Zealand and North Korea. The squad they put forward is still likely to contain some of the experience and hopefully the impressive work ethic and team spirit that surprised Europe in the Euro 2002 tournament.

Their group, Group B, isn’t especially frightening with Nigeria, Argentina and South Korea. For a long shot, I think Greece may one again be a lot better than people are expecting.