Never has the World Cup been staged on African soil before, never has it looked such an open tournament and never has Australia gone in with such high expectations.

As a result, no-one knows what to expect, from the moment host nation South Africa and Mexico kick off at Johannesburg's Soccer City stadium on Friday (Saturday 0000AEST) until the final at the same venue a month later.

As 736 footballers from 32 nations contemplate the 64 matches that constitute sport's greatest show on earth, any one of a dozen teams seems capable of winning.

European champions Spain are at the top of the list, along with defending World Cup champions Italy, who caused such Australian heartbreak four years ago.

Five-times champions Brazil are always in the mix.

So are the Germans, whose opening match is against the Socceroos in Durban on Sunday.

England, 2006 runners-up France, Holland and Portugal are also rated strong prospects.

And although the hosts will do well to get out of the group stage, who knows what to expect of African nations like Cameroon, Ivory Coast or even Australia's opponents Ghana?

Any team with Lionel Messi in it can't be discounted, either.

Argentina's world footballer of the year is among the candidates fancied to crown himself in glory, along with Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo and England's Wayne Rooney.

Many stars, sadly, have already been cut down by injury, including Ghanaian powerhouse Michael Essien and three captains - Michael Ballack (Germany), Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) and Rio Ferdinand (England).

Australia, fielding essentially the same team that performed so brilliantly in 2006, is aiming to go one better and reach the quarter-finals.

But that is a huge ask for Pim Verbeek's side, who will know by June 23 whether they have done enough against group opponents Germany, Ghana and Serbia to progress to the knock-out stages.

The Socceroos have an added incentive to do well.

Another strong showing would deliver a huge boost to Australia's bid to host either the 2018 or, more plausibly, the 2022 World Cup.

South Africa has spent 33 billion rand ($A5.5 billion) trying to vindicate FIFA's decision to award the tournament to a nation saddled with so many challenges, including a high crime rate.

The World Cup will be beamed to an estimated cumulative worldwide TV audience of 26 billion.

As Australian captain Lucas Neill said: "It actually does stop the world."

Anything seems possible at South Africa 2010, but one thing looks certain.

The infernal vuvuzela trumpets they blow in these parts will make this the noisiest World Cup ever.

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