32 RUSSIA

Because ...

THEIR PARTY IS EVERYONE'S PARTY

In 2010, host South Africa fielded one of the weakest teams, but the tourney still had the feel of a big, buoyant party ... until Bafana Bafana was ousted in round 1. Same thing in '14: Host Brazil embraced the hope; when it fell hard in the semis, locals seemed ready for the whole damn thing to be over. Vladimir Putin's favorite team is in terrible form, with just one win in its last eight games. One reason to believe the Stoli will keep flowing: Russia's group is the weakest in memory.