[GeronL]

how many teams are in the tournament and what are the rankings... not that I care much

[1rudeboy]

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/teams/index.html

[matt1234]

how many teams are in the tournament

32 (8 groups of 4 in Round 1; top 2 in ea. group advance)

and what are the rankings...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup#Participating_teams_and_officials

numbers in parentheses are rankings

[nickcarraway]

I know the ball is round. At least, I think it is.

[Rummyfan]

how many teams are in the tournament and what are the rankings... not that I care much.

Thirty-two teams made it through qualifying to this point. They are divided into eight groups of four each. Those groups play within their groups in a round-robin which will eliminate sixteen teams. Following that, the remaining sixteen teams play a single-elimination tournament to determine the champion. In 2010, the US team made it to the round-of-16 before being knocked out. Tougher this time around with having to play Germany (traditional European powerhouse) and Portugal (with Cristiano Renaldo, arguably best player in the world... certainly the prettiest) in the first round (not to mention Ghana).