The ongoing goals studded and surprise packed World Cup in Brazil is the exact definition of the word 'COMPETITION', as we've seen the supposed big guns being held spell-bound, some so called 'weepingboys' pulling unexpected victories showing they have also advanced in the game and are good competitors too and also our own Super Eagles of Nigeria progressing to the round of 16 in spite of a thrilling 3-2 defeat to Argentina signifying that this World Cup is history in itself.

One thing that stands out in this year's tourney is the fact that every team has proved that they deserve to be a part of the football showpiece, although for teams like reigning world champion, Spain, two time champion, Italy, England, Cote d'ivoire and Portugal, it was really a disappointing one.

The shock 5-1 annihilation of Spain by Netherlands wet the appetite of football fans for more shocking results to come, as group C recorded the most unexpected results in the World Cup; with Coasta Rica defeating Uruguay 3-1 in their opening encounter before another 1-0 upset against Italy, thereby finishing top of a group that has three former World Cup Winners with seven points.

Brazil is the current favorites to win the World Cup in 2014 having decimated Spain in the Confederations Cup final. However, Joachim Low's Germany, Lionel Messi's Argentina and a few others will all have their say in where that famous Gold Trophy goes for the next four years.

This tournament will not be well describe without its surprises as a couple of top rated teams like Spain and England have been eliminated, while "minnows" like Costa Rica are proving to be a team to really be reckoned with. For most of the countries remaining in the competition, patriotic juices are still flowing as their teeming fans all over the world are rooting and hoping for the team to reach the much latter stages or win the trophy.

But how wide should such hope be? If antecedent is anything to go by, certain winning factors indicate which teams could go all the way to emerge as champions when the final is played on July 13 based on trends from more recent past tournaments.

Home Advantage: One of such factor that could count is home advantage and only one country, host Brazil, is enjoying and could utilize the home support as its 12th player to win crucial matches. Even countries with much less football pedigrees like Mexico, the United States of America and Japan and South Korea, when they hosted the world were a delightful bunch to watch with overwhelming support coming their way. The case of South Korea was quite exceptional as the Asian country went all the way to the semi-final and only lost to Germany, a team mature enough to put the 12th player where it belongs, on the stands. Being host however could turn into a disadvantage as it could put the home team, Brazil this time around, under intense pressure to do well, which might not ultimately augur well. If that happens and the home team loses particularly in the latter stages of the World Cup, like it happened in Italy in 1990, Germany in 2006 and Brazil itself far back in 1950, it will be really agonising for millions of Brazilians.

Record/History: It has become the tradition that the World Cup is usually won by a country within the continent that hosts it. The only exception was when Brazil won in Sweden in 1958 and when Asia and Africa, continents with less fancied teams to win the tournament hosted and it went to Brazil in 2002 and Spain in 2010. This factor of tradition thus favours South American giants Brazil and Argentina to lift this current World Cup and positions all other American countries in the competition to perform well, which actually has been the case for Costa Rica, the USA, Colombia and Chile in the first round of matches already played.

European countries may not have it as rosy, according to tradition, as they had it the last time the World Cup was hosted in Europe, Germany 2006, when the four semifinalists were from the continent. Already, Spain, the defending champions and one of Europe's pre-tournament contenders, have bowed to another tradition that has stood for over half a century which has not allowed a back-to-back triumph at the World Cup.

Playmakers: Individual artistry and brilliance could also be a factor as it was at the 1986 World Cup when Argentina's Diego Maradona dazzled the world. Such talismanic players like Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, Argentina's Lionel Messi, Uruguay's Luiz Suarez, Brazil's Neymar, and Holland's van Persie would be hoping to lead their country to glory or somewhere quite close.

 
Team Play: To the factor of team spirit, cohesion and collective power which largely won two World Cup tournaments for Italy in 1982 and 2006 without a superstar in the class of Maradona, Ronaldo, Romario, Baggio or Zidane. The present German team appears to be strong on this, same as Brazil, based on the collective willpower demonstrated to win the Confederations Cup last year. And teams like the Netherlands and Belgium have the potential to really go all the way if they could add this factor to their play. A number of other teams from Europe and South America could also come with high team spirit and achieved a great tournament but pedigree will most likely fail them at the end.

In this Brazil 2014 tournament, pedigree is on the side of past champions still in the competition, namely, Brazil, Germany, Argentina and France and either Italy or Uruguay. Three-time finalist, Holland, also stands a chance. Belgium and Portugal could try to achieve something bigger than their semifinal placement in 1986 and 2006 respectively but other factors could count against them.

In all of these factors, the greatest element that has determined who wins the World Cup particularly in more recent tournaments is the valuable options of players the winning team possesses on the field and on the bench. Great examples are the French team that won the World Cup in 1998 and the Spanish team of 2010. Interestingly, Belgium appears to be leading the pack with the array of talents in their fold, but lack of that pedigree of a world champion may eventually stand in their way.

Argentina and Germany have awesome talents in the midfield and attack, but their defence line is susceptible to flaws, especially Argentina. Brazil can never be left out here, though this present team may be relying a bit too much on the creativity of Neymar. Will he be able to raise his game to Romario's level at the 1994 World Cup and Ronaldo's at 2002 that made Brazil overall victors? Only time will tell.