New Delhi: Spain and their striker Fernando Torres enjoy a six point lead atop Group 5, but the situation is not as comfortable for some other international heavyweights who risk not qualifying for next year's World Cup.
South American powerhouse Argentina crashed to Brazil 3-1 at the weekend and sit precariously in the final automatic qualifying position in South America.
France dropped valuable points to Austria and Romania in the early going while Portugal find themselves in the most grim predicament of the three: fourth in their table, seven points behind group leaders Denmark, with three games to play - two of which are against second-place Hungary.
Torres, however, believes the World Cup would suffer from the absence of the planet's most recognized teams and players.
The Spanish forward feels that, despite the resurgence of some of Europe's more unknown quantities, a "World Cup without Argentina, France or Portugal would not be the same. I would like them all to take part," the 25-year-old told a news conference two days after Spain beat Belgium 5-0 in a qualifier in La Coruna.
"We also struggled to qualify for the 2008 Euro finals and then we won the tournament," he added. "National squads change from one day to the other depending on the status of their players. They can go through a bad moment now and in the summer be one of the favourites."
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