World Cup 2014: Predicting the Top Goal Scorers in Brazil

The field for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is just two teams away from being filled following an action-packed day in Europe on Tuesday.

Mexico and Uruguay each hold big advantages through the first legs in their respective qualifiers and are expected to wrap up trips to Brazil on Wednesday. Here's what the World Cup field looks like heading into Wednesday's action:

Algeria	Greece
Argentina	Honduras
Australia	Iran
Belgium	Italy
Bosnia-Herzegovina	Ivory Coast
Brazil	Japan
Cameroon	Korea Republic
Chile	Netherlands
Colombia	Nigeria
Costa Rica	Portugal
Croatia	Russia
Ecuador	Spain
England	Switzerland
France	USA
Germany	Mexico/New Zealand
Ghana	Uruguay/Jordan

Now that we have a firm idea of who will be in Brazil for soccer's biggest international stage, let's take a look at some players who could be in the running for the Golden Boot as the World Cup's top scorer.

While Germany's Thomas Mueller was a surprise winner of the award during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, these four players figure to be in the running in 2014.

Cristiano Ronaldo - Portugal

Look atop the leading goalscorers' list in La Liga and you'll see Cristiano Ronaldo all by himself with 16 goals, three clear of his closest competition, Diego Costa. That's more than a goal a match for the 28-year-old Real Madrid star (13 games played), who shows no signs of slowing down.

Ronaldo showed great timing, pace and ability to finish on Tuesday, when he put together a scintillating hat-trick in a 3-2 Portugal win over Sweden, one which secured his county's berth to the World Cup.

It would have been a shame to see the Portugal and Ronaldo shut out of Brazil. After he only scored one goal at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he'll definitely want to prove he can perform on international soccer's biggest stage.

Lionel Messi - Argentina

There's still a healthy debate whether Ronaldo or Lionel Messi is the greatest player in the world, and both players figure to be in the primes of their careers when the World Cup rolls around.

With the way Sergio Aguero is scoring goals in the English Premier League, tied with two others at eight, Messi will be part of one of soccer's most prolific attacks during the World Cup. In 18 matches of qualifying play, Messi knocked through eight goals.

He currently ranks tied for third in La Liga with eight goals in 11 contests with Barcelona and will surely be a force when Argentina straps up for the World Cup.

Luis Suarez - Uruguay

There has been no more explosive goal scorer in the EPL this year than Luis Suarez, who is tied with Aguero and Liverpool teammate Daniel Sturridge atop the leaderboard with eight. But it's only taken Suarez six games to score eight goals, while it's taken Sturridge 11 matches and Aguero 10.

Suarez has been a major contributor during Uruguay's World Cup Qualifying run, playing in 27 matches entering Wednesday's tilt against Jordan. In those 27 matches since 2011, Suarez has booted through an amazing 24 goals for his country.

Diego Forlan was a sensation for Uruguay during the 2010 World Cup, scoring five goals, but now it's time for Suarez to shine.

Radamel Falcao - Colombia

Colombia currently ranks No. 4 in the latest release of the FIFA/Coca-Cola world rankings and much of that has to do with Falcao, one of the world's most prolific strikers in recent years.

Falcao plays for AS Monaco and leads the French Ligue 1 with nine goals, tied with Edinson Cavani and one goal ahead of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, whose Sweden side was knocked out by Portugal on Tuesday. Falcao has scored wherever he's been and that includes international competition, as he has 15 goals in 20 World Cup qualifying matches for Colombia.

As recently as September 2012, Colombia was ranked No. 22 by FIFA, but Falcao's rise has the world on notice.