The co-hosts were resoundingly beaten by Belgium in the last 16, despite being able to select striker Folarin Balogun, whose ban was controversially suspended.Portugal’s loss to Spain means Cristiano Ronaldo has made his last World Cup appearance, after playing and scoring in a record six editions. His old rival, Lionel Messi, has a chance to take another step towards a second World Cup triumph when Argentina take on Egypt later on Tuesday, as the line-up is completed for the quarter-finals.With no hosts left and more contending nations eliminated, here are our latest team rankings.Having dismantled four opponents in a row, France were largely nullified in the last 16 by a stubborn Paraguay side, but still made it through with a 1-0 win.Paraguay showed that with unscrupulous methods, France can be got at, and you wonder if better opponents (i.e. Morocco in the quarter-finals) will take note and attempt to rile Didier Deschamps’ side.However, France remain clear favourites to win the tournament given the ridiculous attacking talent they possess. Kylian Mbappe is level with Lionel Messi and Erling Haaland in the race for the Golden Boot with seven goals, while creator-in-chief Michael Olise is top of the assists chart with five.They deservedly remain top of our rankings — and The Athletic’s live projection tool forecasts a 31 per cent chance of them winning the World Cup.Another clean sheet and another win for Spain, who defeated Portugal with a Mikel Merino added-time winner.Once more, they limited their opposition to relatively few chances. The curious thing about Spain in this tournament is that their star player, Lamine Yamal, has not hit the heights we know he can yet (one goal, no assists).But two substitutes combined for the winning goal against Portugal, showing the strength in depth of a team that will only get even more dangerous once Yamal really comes to the party. They face Belgium next in the quarter-finals.Argentina made much tougher work of Cape Verde than most expected, twice being pegged back before an own goal in the 111th minute sent them through to the last 16 with a 3-2 win after extra time.Having won the 2022 World Cup, it is difficult to overlook Argentina as a serious contender, and with Messi joint-top of the World Cup goalscorer rankings with his seventh of the tournament against Cape Verde, he looks just as potent as ever.But having had a relatively straightforward group stage, Argentina are yet to be properly tested by a top team. World Cup debutants Cape Verde proved their toughest opponents yet, and there will be much more to come from the quarter-final onwards, should they beat Egypt in the last 16.