i think spain is not as strong as in the past, germany is not as strong as in the past, brazil is not as strong as in the past... in this list of countries you mentioned i just agree that france is more strong. In this world, strong teams are:
Belgium - they have a very strong team that can win world cup
England - they have a strong team this time that can win world cup
Argentina - also has a strong team that can win world cup
Brazil - they are not as strong as in the past but they have a chance to win the world cup
France - also has a strong team that can win world
It will be a real shame if England and in particular Belgium (which quite rarely have a very powerful team) win nothing again and are eliminated in the early stages of the tournament. In terms of rating, these are top teams, but knockout matches often break all these ratings. I would like to see Belgium reach some kind of pinnacle because firstly it will refresh the list of "traditional" champions and secondly it will allow this very powerful and interesting team to go down in history.