In the last six editions alone there have been plenty of surprises, with Turkey and South Korea (both 2002), Croatia (1998), Sweden and Bulgaria (both 1994) and Belgium (1986) all reaching the semi-finals against the odds.

Looking ahead to this year's finals, a number of countries could be placed in the 'dark horse' category, and Paraguay make a strong case to be included in that group.

The South American nation have little World Cup heritage to speak of, and of the first 15 tournaments they only qualified for the finals on four occasions, and then only once made it beyond the opening round.

However, they now look to be a country on the up and not only have they made it to the last four finals in succession, but they have also twice progressed out of the group stages before falling at the last-16 stage following narrow defeats.

In 1998 they took hosts and eventual winners France to extra-time before losing 1-0 to a Laurent Blanc goal in the 113th minute.

Then, four years later in Japan and Korea, they were beaten 1-0 by a Germany side who would go on to reach the final, with Oliver Neuville scoring the winning goal in the 88th minute.

Those performances will have given belief to Paraguay that they can compete with the big guns, but it was their showing during qualifying for this year's World Cup that has singled them out as a possible team to watch in South Africa.

After 10 of the 18 qualifiers in the CONMEBOL section Paraguay had picked up seven wins and two draws to establish a massive six-point lead over second-placed Brazil.

Gerardo Martino's side were unable to keep that form going, but they still ended up becoming the second team to qualify behind Brazil and would have finished top of the standings if they had beaten Colombia at home in their final game instead of losing 2-0.

It was also the best qualifying campaign in Paraguay's history.

Among Paraguay's scalps during that run were South American heavyweights Brazil (2-0) and Argentina (1-0), while they also beat fellow World Cup finalists Chile 3-0 away from home.

What was also impressive was Paraguay achieved what they did largely without the services of key striker Roque Santa Cruz.

Paraguay will be hoping the Manchester City striker will be available for their entire World Cup campaign, especially as their top scorer from qualifying, Salvador Cabanas, is missing.

Cabanas, who struck six times in qualifying, was shot in the head in January following an incident in a bar in Mexico City.

The 29-year-old Club America forward was released from hospital in March but, according to his surgeon, he could take years to recover neurologically.

Without Cabanas, Paraguay will look to Santa Cruz and Borussia Dortmund's Nelson Valdez, who scored five times in qualifying, to shoulder much of the goalscoring responsibility.

But for Martino it is the sum of the team rather than its individual parts that really matter.

He said: "Where we've been strong in qualifying has been our collective play."

Paraguay's target now will be to build on their impressive performances over the last few years and attempt to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time ever.

On paper they look to have a reasonable chance of progressing out of their group having been drawn alongside Italy, New Zealand and Slovakia.

And if they get through that, then awaiting them in the round of 16 will be one of Holland, Denmark, Japan or Cameroon.

It could have been much worse for the 'Albirroja', but coach Martino is not getting carried away, telling Press Association Sport: "We are ready to have the best World Cup in the history of Paraguay.

"How far we get directly depends on the performances of the team and if the team works well it is possible to think about the best scenarios.

"We'll see how things are when we arrive at the competition and what our possibilities are then."

Martino does, however, think it could be beneficial to be facing reigning world champions Italy in their opening match, before then playing Slovakia and New Zealand afterwards.

"I think the main advantage is that we won't have to fight for the qualification against the toughest team in case we need something from the third match," Martino said following the draw.

There could hardly have been many more testing fixtures to begin their World Cup campaign than against the Italians, but if Paraguay can repeat some of the performances they showed in qualifying, then they could enjoy a flying start to the tournament.

And if they do that, then the possibility of Paraguay being this year's surprise package will also start to gather pace.