European champions Spain will be runners-up with the Netherlands winning the third place play-off, according to J.P. Morgan quantitative analysts who issued their findings on Tuesday ahead of the World Cup (June 11-July 11) kick-off.
They predict world number one team Brazil will fall short in South Africa because of a tougher route through to the final than their main rivals.
However, they warned "this report should be taken with a pinch of salt" and that it is an exercise to "lightheartedly explain quantitative techniques and demystify the typical quant framework."
England last won football's biggest prize in 1966 when the Beatles topped the charts with Yellow Submarine and Harold Wilson was Prime Minister.
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