Winner ?
I think Argentina on the basis that the pressure on Brazil will be too much.
Spain as an outside bet, if I were to bet.
I don't normally
bet, but I might throw a few quid at it this time.
As for outsiders, you can pick Uruguay up for about 28-1 [as are Portugal and England!] and Colombia for 40-1. Might go each way on them.
Interestingly Belgium are the next favorite outside of the big four [Brazil, Germany, Argentina and Spain] coming in at around 20-1.
I
got a it carried away was looking at
some stats this morning about how many times the current top four seeds have been in the final since the competition began in 1930.
Of those 19 World Cups that have been played in that time, 16 have featured at least one of the current top 4 seeds.
And of the 38 teams that have played in those 19 games, 20 of those teams have been one of the current top 4.
And if you take the current top 8 seeds for 2014, no other team has ever won the WC since 1930 - it would be the top 7, but I included the 8th seeded team too
]
Also interesting to see that on each of the 7 occasions the competition has been held anywhere in the Americas [including the USA] it's been won by a South American team every time.
All of which means absolutely nothing