世界杯预测：英国将夺冠

England will finally win the World Cup after 44 years of pain if City boffins are to be believed.

英国的金融业分析人士日前做出预测，英格兰足球队在历经44年的磨难后，将夺本届世界杯的冠军。

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South African President Jacob Zuma shakes hands with Zakumi, the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa official mascot during a celebration for the 50-day countdown to the FIFA World Cup in Kimberley, South Africa's Northern Cape Province, on April 21.

European champions Spain will be runners-up with the Netherlands winning the third place play-off, according to J.P. Morgan quantitative³ analysts⁴ 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（不符合标准，缺乏） in South Africa because of a tougher route through to the final than their main rivals.

The quantitative（定量的） analysts at J.P.Morgan used information such as FIFA ranking, historical results and its J.P.Morgan Team Strength Indicator⁵ to come up with（赶上，提出） a mathematical model to predict match results, they explained.

However, they warned "this report should be taken with a pinch of salt（有所保留地） " and that it is an exercise to "light-heartedly explain quantitative techniques and demystify（阐明） the typical quant framework."

The analysts usually use these kind of mathematical models to help predict stock market winners with millions of dollars hanging on their calculations.

England last won football's biggest prize in 1966 when the Beatles topped the charts with Yellow Submarine and Harold Wilson was Prime Minister.

In the latest official FIFA rankings, England were in eighth position and Spain were second.