REVEALED: The Nations That Russian Fans Are Tipping to Win the 2018 World Cup

Germany are expected to retain their World Cup crown in Russia this summer - and England are thought to have a better chance of winning the trophy than France.

That is according to a poll conducted by BonusCodeBets, who asked Russian citizens in the 11 host cities for this summer's international tournament who they were backing to win the prestigious gong.

The current holders - Germany - drew in 26% of the total votes cast as Russians backed Joachim Low's men to keep hold of their crown, while Brazil and Russia themselves were joint second in the polling with 12%.

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The big news, however, comes in the shape of the Three Lions being expected to perform better and have a greater chance of lifting their first World Cup in 62 years than Les Bleus.

Didier Deschamps' squad are among the favourites for this year's trophy, but Gareth Southgate's charges are being tipped to secure the title before the 1998 winners.

A four per cent haul on England's behalf has them ranked seventh in the overall table of the 32 nations who will participate in this summer's competition - one place and one per cent behind Argentina but a place and one per cent above their neighbours across the Channel.

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Alexander Kostin of BonusCodeBets said: “Most English pundits seem to be pretty pessimistic about England’s chances this summer, so it is interesting that Russians rate the Three Lions higher than a very strong France team.

“With a ranking as seventh favourites, this means they’d likely exit the tournament at the quarter final stage. There was a time that an exit in the last eight would disappoint England fans, but given the failure to even get out of the group stages last time around, some fans might consider it a success this time.”

In another seeming shock on Russian football fans' part, Belgium weren't given a fighting chance of picking up a maiden World Cup despite the wealth of talent on show in their squad.

Much like France, the Red Devils may be an outside favourite to secure the trophy but Russian spectators think that Roberto Martinez's side will crash and burn like they have done in tournaments gone by.

Spain and Portugal came in fourth and fifth respectively with 10% and seven percent