Insurance market Lloyd’s of London has predicted that France will win this year’s world cup, based on the insurable value of its team.

 

The research by Lloyd’s and the Centre for Economics and Business Research shows the insurable value of the French team is £1.4bn, with England second on £1.17bn and Brazil third on £1.1bn.

 

Lloyd’s predicts England will top group G, the most valuable group in the tournament with an insurable value of £2.3bn, before losing out to France in the semi-finals.

 

Although it started life as a coffee shop popular with shipowners, Lloyd’s has form in this area, having predicted that Germany would win the last world cup in 2014.

 

Victoria De’Ath, Lloyd’s class of business manager, said: “Our model correctly predicted the winner of the 2014 Fifa world cup so we wanted to put it to the test once again. The analysis makes interesting reading for football fans who are preparing for the most popular and widely viewed sporting event in the world.

 

“The contrast between the teams at the top and bottom in terms of insurable value is staggering, with the top six national teams worth more than the other 26 combined. We can’t wait to see if some teams can defy the odds and make it through, and if the favourites can prove their worth.”