Some 40% of all football fans across the world expect Spain to win the world championships in South Africa.

This follows from a survey, made public yesterday, that the Footballunited.com football fan portal has conducted in 183 countries.

Brazil and Argentina have polled 13% each and are likely to share the second and third places.

England is expected to come in fourth, the Netherlands – fifth, and Germany has been placed sixth, according to the fan forecasts.

The respondents feel that Lionel Messi of Argentina will get the title of the championships’ best player, while Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal will prove the greatest disappointment.

Most fans say they will watch games from 1 hour to 5 hours every day.

A quarter of those polled said they were prepared to pay more attention to football than to their families while the championships are on.

A third of respondents said the football championships are more important than their work or studies.

via 40% of football fans expect Spain to win championships: Voice of Russia.