Banking Giants UBS : Nigeria Africa's Hope But Have 0.3% Chance Of Winning World Cup

Swiss investment bank UBS has predicted the likely winner of the 2018 World Cup based on a statistical model normally used to assess investment opportunities.

World champions Germany are favorites, with a 24 percent chance of winning the World Cup, followed by Brazil 19.8 %, Spain 16.1 %, England 8.5 % and France 7.3 %.

According to their simulations, the Super Eagles are Africa's best ranked team in 17th position ahead of Senegal 20th, Morocco 26th, Egypt 28th and Tunisia 29th.

''The likelihood of a champion from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, or North America is almost nil,'' UBS wrote on its official website.

''From those regions, Nigeria has one of the highest likelihoods to advance to the second round, but it will be difficult for the Super Eagles to push past France in their likely encounter in the round of 16.''

Nigeria have a 0.3 percent chance of winning the World Cup for the first time, 1.3 percent chance of finishing second, 4.8 percent chance of reaching the semifinal, 15.9 percent chance of qualifying for the quarterfinal, 16.3 percent chance of winning Group D and 25.5 percent chance of finishing second in the group.

The Super Eagles ranked higher than Group D opponents Croatia and Iceland who both have a 0.2 percent chance of winning the World Cup but the three teams are behind Argentina with 4.9 percent.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel