Close To Half Of The German Population Expects World Cup Title, Study Says

Almost half of the German population "expects the German national team to win the title at the World Cup in Brazil," according to the SID. This is the result of a study by "Football Research in an Enlarged Europe" on the opinion of football in European countries. FREE asked 7,245 Europeans for the study. Forty-five percent of Germans are expecting the country's fourth World Cup title after '54, '74 and '90 this summer. Even higher is the general interest in the World Cup, with 82% saying they will closely follow the tournament. In Spain, Germany and Italy, more than half of the population expects their team to reach the semifinals (between 52% and 74%). The Spanish population has the highest expectation for their squad, with 58% expecting nothing less than another title (SID, 5/27). The KURIER reported the Austrian population "will support the German team during the World Cup." The FREE study results show that the Austrians "are also the only ones that think Germany has best chances to win the title" (KURIER, 5/27).