Former England manager Glenn Hoddle has revealed the favourites to win the World Cup and also the dark horses of the tournament.

Hoddle told Metro: “I think England are in that little crop of about six countries that could win. If I was to put a bet on it, I’d probably say Brazil.

“I think it’s quite open, there are going to be a couple of favourites, Brazil being one, but I’m not sure they’re hot favourites. There’s no standout team that you think are definitely going to win.

“I think Brazil tick a lot of the boxes, they look quite solid at the back, and they have the flair at the other end of the pitch.

“I think they’ve got the right balance. To win a World Cup you need a goalkeeper who’s going to play really well and then you can build on that base from there and I think they’ve got two goalkeepers [Alisson and Ederson] who are very solid.”

When asked about the dark horses of the World Cup, Hoddle added: “I think Denmark, they had a great Euros, and they’ll want to build on that. They’re coming in again under the radar as they always do. They’ve beaten France recently.

“Perhaps they haven’t got a finisher, an out-and-out striker that you feel will get five or six goals for them. But they have a lot of goal scorers in their squad. They score all over the pitch actually.

“I also wouldn’t count out teams like Portugal and Belgium. Everyone keeps thinking they’ve gone past their sell by date, but it wouldn’t surprise me if one of those teams went deep as well.

“Once you get to a semi-final anything can happen. You get the right decisions like penalties, a sending off for the opposition – all those things come into it.

“So, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium. Let’s face it, if one of them wins the World Cup it would be a surprise.

“As for the group stages, don’t be surprised if Iran do well. They’re a good side and will be quite awkward to play in that first game for England.

“I think it will be interesting to see how Wales get on against Iran, that will be key. If they beat Iran, I think they’ll qualify but don’t be surprised if Iran surprise everyone.

“There are a few teams that we don’t know too much about, like Ecuador who are decent, who might surprise us.”