Our love for the beautiful game never really quiets down, which is why fans of the game are already excited for the FIFA 2018 World Cup.

Back in 2010, it was decided that Russia would be the hosting country, with all but one match being held in stadiums across European Russia. Although we have to wait until June 4th for the World Cup to get underway, we also thought we'd have to wait long until December 1st, when we saw the final teams drawn. As you can imagine, predictions for the winners are already starting to emerge. Given previous World Cups, it isn’t hard to see why winners are already being forecast.

If we look at the 2014 World Cup, hosted in Brazil, it was Germany who triumphed, securing their fourth world title. Therefore, it makes perfect sense for betting sites, focusing on the World Cup Russia 2018, to be anticipating Germany taking the lead once more. However, it isn’t necessarily a cut and dry race, as other teams, such as Italy, have been known to dominate the world title ratings as well. Just take a look at the results of the FIFA World Cup in 2010, it saw Spina raise to the top, even in spite of not being seen as one of the strongest teams. Consequently, it goes to show that anyone can win this tournament, however unlikely.

That being said, we intend to look at the most likely candidates, which include Brazil and France up there alongside Germany. Taking that into account, the big question is who is the safest bet out of the ones listed? This is where a careful approach is always the best one to take, with the main focus being on knowing all the odds available, alongside doing your research. Let’s take Germany as the example, seeing as they’re the favourite of the bookies. A bet on them is a wise choice given the fact that they’ve won four titles in total. What is more, the majority of pundits feel that the team is in good enough form to make it to the finals and leave the victors.

The same logical process can be applied to Brazil, even though they’ve not made an impact quite like Germany. One of the reasons Brazil is also seen as a safe bet is because of how close they’ve come to winning the World Cup, not to mention the two times they’ve been the FIFA Confederations Cup Champions. They clearly have the potential, and the drive, to make it, but it’s whether they manage to keep up with other teams that presents hurdles for bettors. A similar line of reasoning can be used for France, who have not only have won the Confederations Cup before, but the World Cup as well.

To recap, these are the teams already in prime position to win the 2018 World Cup, though their rankings could change over the coming months:

• Germany
• Brazil
• France
• Spain
• Argentina

It remains to be seen how they fare when the Cup starts, but until that time, we’ve got more than enough resources to keep us up to date and in the know. One result that’s for certain, is that all eyes will be on Russia when the teams start to battle it out on those pitches.