Gordon Strachan: Don’t bet against England World Cup win

Scotland boss Gordon Strachan believes England have a chance to bring home the World Cup.

Gordon Strachan has warned the Tartan Army not to bet against England winning the World Cup.

Roy Hodgson’s men, 3-0 winners against Peru at Wembley on Friday night, are as big as 28-1 with the bookmakers to come out on top in Brazil.

The Scotland coach, however, is unconvinced that assessment is a fair reflection of their prospects.

“I think as an outsider, England have a chance,” he said.

“They have players in their squad now who can eliminate people, beat two or three players in midfield, in these areas 40 yards out.

“Ross Barkley, Raheem Sterling, Adam Lallana, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, they can all beat one or two people, which makes a great difference.

“I just think the whole thing will be set up for a South American win, all the way down to the pitches.”

And, specifically, Strachan believes Brazil can win their sixth World Cup.

“Along with Argentina they must be the favourites, and for the happiness of the whole world, I hope they win it!” he said.

“Certainly I wouldn’t like to see them get knocked out early.”

Scotland supporters will take a particular interest in the performance of Germany, the country’s opening opponents in the Euro 2016 group come September.

Strachan is well known as an admirer of the German game and expects a bold showing from Joachim Loew’s men.

“Germany can win the World Cup, absolutely no doubt,” he said.

“I watched them play Poland, and they were very young because every one of the top 20 German players were involved in Cup Finals, Champions League, League run-ins, so they never played.

“We had a good look at some of the youngsters then. I think only Julian Draxler would be a name anyone would really recognise but they have a very strong group and will be difficult to beat.

“Listen, there are a lot of options, in terms of who could win it. Spain would be another. People seem to forget about them for some reason but they are still a world-class side.”

The Scotland boss will be in Brazil working as a commentator for ITV and has high expectations for the tournament.

“There’s a great group of players going to be there top, top players,” he said.

“I actually think there’s as good a group of players going to this World Cup as there ever has been.

“But I’m sure there are names there who will surprise most of us and turn out to be stars that’s the exciting thing about it.

“You never know exactly what will happen. Guys just come out the blue sometimes. Look at Mario Kempes all these years ago.”