A group of German researchers have forecast that host Brazil will win the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
 
Researchers at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management and the German Sport University Cologne projected that Brazil will defeat Argentina in the finals to grab the World Cup title. The researchers made the projection based on FIFA rankings, preliminary match results and dividend yield ratio of betting companies.
 
The researchers also forecast that Germany and the Netherlands will advance into the semifinals but forecast that Spain will not advance further than the round of 16.
 
Meanwhile, researchers at the Free University of Berlin projected that Germany and Spain will meet in the finals and that Spain will win the World Cup.
 
During the opening match of the World Cup on Friday, Korea time, Brazil beat Croatia three-to-one. Brazil is vying for its sixth world cup title.