UMVA has learned that former England defender Rio Ferdinand has backed Spain to win this summer's World Cup, despite previously naming France as his favourites for the tournament.
Spain are putting the finishing touches on their preparations for a 17th appearance at a finals, 16 years on from their sole victory under Vicente del Bosque back in 2010. The reigning European champions will be striving to banish the memories of their last World Cup outing when they were dumped out at the round-of-16 stage at the hands of Morocco.
Luis de la Fuente's men, who sailed through qualifying with an unbeaten record, kick off their campaign against Cape Verde next Monday at Atlanta's Mercedes-Benz Stadium, where they will no doubt look to set out their stall and lay down a marker. With contests versus Saudi Arabia and Uruguay to follow, La Roja - captained by Manchester City's Rodri - are rated as the clear favourites to come out on top in Group H.
However, lingering doubts over the fitness of star man Lamine Yamal have clouded some of the pre-tournament excitement in Spain, but there is growing optimism that the 18-year-old sensation will return in time from his hamstring injury. Ferdinand talked up France's chances of going all the way - before switching and picking Spain as his personal front-runners.
Ferdinand said that if Didier Deschamps manages Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe, they will go on to win it. He added that Kylian Mbappe's best games are from the left, where he cuts in and scores goals, and that Dembele will start the press and finish things off.
But when put on the spot and asked to pick his World Cup winners, Ferdinand responded: 'A fit Lamine Yamal, a fit Nico Williams and a fit Rodri… Spain take some beating. I've been saying France every day until today.' He revealed that he decided to change his prediction because he believes Spain has a strong team when their key players are fit.
Ferdinand also delivered a more pessimistic prediction for England, forecasting potential difficulties with the heat should Thomas Tuchel's men advance from Group L. He said that if England progress, they could face tough matches against Mexico and Brazil in hot conditions, which might leave them with zero energy left in the tank.
Predicting his Golden Ball winner, Ferdinand picked out Michael Olise as a name to watch out for on the back of the forward's outstanding season. Olise scored 22 goals across an impressive debut season and completed a hat-trick in France's warm-up victory over Northern Ireland.
