You Bet Punters Confident England Will Win World Cup Bid......

ENGLAND have been backed down to joint favouritism to win the 2018 World Cup bid with William Hill who have slashed their odds from 11/4 on Wednesday morning to 6/5, while Russia's odds have drifted from 4/6 to 6/5.

'Almost all of the bets staked on Wednesday - over 90% of them - were for England in a giant patriotic punt' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe, 'Putin's failure to attend seemed to persuade punters that he didn;t believe Russia could win and that sparked the main part of the gamble'

William Hill:

To Win World Cup 2018 Bid

• 6/5 England
• 6/5 Russia
• 4/1 Portugal/Spain
• 40/1 Holland/Belgium

To Win 2022 Bid

• 4/6 Qatar
• 5/2 Australia; USA
• 33/1 Japan
• 40/1 S Korea