Germany is not only the favourite football side among Thai fans, but also their top pick to win the World Cup next month, according to an opinion poll.
The German national team was named the most popular side by 22.6% of the respondents in a Nida Poll conducted this week. It was followed by Brazil (19.5%), England (15.4%), Spain (8.2%), France (4.6%), Argentina (4%) and Portugal (3.6%).
The pollsters said 16.9% of respondents reported having no favourite team.
Asked which team they thought would actually win the trophy in Russia, 27.2% chose Germany, who are the defending champions. Next came Brazil (25%), Spain (9.4%), England (7.5%), Argentina (3.6%) and Portugal (3.5%).
In the survey of 2,001 people nationwide on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nida also found that 46.6% said they would occasionally follow the matches while 43% said they would not. Only 10.3% vowed to follow the games religiously.
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Bangkok Poll, meanwhile, found that 51.6% of the respondents in its survey said they would gamble on the outcome of matches, mainly by sending postcards (36.3%), followed by betting among friends (16.2%), online gambling (6.6%) and illegal gambling (3.7%).
It reported that 77.7% said they did not believe authorities could do anything to control or minimise football gambling, against 10.9% who thought they could.
Asked what improvements they would like to see in the Thailand team, 64.4% said they would like to see more development at the grassroots level or among youth, followed by better management (49.5%), an upgrade of the local league to world standards (48.2%), swift entry of Thailand to the World Cup (43.3%), more good players (25.9%) and more cash injection (21.9%)
The 21st Fifa World Cup, featuring 32 teams, will open in Russia on Thursday with the final match scheduled for July 15.
Brazil have won the World Cup five times, while Germany and Italy have four titles each. Argentina and Uruguay have two titles each, while England, France and Spain have each won once.