Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/992522
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 10 JUNE 2018 No betting, they say Malta may attract the biggest play- ers in the online betting sector but according to the survey an outstand- ing majority will not be playing mon- ey on World Cup games. When asked whether they will wager money on football games, or engage in betting between friends, 92.5% of people answered 'no'. Only 3.6% said they will engage in betting of sorts, while 3.9% were un- certain. The results were similar across all regions, with a slightly higher predis- position in favour of betting in the Northern Harbour and South Eastern regions where 5.2% and 4.2%, respec- tively, said they would play money. Supporters of… With Italy failing to make it to the World Cup, as expected the team most supported will be England. The survey found that 29.5% of peo- ple will side with England but a signifi- cant 51.7% said they will support no team. The team with the second highest support, albeit well below that for England, is Brazil with 5.9%, followed by Germany with 5.1%. Further down the line, Argentina en- joys the support of 3.2% of Maltese. Malta and the World Cup: Hope springs eternal Malta has never come anywhere close to qualifying for any interna- tional tournament but some people do believe a World Cup appearance is someday possible. The survey asked people whether they believed Malta would one day, during their lifetime, make it to the World Cup and 16% harboured that hope. The vast majority, 78.3%, answered 'no', while 5.8% could not express an opinion. Women were more hopeful than men – 18.7% of females believe Malta will make it to the World Cup, as op- posed to 13.2% of men. The young (18%) and the elderly (19.2%) are also the most hopeful of a World Cup appearance. On a regional basis, the highest level of optimism is in the Southern Har- bour where 21% believe Malta will one day book a place to the World Cup. ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt NEWS WORLD CUP 2018 Ditch the crowd, the sweat and the noise and opt for the living room because the home is by far the most favourite location for watching World Cup games. According to the survey, a whopping 89.9% said they preferred to watch World Cup matches in the comfort of their home. Only 5.3% said they preferred to watch the games at a bar and 4.8% on big screen in an open-air location. While results are uniform across all regions, the highest share of people saying they prefer to watch games in a bar is Gozo with 13.8%, followed by the Western region with 9.5%. The young are predisposed to prefer watching games in a bar or on the big screen although a significant majority (88.1%) still prefer their home. Home sweet home Home sweet home With Italy failing to make it to the World Cup, as expected, the team most supported will be England