It's an England-Brazil final! Three Lions predicted to go all the way

England are set to face five-time winners Brazil in the final of the World Cup in Russia, according to forecasts by Goldman Sachs.

The bank has been using a predictive model to pick a winner at the summer showpiece. Simulating 1million variations, it initially picked Brazil to beat Germany in the final on July 15.

But after England's flying start to the tournament, and Germany's struggles in their first two matches, Goldman's team have changed their minds.

Now, England are predicted to beat Colombia and Mexico in the last-16 and quarter-finals, respectively, before overcoming Spain in the last-four.

Brazil, meanwhile, are forecast to come past Germany, Belgium and then France in the semi-finals.

'For England fans who might find themselves daring to dream, our updated model predictions might constitute a beacon of hope,' analysts told Business Insider on Monday.

'We continue to predict that Belgium will top Group G, ahead of England, using the unrounded goal difference as the tie-breaker on points. After a projected victory over Colombia in the Round of 16, we now expect England to meet Mexico in the quarter-finals, rather than meeting Germany.

'This tips the outcome in England's favour, as they are projected to defeat Mexico, before overcoming Spain — just — in the semi-finals. In turn, this would set up a Brazil-England final on 15 July (though those hoping for an England victory should look away now).'

Despite their last-gasp victory over Sweden last time out, Germany are not fancied to go beyond the last-16 – where they are set to face Brazil.

Should Goldman's predictions be correct, England will enjoy their best major tournament since they won the World Cup in 1996.

Brazil, meanwhile, would win the competition for the sixth time and the first since 2002, with Germany suffering their worst tournament since 1978.

There is a caveat, however, with Goldman adding: 'As the tournament heats up, the winning margins are becoming wafer thin, especially for England. This is reflected in the winning probabilities, which capture a sense of how easy the path to the final will be for each country.

'On this score, France still commands the greatest chance of winning, given that we expect more decisive results in the knockout stages... The four most probable winners are (in descending order) France, Brazil, Belgium and England.'

Gareth Southgate's side have taken maximum points from their World Cup games so far. They needed a last-gasp Harry Kane header to beat Tunisia, before recording their biggest ever World Cup win against Panama on Sunday.