A handful of the biggest economies in the world have found a spot in the quarter-finals of the 2018 Fifa World Cup - but few can agree on which one will lift the trophy in Russia. James Walker has sorted a winner by ranking the economies of the quarter-finalists

Economic ranking: Quarter Finals

Flags of the 2018 World Cup quarter-finalists

The quarter-finals of the 2018 Russia World Cup may be short on iconic national teams, but they are home to a few of the biggest economies in the world.

Major contributors to the world economy such as Brazil, England, France and Russia will go head-to-head today and tomorrow (6 and 7 July) – each vying for a coveted spot in the World Cup final.

After a series of upsets leading up to the second knockout stage, there are no real underdogs left in the tournament.

Bigger sides will be wary of complacency and those teams once considered “minnows” will have much more confidence in the face of former World Cup winners.

As it stands, many bookies and fans still favour the odds of either Belgium, Brazil or France lifting the trophy, while England fans remain convinced “it’s coming home”.

A minority fancy the chances of Croatia, Sweden or host nation Russia making it to the final and etching a new name on the World Cup trophy.

Compelo has scoured through various data to determine who would come out on top if the tournament was based on the strength of their economies.

 

Biggest economies in the world: Population

Red Square

  1. Brazil – Pop. 210,867,954
  2. Russia – Pop. 143,964,709
  3. France – Pop. 65,233,237
  4. England – Pop. 55,619,400
  5. Belgium – Pop. 11,498,519
  6. Sweden – Pop. 9,982,709
  7. Croatia – Pop. 4,164,783
  8. Uruguay – Pop. 3,469,551

Sources: UN World Population Prospects, Office for National Statistics.  

Biggest economies in the world: Gross Domestic Product

  1. England – $2.62tn in 2017 (GDP per capita $43,600)
  2. France – $2.58tn (GDP per capita $43,600)
  3. Brazil – $2.05tn (GDP per capita $15,500)
  4. Russia – $1.57tn (GDP per capita $27,900)
  5. Sweden – $538bn (GDP per capita $51,300)
  6. Belgium – $492bn (GDP per capita $46,300)
  7. Uruguay – $56.1bn (GDP per capita $22,400)
  8. Croatia – $54.8bn (GDP per capita $24,100)

Sources: World Bank, CIA World Factbook

Biggest economies in the world: Biggest companies

  1. England – HSBC (Rank #17 on Forbes Global 2000 list)
  2. France – BNP Paribas (#19)
  3. Belgium – Anheuser-Busch InBev (#41)
  4. Russia – Gazprom (#43)
  5. Brazil – Itaú Unibanco Holding (#45)
  6. Sweden – Nordea Bank (#199)
  7. Croatia & Uruguay – No ranked companies

Source: Forbes Global 2000 list 2018

Biggest economies in the world: Total exports

  1. France – $498bn (2016)
  2. England – $374bn
  3. Belgium – $325bn
  4. Russia – $270bn
  5. Brazil – $191bn
  6. Sweden – $134bn
  7. Croatia – $13.5bn
  8. Uruguay – $7.81bn

Source: Observatory of Economic Complexity 

Biggest economies in the world: Wealthiest people

  1. France – Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton CEO Bernard Arnault ($72bn net worth)
  2. Brazil – Investor Jorge Paulo Lemann ($27.4bn net worth)
  3. Russia – NMLK chairman Vladimir Lisin ($19.1bn net worth)
  4. Sweden – H&M chairman Stefan Persson ($16.8bn net worth)
  5. England – Ineos founder James Ratcliffe ($16.4bn net worth)
  6. Belgium – CNP founder Albert Frere ($6.2bn net worth)
  7. Uruguay & Croatia – No entries

Source: Forbes World Billionaires List 2018

Biggest economies in the world: Unemployment

  1. England – 4.4% of labour force (est. 2017)
  2. Russia – 5.5%
  3. Sweden – 6.6%
  4. Uruguay – 7.3%
  5. Belgium – 7.5%
  6. France – 9.5%
  7. Brazil – 13.1%
  8. Croatia – 13.9%

Source: CIA World Factbook

Final score:

England: 3

France: 2

Brazil: 1

(It’s coming home)