London, Jun 10 (DPA): British bookmakers are expecting the World Cup to be the biggest betting event in history, but very little of that money is being staked on an England win.

Williams Hill, the country's leading bookmaker, expects more than 1 billion pounds to be gambled on the competition, with the money coming from 188 countries.

England, though, are not receiving much support in the betting shops and have drifted out to 8-1 with William Hill, the longest price available with any British bookmaker.

Instead, most of the money is being staked on European champions Spain, while five-time World Cup winners Brazil have also been popular.

The biggest bet on England winning the competition for the first time since 1966 was a 6,500-pound straight-win bet at 8-1, which would bring in a profit of 52,000 pounds.

But the biggest bet of all received by William Hill was on France winning the event for the second time, with one punter putting 110,000 pounds at 20-1 on Les Bleus, a bet that would return a profit of 1.65 million pounds if they lift the trophy.

"A southern-based telephone client has staked a bet of 55,000 pounds each way on France to win the World Cup," William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe said. "If he wins it will be the biggest ever World Cup winnings."

Spain are the favourites at 4-1, just ahead of Brazil at 9-2, with Argentina next best at 13-2. England are 8-1, Holland 10-1, Germany 14-1, Italy 16-1 and France 20-1, while the leading African team in the betting are the Ivory Coast, at 50-1.

There has been plenty of activity in many of the other markets on offer, with each firm trying to outdo the others in the variety of bets available.

William Hill offer 5-1 that England striker Wayne Rooney will be red-carded during the World Cup, a bet that was quickly put up when it emerged that he swore at the referee in a warm-up game on Monday.

"It is no surprise that Wayne's temperament has come under scrutiny, but he hasn't been red-carded for a year since a Manchester United game at Fulham in March 2009," Sharpe said.

"So his record suggests that he can usually control his temper these days."

Irish bookies Paddy Power, famed for their novelty bets, have offered markets called "Bore Wars" (0-0 draws) and Desmonds (2-2s).

"What makes a World Cup most memorable is the football itself and thankfully we are expecting to see more Desmonds in South Africa than we are for the number of Bore Wars," Paddy Power spokesman Darren Haines said.