As the England squad get ready for their first game of the FIFA World Cup tomorrow night, supporters are braced for the tournament's usual emotional rollercoaster.However, before the first whistle has even blown, scientists have predicted the most likely outcome for the Three Lions.Researchers from the University of Liverpool used a world–class supercomputer to run 1,000 simulations, charting each team's likely journey through the competition.And it looks like we might be headed for a repeat of Euro 2024 all over again.Just as in that ill–fated tournament, England is most likely to battle all the way to the final, before losing out in a close–fought match against Spain.The England squad has a strong 29.2 per cent chance of making it to the final, compared to just 24 per cent for the formidable French team.However, the simulations show that football only has a 17 per cent chance of coming home this year with an England win.Lead author Dr Benjamin Holmes told the Daily Mail: 'In the majority of simulations, we reach the quarters at least. But we are second favourites to win it behind Spain.' Scientists have used a supercomputer to simulate England's most likely journey through the World Cup, likely resulting in a loss to Spain in the final Scientists predict that the England squad (pictured) has a 29 per cent chance of making it to the final, but only a 17 per cent chance of winning the tournament overall To predict match results, the supercomputer uses the latest machine learning technologies.It not only takes into account the quality of the individual players but also how they are likely to interact with each other on the pitch.And it already has an impressive track record, having correctly predicted England's second place in Euro 2024.Dr Holmes said: 'Since Euro 2024, we have expanded our simulation model with a host of new features.'The core idea remains the same: estimating the abilities of players and how they interact with each other and their opponents.'We have now added simulations of injuries, suspensions and who scores the goals.'We even model the playing conditions, capturing the weather and altitude that matter so much in this year's expansive tournament across three host countries.'Overall, England has a 17 per cent chance of winning the entire tournament, a 29 per cent chance of reaching the final, a 49 per cent chance of reaching the semi–final, and a solid 64 per cent chance of making it at least to the quarter–finals. England looks poised to dominate the group stages, with a 100 per cent chance of making it through to the knockout rounds England's chances at the World Cup Chances of making it to the round of 32: 100%Chances of making it to the round of 16: 84%Chances of making it to the quarter–finals: 64%Chances of making it to the semi–finals: 46%Chances of making it to the Final: 29%Overall chances of winning the World Cup: 17% Dr Holmes admits that the most likely outcome based on these simulations can be 'a little tricky to interpret' but that a glimpse of the likely final result is possible.He says: 'A simpler interpretation is the most likely final is Spain v England – 9 per cent of simulations – but we only win that 47 per cent of the time.'According to these results, England is set to smash through the group stages with little resistance.According to the researchers, England has a 100 per cent chance of qualifying for the knockout stage and an 85 per cent chance of winning the group overall.This should be one of the most dominant group performances in the competition, with England expected to come out with an eight–point goal difference.Coming into the Round of 32, the squad's first test is likely to be the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).Scientists predict that there is a 26 per cent chance of coming up against the DRC, against which England has a 95 per cent expected win rate.Storming through into the Round of 16, England is most likely to meet Mexico, who are likely to be on a good run, having come out on top of Group A. In nine per cent of simulations, England meets Spain in the final. However, England only beats Spain in this scenario 47 per cent of the time England's most likely matchups Round of 32: DR Congo (95% win rate)Round of 16: Mexico (80% win rate)Quarter–Final: Brazil (72% win rate)Semi–Final: Portugal (61% win rate)Final: Spain (47% win rate) However, this shouldn't prove too much trouble, with the researchers predicting an 80 per cent win rate against the Mexican squad.Making their way into the quarter–finals, England look likely to batter Brazil, against whom they have a predicted 72 per cent win rate.Despite being the clear favourites in Group C, Brazil are unlikely to come anywhere near winning the tournament overall.The researchers predict that the unsteady Brazilian squad only have a three per cent chance of taking home the World Cup.The first major challenge will come in the semi–finals, where England has a 34 per cent chance of coming up against Portugal.The Portuguese side is looking strong, with a solid lineup featuring Diogo Costa, Rúben Dias, Martim Fernandes, Jota Silva and Cristiano Ronaldo.The supercomputer simulations put Portugal in the top–five contenders for the overall title, with a 10.6 per cent chance of bringing home the cup.While England still looks the favourite to enter the final, things will be a lot closer – with just a 61 per cent predicted win rate. Researchers say that the squad selected by England manager Thomas Tuchel (pictured) performs well even when accounting for injuries This would bring the squad to the most likely final matchup overall: England vs Spain.'Whilst we have Spain as favourites, a final between us is almost a coin–flip,' says Dr Holmes.Unfortunately, Spain is still tipped to take home the cup with a 26.1 per cent chance of winning overall.However, that doesn't mean fans should count England out of the tournament just yet.'Tuchel has picked a balanced squad which does well in our simulations that account for injuries and suspensions, Kane is in the form of his life, and Pickford can always be counted on in big tournaments,' says Dr Holmes. Likewise, a final against Spain is not the only way things could go down and there is still plenty of room for upsets.Dr Holmes says: 'Spain being eliminated would put us in a much better position.'They are the favourites in the simulations and our most likely opponent in the final. Their draw last night against Cabo Verde definitely helps us'. According to the results, Spain is most likely to win, with its probability of glory at 26.1 per cent The supercomputer found that the fourth most–likely final matchup is a head–to–head between England and France.If France beats Spain in the semi–final, the odds look significantly better – with the researchers giving the English team a 56 per cent chance of winning.But the best outcome for English fans would be a slightly less likely scenario in which the Netherlands battle their way through to the final instead.Although this is an outside chance, it would make England solid favourites to take home the World Cup.