Italy captain and veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon believes Italy have the advantage to win Group D over England and Uruguay, assuming Costa Rica finish bottom.

However, Buffon did not class the Azzurri as one of the favourites to win the tournament.

"At this moment, Italy are the team who can think about going the furthest compared with England and Uruguay - at least at the start of the tournament," Buffon said, according to Sky Sports.

"The favourites are Brazil, Spain, Germany and Argentina. We are slightly further back."

"(If we play) from the quarter-finals onwards, we could say it has been a good World Cup and a positive tournament. But naturally, you are never fully satisfied. I don't feel as if I can say today with certainty that we can reach the final.

Though the 36-year-old doesn't rank Italy amongst the favourites, he said his side actually does better when they aren't expected to win.

"I think that our national team has become one that is reliable and that manages to win the matches it should win.

"Sometimes we manage to cause surprises in the games in which we don't start as favourites, giving the opposition some headaches.

"I'm thinking about Spain, with whom we have drawn twice recently and Brazil, against whom we lost but played a great match."

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