The World Cup of Property: Can England end 60 years of hurt?
Is a Scottish castle better than a French chateau? A tropical lodge better than a Cotswolds mansion? Our World Cup of Property looks to find out — and we kick things off at the quarter-final stage.
It's that time of every-four-years again: football's World Cup has kicked off.
Who will win? Speaking as a former sports journalist I'm happy to admit that I have absolutely no idea, and am sceptical of anyone who says otherwise. There will be enough matches played at both very high temperatures and very high altitudes to suggest that it probably won't be a team from a cool, temperate climates.
So while things don't look too promising on the pitch, let's instead focus on who might win if this was a World Cup of property. We've pitted the top seven nations in FIFA's world rankings, plus Scotland (ranked 41st), looking at the finest homes in each country currently for sale through our UK and international property search pages to see who'd come up on top.
This piece is the quarter-final stage — the semi-finals and final will come next week.
The Property World Cup quarter-final draw (seeding in brackets)
Argentina (1) vs Scotland (8)
Spain (2) vs Morocco (7)
France (3) vs Brazil (6)
England (4) vs Portugal (5)
Quarter-finals
Match 1: Scotland vs Argentina
Scotland might have come in to this as wildcards, but their lowly seeding belies the wonderful homes you find in this magical part of the world. The Portmore Estate is one such slice of perfection: £15 million, almost 3,500 acres and a 10-bedroom house, for sale in Peebles through Galbraith.
Argentina has plenty to offer too, however — this house on Lake Nahuel Huapi, with the Andes as a backdrop, is undeniably breathtaking.
That said, this new-build cabin on an Andean lake has a bit of a drawback: it's a 20-hour drive from the capital, Buenos Aires. Peebles, meanwhile, is about an hour's drive from Edinburgh, and 1hr 15mins from Glasgow.
Winner: Scotland
Match 2: Spain vs Morocco
A fascinating match-up, not least because the geographical and historical links between the two countries. Indeed, Andalucia only becamse part of Spain in 1492, having previously been part of the Muslim empire; even the name itself was originally the Arabic, Al-Andalus.
In terms of football, though, the powerhouse cities of Spain are Madrid and Barcelona, so we've chosen a house near the latter: a century-old, 10-bedroom, 10,000sq ft mansion dating to 1925 in Capellades, an hour's drive from Barcelona itself. It's for sale at €1.2 million through Amat Luxury, and it's grand and impressive inside and out.
Morocco's equivalent luxury properties tend to be newer-style rural homes or traditional riads in cities such as Marrakech. The latter offer all the drama and exotic beauty you'd hope to see — and the €2.37 million Riad Damanos is a perfect example, with nine bedrooms, a roof terrace and a location in the medina, just minutes from Bahia Palace itself. It's actually run as a guest house at the moment.
A tempting prospect, but Spain gets the win this time. Being In the middle of Marrakech is a lot, while a Catalan escape in a town in the hills, an hour from one of the world's greatest cities, feels like a better mix.
Winner: Spain
Match 3: France vs Brazil
France pull out the big guns for this clash of two great footballing nations: a €28,900,000 house in Cannes that is both traditional chateau and exquisite Cote d'Azur home. There are eight bedrooms, magnificent views and a pool to die for.
But Brazil have plenty of game too, and pull out a surprise in the shape of a house that is a sort of dream jungle lodge. This £2.2 million house in Bahia is the sort of place where you could forget about the world.
It's far harder to get to (it's a two-hour flight just to get as far as Rio), but the journey is surely worth it.
Winner: Brazil
Match 4: England vs Portugal
Portugal have been something of a bogey team for England at World Cups and European Championships; who can forget a winking Ronaldo badgering the referee as he tried to get his then-team-mate Wayne Rooney sent off in Germany in 2006? And it looks like it could be more of the same in the World Cup of Property, as they step up with a truly beautiful home in the iconic mega-resort that is Quinta do Lago.
The €24.5 million home has six bedrooms, a cinema and a yoga courtyard (that's a new one on us), and it's close enough to the golf course to have fine views, but not so close that you'll end up with a few stray Titleists in the pool.
Yet what is sun and golf when compared to the charm of a great Cotswolds home? The wonderful St Catherine's Court in Somerset, within easy striking distance of Bath, is a magnificent, Grade I-listed house that is the former home of the actress (and iconic Bond girl) Jane Seymour.
At £12.5 million, it's basically half the price of the Portugal house, and far, far prettier. This is the equivalent of an easy 3-0 win.
Winner: England
After all that, here's the draw for the Property World Cup semi-finals next week:
Scotland vs Spain
Brazil vs England
