Argentina, the country of birth of Pope Francis, has zoomed into the top spot of potential first international visits by the newly proclaimed spiritual leader of the 1.2 billion-strong Roman Catholic church.

Pope Francis will visit Argentina, according to punters

Argentina was number country four on Wednesday, according to Irish online betting site Paddy Maker. Today, Argentina is number one, followed by, in order, Brazil, the Philippines and the U.S.

Although born in Argentina, the 76-year old new Pope Francis is of Italian lineage since his parents were only immigrants to the South American country.

And while still on the subject of online betting, punters have created a new entry - a new pope to succeed Pope Francis. It is presumed the entry was created in anticipation that the new 266th heir of St Peter the Apostle gets overwhelmed with the task and goes the way of his predecessor, Benedict XVI.

Next pope after Pope Francis

In this entry, Archbishop Angelo Scola of Italy lead the race, followed by Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Austria, Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the US, Cardinal Marc Ouellet of Canada, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary, Cardinal Timothy Dolan again from the U.S., and, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza and Cardinal Agnostino Vallini, both from Italy.

Read more:

New Pope 2013: Brazil, Philippines Could Be New Pope's First Countries to Visit