Corby - // If I were to say, "I hope England wins the next football World Cup." that would be a lie. //
No it would not, because it is not a statement of fact, it is a wish, and the two are not connected.
If you 'hope' anything, you cannot be proved right or wrong, so it cannot be a lie.
'The earth is flat.' is an untrue statement, because the fact that is not flat is provable.
However, if that statement is made by someone who believes it to be true, then they are not telling a lie.