World Cup 2026 — Predictions vs Results

Master Summary Table

Completed Matches (13 validated)

Match Prediction Win % Actual Winner Score Hit Who Scores Acc
CAN vs BiH CAN 1-0 (35%) CAN ~50% 1-1 Draw ❌ (#3) ✅ Both mechanisms ~73%
USA vs PAR USA 2-1 (30%) USA ~70% 4-1 ✅ USA ❌ (#4) ✅ Balogun (#2) ~75%
QAT vs SUI SUI 2-0 (35%) SUI ~70% 1-1 Draw ❌ 0/2 ~56%
HAI vs SCO SCO 2-0 (30%) SCO ~78% 0-1 ✅ SCO ✅ McGinn (#3) ~78%
BRA vs MAR BRA 2-1 (28%) ~45% 1-1 Draw ✅ (#2) ✅✅ Vini #1 + Saibari #3 ~82%
AUS vs TUR TUR 2-0 (30%) TUR ~83% 2-0 ❌ AUS! ❌ 0/6 ~45%
GER vs CUR GER 4-0 (28%) GER ~94% 7-1 ✅ GER ✅✅ Havertz #1 (brace) + Musiala #2 ~72%
NED vs JPN NED 2-1 (18%) NED ~46% 2-2 Draw ⚠️ (draw #2, wrong score) ❌ but Van Dijk #5 + Kubo #2 assist ~79%
CIV vs ECU 1-1 Draw (18%) ECU 35%, CIV 35% 1-0 ⚠️ CIV (coin-flip) ✅ (#3) ✅✅ Amad #1 (sub!) ~78%
SWE vs TUN SWE 2-1 (18%) SWE ~60% 5-1 ✅ SWE ❌ (margin way off) ✅✅ Gyökeres #1 + Isak #2 ~72%
ESP vs CPV ESP 3-0 (25%) ESP ~90% 0-0 Draw! ❌ Yamal benched ~30% (biggest miss)
BEL vs EGY BEL 2-0 (20%) BEL ~62% 1-1 Draw ✅ (#3 1-1!) ⚠️ Salah assisted, Lukaku forced OG ~65%
KSA vs URU URU 1-0 (rev 49%) URU 49% (rev) 1-1 Draw ✅ (#2 1-1) ⚠️ Al-Amri (CB!) scored ~70%
IRN vs NZL IRN 1-0 (rev 53%) IRN 53% (rev) 2-2 Draw ⚠️ (draw in #1-2) ✅✅ Just #2 + Mohebi #3 HIT ~75% (best revision)

Pending Matches (predictions made, awaiting result)

Match Prediction Win % Status
FRA vs SEN FRA 2-1 (19%) FRA 60% / D 22% / SEN 18% ⏳ Jun 16, 3 PM ET (peak heat)
ARG vs ALG ARG 2-0 (21%) ARG 66% / D 20% / ALG 14% ⏳ Jun 16, 9 PM ET
AUT vs JOR AUT 2-0 (20%) AUT 63% / D 22% / JOR 15% ⏳ Jun 16, 9 PM PT
IRA vs NOR NOR 2-0 (20%) NOR 64% / D 21% / IRQ 15% ⏳ Jun 16, 6 PM ET

Who Scores Tracker

# Match Predicted #1 (Team A) Hit? Predicted #1 (Team B) Hit? Actual Scorers
1 CAN vs BiH (no formal prediction) (no formal prediction) Lukic, Larin
2 USA vs PAR Pulisic (~35%) ❌ (2 assists) Gómez (~15%) Balogun (x2), Reyna, OG / Maurício
3 QAT vs SUI (early format) Amdouni Khoukhi / Embolo
4 HAI vs SCO Nazon (~20%) McTominay (~28%) McGinn (#3 hit ✅)
5 BRA vs MAR Vini Jr (~25%) Diaz (~18%) Vini Jr / Saibari (#3 ✅)
6 AUS vs TUR Souttar (~15%) Güler (~28%) Irankunda, Metcalfe / nobody
7 GER vs CUR Havertz (~25%) ✅✅ (brace) Juninho Bacuna (~8%) Havertz (x2), Musiala, Nmecha, Schlotterbeck, Brown, Undav / Comenencia
8 NED vs JPN Gakpo (~20%) Ueda (~18%) Van Dijk (#5 ✅), Summerville / Nakamura, Kamada (Kubo #2 assist ✅)
9 CIV vs ECU Amad (~15%) ✅ (sub!) Valencia (~15%) N/A (0 goals) Amad (sub winner ✅) / nobody
10 SWE vs TUN Gyökeres (~22%) Hannibal (~12%) ⚠️ (assist) Gyökeres ✅, Isak (#2 ✅), Ayari x2, Svanberg / Rekik (Hannibal assist)
11 ESP vs CPV Yamal (~25%) ❌ (benched!) nobody (0-0)
12 BEL vs EGY De Bruyne (~18%) Salah (~20%) ⚠️ (assisted) Hany OG (Lukaku forced) / Ashour (Salah assist)
13 KSA vs URU Al-Dawsari (~18%, rev) Núñez (~22%, rev) ❌ (subbed 46'!) Al-Amri (CB!) / Maxi Araújo (rebound)
14 IRN vs NZL Taremi (~22%, rev) ❌ (subbed 80') Wood (~18%, rev) ⚠️ (2 assists!) Rezaeian, Mohebi (#3 ✅) / Just (#2 ✅ brace)

Who Scores hit rate: #1 scorer correct in 5/11 (45%). At least one top-3 hit in 7/11 (64%). Both scorers hit in 3/11 (BRA-MAR, SWE-TUN, IRN-NZL). IRN-NZL was the best revision result: Just (#2) + Mohebi (#3) both hit.


Referee Tracker

# Match Referee Predicted Actual Hit?
1 CAN-BIH Tello (ARG) moderate 5Y, 0R
2 USA-PAR Makkelie (NED) moderate 6Y, 0R
3 QAT-SUI Martínez (HON) ~4.3 3Y, 0R ⚠️ low
4 HAI-SCO Ghorbal (ALG) ~3.9 4Y, 0R
5 BRA-MAR Vinčić (SVN) ~4.1 2Y, 0R ❌ low
6 AUS-TUR Valenzuela (VEN) moderate 1Y, 0R ⚠️ low
7 GER-CUR Jayed (MAR) ~3.9 0R, 1P ✅ pen
8 NED-JPN Elfath (USA) ~3.0-3.4 ~3Y, 0R
9 CIV-ECU Letexier (FRA) ~3.8 4Y, 0R
10 SWE-TUN Falcón Pérez (ARG) ~4-4.5 0R TBD
11 ESP-CPV Makhadmeh (JOR) lenient 1Y, 0R ✅ lenient
12 BEL-EGY Abatti (BRA) ~3.8 4Y, 0R
13 KSA-URU Mariani (ITA) ~3.2 1Y, 0R ✅ lenient
14 IRN-NZL Ramos (MEX) ~2-3 1Y, 0R ✅ lenient

Referee hit rate: Red cards 100% (12/12). Card count within range ~70%. Tournament leniency confirmed: last 4 matches all ≤1Y. Discount upgraded to 20-25%.


Cumulative Accuracy (13 matches)

Component Hit Rate Grade
Winner prediction 5.5/13 (42%) 🟡 Moderate — 7 draws, 1 upset
Exact scoreline (top 3) 5/13 (38%) 🟡 Improving
Who Scores ≥1 hit 7/11 (64%) 🟢 Good
Who Scores #1 hit 5/11 (45%) 🟡 Substitution risk hurts
Referee red cards 12/12 (100%) 🟢 Perfect
Referee card count ~70% 🟡 Leniency pattern
Possession/flow ~75% 🟢 Good
Overall average ~68% 🟢 Good

The Draw Epidemic (Finding 1, amplified)

7 of 13 completed matches ended in draws (54%). This is the dominant pattern of WC 2026:

Draw probability is now calibrated at 22-30% for all matches (was 12-18%). The combination of low blocks, hot goalkeepers, wasteful favorites, and tournament-style caution produces draws at nearly double the modeled rate.


Calibration Findings Summary (11 total)

  1. Draws underpriced — 54% draw rate (7/13), now calibrated 22-30%
  2. Margins wrong — two failure modes — blowout underestimate (GER 7-1, SWE 5-1) + margin overestimate (ESP 0-0)
  3. Tournament referee leniency — 20-25% discount (upgraded from 15-20%)
  4. Lineup news invalidates the model — Yamal benched, Núñez hooked at 46'
  5. AFCON/continental pedigree ≠ minnow — Cape Verde, Senegal, NZL all competitive
  6. Low-block + hot goalkeeper — 4 validations (Vozinha, Beach, Shobeir, Al-Owais), raised to 15-20%
  7. CB set-piece goals — Al-Amri (KSA) scored from corner; CBs in Who Scores
  8. Possession flips — IRN-NZL (NZL 53% > IRN 47%)
  9. Coin-flip framework — CIV-ECU validated
  10. Comeback probability — IRN came back twice vs NZL
  11. Physical & environmental conditions ⭐ NEW — heat, travel, base camp, energy profile. Uruguay at "60% energy" in Miami heat; Iran sluggish after Tijuana. A depleted favorite = ~15-20% weaker.

Plus: Star-as-creator (Salah, Wood 2 assists each), substitution risk (Núñez subbed at 46'!), "attack gutted" needs bigger downgrade (25-30 pts, not 15).


Standings After MD1 (all groups)

Group 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
A Mexico (3), South Korea (3) Czechia (0), South Africa (0)
B All 4 teams on 1 pt (every match 1-1)
C Scotland (3) Brazil (1), Morocco (1) Haiti (0)
D USA (3, +3), Australia (3, +2) Paraguay (0), Türkiye (0)
E Germany (3, +6), Ivory Coast (3, +1) Ecuador (0), Curacao (0)
F Sweden (3, +4) Netherlands (1), Japan (1) Tunisia (0)
G All 4 teams on 1 pt (BEL-EGY 1-1, IRN-NZL 2-2)
H All 4 teams on 1 pt (ESP-CPV 0-0, KSA-URU 1-1)
I Jun 16 (FRA-SEN, IRA-NOR)
J Jun 16 (ARG-ALG, AUT-JOR)
K Jun 17 (POR-COD, UZB-COL)
L Jun 17 (ENG-CRO, GHA-PAN)

Last updated: June 16, 2026. 13 matches completed (Jun 11-15). Jun 16 pre-match wave (4 matches) done. Jun 17 wave pending. 11 Calibration Findings.