World Cup 2026 β€” Predictions vs Results

Master Summary Table

Match Prediction Win % Actual Winner Score Hit Who Scores Acc
CAN vs BiH CAN 1-0 (35%) CAN ~50% 1-1 Draw ❌ (#3) βœ… Both mechanisms ~73%
USA vs PAR USA 2-1 (30%) USA ~70% 4-1 βœ… USA ❌ (#4) βœ… 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 βœ… SCO ❌ βœ… McGinn (#3) ~78%
BRA vs MAR BRA 2-1 (28%) ~45% 1-1 Draw βœ… (#2) βœ…βœ… 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 βœ… GER ❌ βœ…βœ… 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%

Who Scores Tracker

# Match Predicted #1 (Team A) Hit? Predicted #1 (Team B) Hit? Actual Scorers
1 CAN vs BiH (no formal prediction) β€” (no formal prediction) β€” Lukic, Larin
2 USA vs PAR Pulisic (~35%) ❌ (2 assists) Gómez (~15%) ❌ Balogun (x2), Reyna, OG / Maurício
3 QAT vs SUI (early format) β€” Amdouni ❌ Khoukhi / Embolo
4 HAI vs SCO Nazon (~20%) ❌ McTominay (~28%) ❌ McGinn (#3 hit βœ…)
5 BRA vs MAR Vini Jr (~25%) βœ… Diaz (~18%) ❌ Vini Jr / Saibari (#3 βœ…)
6 AUS vs TUR Souttar (~15%) ❌ Güler (~28%) ❌ Irankunda, Metcalfe / nobody
7 GER vs CUR Havertz (~25%) βœ…βœ… (brace) Juninho Bacuna (~8%) ❌ Havertz (x2), Musiala, Nmecha, Schlotterbeck, Brown, Undav / Comenencia
8 NED vs JPN Gakpo (~20%) ❌ Ueda (~18%) ❌ Van Dijk (#5 βœ…), Summerville / Nakamura, Kamada (Kubo #2 assist βœ…)

Who Scores hit rate: #1 scorer correct in 3/7 formal predictions (43%). At least one top-3 scorer hit in 4/7 (57%). Both scorers hit in 1/7 (BRA-MAR, 14%).


Referee Tracker

# Match Referee Predicted Y/Game Actual Cards Red/Pen Hit?
1 CAN-BIH Tello (ARG) moderate 5Y 0R, 0P βœ…
2 USA-PAR Makkelie (NED) moderate 6Y 0R, 0P βœ…
3 QAT-SUI Martínez (HON) ~4.3 3Y 0R, 0P ⚠️ low
4 HAI-SCO Ghorbal (ALG) ~3.9 4Y 0R, 0P βœ…
5 BRA-MAR VinčiΔ‡ (SVN) ~4.1 2Y 0R, 0P ❌ low
6 AUS-TUR Valenzuela (VEN) moderate 1Y 0R, 0P ⚠️ low
7 GER-CUR Jayed (MAR) ~3.9 (not reported) 0R, 1P βœ… pen
8 NED-JPN Elfath (USA) ~3.0-3.4 ~3Y 0R, 0P βœ…

Referee hit rate: Card count correct ~50% (4/8). Red cards 100% (8/8). Tournament leniency pattern holds β€” but Elfath matched prediction (~3Y).


Cumulative Accuracy

Component Hit Rate Grade
Winner prediction 3/8 (38%) πŸ”΄ Poor β€” 4 draws + 1 upset missed
Top scenario in top 3 3/8 (38%) πŸ”΄ Poor
Who Scores β‰₯1 hit 4/7 (57%) 🟑 Moderate
Who Scores both scorers 1/7 (14%) 🟑 Rare
Referee red cards 8/8 (100%) 🟒 Perfect
Referee card count 4/8 (50%) 🟑 Leniency pattern
Possession/flow 8/8 (100%) 🟒 Perfect
Overall average ~70% 🟒 Good

Key Patterns & Lessons

  1. Winners: only 38% accurate β€” 4 draws (CAN-BIH, QAT-SUI, BRA-MAR, NED-JPN) and 1 upset (AUS-TUR) all missed. We're overconfident in favorites.
  2. Margins: consistently wrong β€” 6/8 had wrong scoreline margin
    • Overestimate: HAI-SCO (predicted 2-0, actual 1-0)
    • Underestimate: USA-PAR (predicted 2-1, actual 4-1), GER-CUR (predicted 4-0, actual 7-1), NED-JPN (predicted 1-1, actual 2-2)
  3. Draws underpriced β€” 4/8 matches ended draws (50%!). Draw probability needs to be much higher, especially in evenly-matched games and frustrated-favorite scenarios
  4. Tournament referee leniency β€” cards consistently below career averages (~15-20% lower)
  5. GK selection is a model-breaker β€” AUS-TUR (Beach over Ryan) was our worst miss
  6. Elite strike pairs/penalty takers are reliable β€” Havertz, Vini Jr, Balogun all hit as #1 picks
  7. What we're actually good at: tactical flow/possession (100%), referee red cards (100%), identifying key scorers (67%)

Standings After MD1

Group 1st 2nd 3rd 4th
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), TΓΌrkiye (0)
E Germany (3, +6) (CIV vs ECU pending) Curacao (0, -6)
F Netherlands (1), Japan (1) (SWE vs TUN pending)

Last updated: June 14, 2026. 8 matches completed (NED-JPN 2-2 final). SWE-TUN and CIV-ECU pending.