According to Spanish media, Opta supercomputer, artificial intelligence of EA Sports, and a study from Dortmund University of Technology (Germany) as well as other technology experts have predicted that the Spanish team is the team with the highest chance of winning the 2026 World Cup with a rate of 14.5%.
Ranked after the Spanish team are England and France (both with the same rate of 12.4%), Germany (11.2%), Portugal (8.9%), Argentina (8.2%), Netherlands (5.6%) and Brazil (4.7%).
Compared to previous tournaments, this year's championship race is very intense," Achim Zeileis, from the University of Innsbruck (Austria), who participated in the study, commented.
This forecast is based on many different data sources such as the performance of teams in previous international matches, player rankings in club and international matches, average market value of teams...
This information is combined with all other available data, combined with machine learning algorithms to deliver prediction rates. In the process of implementation, the research team faced two major challenges.
On the one hand, we have to collect all this data, some data is only available right before the tournament. For example, we only know the final squad list of 48 teams a few days before that," Zeileis explained.
In addition, the research team also combined professional data with machine learning to build a powerful prediction model for the 2026 World Cup. "Then, we used this model to provide 100,000 simulations of the World Cup, match by match, in addition to relying on the draw results, as well as the rules that FIFA applies to the tournament," Rouven Michels of Dortmund University of Technology, added.
This research group has conducted previous analyses and selected and made accurate predictions about the 2010 World Cup champion, EURO 2012 (with the Spanish national team) as well as the 2019 Women's World Cup (US women's national team).
Historically, the Spanish national team won the 2010 World Cup. They aim for the 2026 World Cup as one of the strong candidates for the championship, especially after winning EURO 2024. The Spanish national team lineup has many excellent players in all 3 lines such as Pau Cubarsi, Rodri, Pedri, Lamine Yamal...
This year, coach Luis de la Fuente's team is in Group H with Uruguay, Saudi Arabia and rookie Cabo Verde.
