🤖 We asked 3️⃣ AIs to simulate the Cup knockouts, opine! | OneFootball

It’s time, folks!

The knockout stage of the 2026 FIFA World Cup begins this Sunday (28), with South Africa vs Canada!

With that in mind, we asked three artificial intelligences to simulate the matchups all the way to the final... and one of them is “betting” on Brazil’s SIXTH title!

Check it out below and leave your OPINION!

Gemini

🏆 Round of 32

Left Side of the Bracket:

Germany vs Paraguay ➡️ Germany (A comfortable win for the Germans)

France vs Sweden ➡️ France (France’s attacking firepower proves decisive)

South Africa vs Canada ➡️ Canada (The Canadian team is more well-structured)

Netherlands vs Morocco ➡️ Netherlands (A tough match, but the Netherlands advance)

Portugal vs Croatia ➡️ Portugal (In a very evenly matched game)

Spain vs Austria ➡️ Spain (Spain’s ball-possession control dominates)

USA vs Bosnia and Herzegovina ➡️ USA (Playing at home, the crowd pushes them on)

Belgium vs Senegal ➡️ Senegal (Upset! The Africans surprise an aging Belgium)

Right Side of the Bracket:

Brazil vs Japan ➡️ Brazil (A hard-fought win against an always disciplined Japan)

Ivory Coast vs Norway ➡️ Norway (Haaland and Ødegaard make the difference)

Mexico vs Ecuador ➡️ Mexico (A Latin derby, Mexico advance by the finest of margins)

England vs DR Congo ➡️ England (The English go through without too many scares)

Argentina vs Cape Verde ➡️ Argentina (The overwhelming favorites deliver)

Australia vs Egypt ➡️ Egypt (Salah decides it on a counterattack)

Switzerland vs Algeria ➡️ Switzerland (Swiss tactical organization prevails)

Colombia vs Ghana ➡️ Colombia (A strong Colombian generation dominates midfield)

🔥 Round of 16

Left Side:

Germany vs France ➡️ France (A world classic, but France’s attack tips the balance)

Canada vs Netherlands ➡️ Netherlands (End of the road for the co-hosts)

Portugal vs Spain ➡️ Spain (In the Iberian derby, Spain win on penalties)

USA vs Senegal ➡️ USA (Home advantage keeps pushing the Americans forward)

Right Side:

Brazil vs Norway ➡️ Brazil (Brazil’s defense manages to neutralize Norway’s attack)

Mexico vs England ➡️ England (The English are physically far superior)

Argentina vs Egypt ➡️ Argentina (Messi and company control the game)

Switzerland vs Colombia ➡️ Colombia (Luis Díaz shines and secures qualification)

⚡ Quarterfinals

France vs Netherlands ➡️ France (Mbappé shines and Les Bleus reach the semis)

Spain vs USA ➡️ Spain (The American dream ends, Spain’s youth stands out)

Brazil vs England ➡️ England (A dramatic match, the English score late from a set piece)

Argentina vs Colombia ➡️ Argentina (An Argentine win in a very scrappy, foul-heavy game)

🌟 Semifinals

France vs Spain ➡️ France (France’s experience in the latter stages overcomes Spain’s possession game)

England vs Argentina ➡️ Argentina (Historic rivalry, and Argentina advance to yet another final)

🥉 Third-Place Match

Spain vs England ➡️ Spain (Spain dominate midfield and secure the bronze medal)

👑 The Grand Final: France vs Argentina

An epic rematch of the 2022 final! This time, in a thrilling game from start to finish.

Winner and World Champion: FRANCE 🏆(France get their “revenge” against Argentina with a stoppage-time goal in the second half, becoming three-time world champions!)

ChatGPT

Round of 32

🇩🇪 Germany 2 x 0 Paraguay 🇵🇾

🇫🇷 France 3 x 1 Sweden 🇸🇪

🇿🇦 South Africa 0 x 2 Canada 🇨🇦

🇳🇱 Netherlands 2 x 1 Morocco 🇲🇦

🇵🇹 Portugal 2 x 1 Croatia 🇭🇷

🇪🇸 Spain 3 x 0 Austria 🇦🇹

🇺🇸 United States 2 x 1 Bosnia 🇧🇦

🇧🇪 Belgium 1 x 2 Senegal 🇸🇳

🇧🇷 Brazil 3 x 0 Japan 🇯🇵

🇨🇮 Ivory Coast 1 x 2 Norway 🇳🇴

🇲🇽 Mexico 2 x 1 Ecuador 🇪🇨

🏴 England 2 x 0 DR Congo 🇨🇩

🇦🇷 Argentina 2 x 0 Cape Verde 🇨🇻

🇦🇺 Australia 0 x 2 Egypt 🇪🇬

🇨🇭 Switzerland 1 x 0 Algeria 🇩🇿

🇨🇴 Colombia 2 x 1 Ghana 🇬🇭

Round of 16

🇩🇪 Germany 2 x 1 France

🇳🇱 Netherlands 1 x 2 Canada

🇪🇸 Spain 1 x 0 Portugal

🇺🇸 USA 1 x 2 Senegal

🇧🇷 Brazil 2 x 0 Norway

🏴 England 2 x 1 Mexico

🇦🇷 Argentina 3 x 1 Egypt

🇨🇴 Colombia 1 x 2 Switzerland

Quarterfinals

🇩🇪 Germany 2 x 1 Canada

🇪🇸 Spain 2 x 0 Senegal

🇧🇷 Brazil 3 x 1 England

🇦🇷 Argentina 2 x 1 Switzerland

Semifinals

🇩🇪 Germany 1 x 2 Spain

🇧🇷 Brazil 2 x 1 Argentina

Third-place match

🇩🇪 Germany 2 x 1 Argentina

🥉 Germany

Final

🇧🇷 Brazil 2 x 1 Spain

🏆 Brazil world champion (six-time champion)

My reasoning

Today, I’d put the favorites on a pretty similar tier:

🇪🇸 Spain

🇧🇷 Brazil

🇫🇷 France

🇩🇪 Germany

🇦🇷 Argentina

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

🇵🇹 Portugal

Spain come in as one of the most consistent national teams of recent years, while Brazil still have a very deep squad and usually step up in knockout matches.

Several prediction models also place Brazil, Spain, France, Germany, and Argentina among the leading title contenders, although they differ on who would be champion.

Final prediction:

🥇 Brazil

🥈 Spain

🥉 Germany

4th Argentina

Claude

🏆 2026 World Cup Simulation — all the way to the Final

🔵 Round of 32

🇩🇪 Germany 2-0 🇵🇾 Paraguay

🇫🇷 France 3-1 🇸🇪 Sweden

🇨🇦 Canada 2-1 🇿🇦 South Africa

🇳🇱 Netherlands 2-1 🇲🇦 Morocco

🇵🇹 Portugal 2-0 🇭🇷 Croatia

🇪🇸 Spain 1-1 (pens. 4-3) 🇦🇹 Austria

🇺🇸 USA 3-0 🇧🇦 Bosnia

🇧🇪 Belgium 2-1 🇸🇳 Senegal

🇧🇷 Brazil 3-0 🇯🇵 Japan

🇳🇴 Norway 2-1 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast

🇲🇽 Mexico 2-1 🇪🇨 Ecuador

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 2-0 🇨🇩 DR Congo

🇦🇷 Argentina 2-1 🇨🇻 Cape Verde

🇪🇬 Egypt 2-1 🇦🇺 Australia

🇨🇭 Switzerland 1-0 🇩🇿 Algeria

🇨🇴 Colombia 2-1 🇬🇭 Ghana

🟢 Round of 16

🇩🇪 Germany 2-1 🇫🇷 France

🇳🇱 Netherlands 1-0 🇨🇦 Canada

🇵🇹 Portugal 1-1 (pens. 5-4) 🇪🇸 Spain

🇧🇪 Belgium 2-1 🇺🇸 USA

🇧🇷 Brazil 2-1 🇳🇴 Norway

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 1-0 🇲🇽 Mexico

🇦🇷 Argentina 2-0 🇪🇬 Egypt

🇨🇴 Colombia 2-1 🇨🇭 Switzerland

🟡 Quarterfinals

🇩🇪 Germany 2-1 🇳🇱 Netherlands

🇵🇹 Portugal 1-2 🇧🇪 Belgium

🇧🇷 Brazil 2-1 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England

🇦🇷 Argentina 3-1 🇨🇴 Colombia

🟠 Semifinal

🇩🇪 Germany 2-1 🇧🇪 Belgium

🇧🇷 Brazil 1-2 🇦🇷 Argentina

🥉 Third-place match

🇧🇪 Belgium 1-2 🇧🇷 Brazil

🏆 Final

🇦🇷 Argentina 2-1 🇩🇪 Germany (after extra time)

🏆 2026 WORLD CUP CHAMPION: ARGENTINA 🇦🇷

Back-to-back champions — Messi ends his international career with one more title.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.

📸 David Ramos - 2026 Getty Images