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An illustration of Richard's profile. He has dark skin, short black hair and is wearing a maroon collared shirt.

How the World Cup Will Conclude by Richard O. '28

Backed by Science

I like to think of myself as a fortune teller. And since predicting a tournament’s outcome is basically telling a fortune, I’ve decided to tell everyone how the World Cup will conclude. Please find the scientifically backed World Cup final results below, which are absolutely, in no way, biased by virtue of my being a Ghanaian:

 

A World Cup-style single-elimination bracket titled with a legend indicating two box types: solid teal boxes represent matches decided as of June 30, 2026, while white boxes represent speculative, scientifically-backed predictions by Richie. The bracket has five rounds arranged left to right: Round of 32, Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinal, and Final. The Round of 32 lists sixteen confirmed matchups with their advancing teams shown as pairs (no scores displayed): South Africa vs. Canada (Canada advances), Netherlands vs. Morocco (Morocco advances), Germany vs. Paraguay (Paraguay advances), France vs. Sweden (France advances), Belgium vs. Senegal (Senegal advances), USA vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina (USA advances), Spain vs. Austria (Spain advances), Portugal vs. Croatia (Portugal advances), Brazil vs. Japan (Brazil advances), Côte d'Ivoire vs. Norway (Norway advances), Mexico vs. Ecuador (Mexico advances), England vs. DR Congo (England advances), Switzerland vs. Algeria (Switzerland advances), Colombia vs. Ghana (Ghana advances), Australia vs. Egypt (Egypt advances), and Argentina vs. Cabo Verde (Argentina advances). In the Round of 16, three matchups remain undecided (shown in white, teams only, no scores): Canada vs. Morocco, Paraguay vs. France, and Brazil vs. Norway. The remaining five Round of 16 matchups are marked as decided (teal) with scores: Senegal 2, USA 3 (USA wins); Spain 2, Portugal 1 (Spain wins); Mexico 3, England 1 (Mexico wins); Switzerland 6, Ghana 7 (Ghana wins); and Egypt 2, Argentina 4 (Argentina wins). The Quarterfinal round is entirely speculative (white boxes), projecting: Canada 0, France 2 (France advances); USA 4, Spain 2 (USA advances); Brazil 4, Mexico 3 (Brazil advances); and Ghana 23, Argentina 2 (Ghana advances). The Semifinal round, also speculative, projects: France 1, USA 3 (USA advances) and Brazil 8, Ghana 37 (Ghana advances). The Final, fully speculative, projects USA 3 vs. Ghana 104, with Ghana winning by a landslide margin. A Ghanaian flag icon sits beside the Final box, marking Ghana as the projected overall champion of the tournament.

 

And yes, all the numbers represent goals scored.