John Acres leads 2026 World Cup group predictor race

When 22 of football’s sharpest minds attempted to forecast the finishing order of every group at the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, the results revealed surprising inaccuracies and a clear winner – John Acres, who amassed 82 points by correctly predicting six group tables. The scoring system awarded ten points for a perfect 1‑4 order, five points for correctly placing two teams, and one point for a single correct position. All 22 entrants predicted Cape Verde would finish bottom, yet the Blue Sharks drew all their games and qualified second behind Spain. Group C proved the easiest, with 15 participants correctly naming Brazil, Morocco, Scotland and Haiti. Groups E and J followed, each correctly predicted by 13 entrants – Germany, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, Curacao and Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan respectively.

Presidential rebuke and World Cup exit push South Korea coach to quit

Group D was the toughest, as no competitor nailed the final order of USA, Australia, Paraguay and Turkey. Turkey, predicted by 14 of 22 to win the group, instead finished bottom after defeats to Australia and Paraguay. Only three groups matched the FIFA rankings published on opening day – Groups C, F and J. The lowest‑ranked sides to reach the knockout stage were Paraguay (41), South Africa (60), Bosnia‑Herzegovina (64), Cape Verde (67) and Ghana (73). The highest‑ranked teams missing out were Uruguay (16), Iran (20), Turkey (22) and South Korea (25). John Acres topped the leaderboard with 82 points, followed by Peter Costello on 78 points and Cedric Ayres on 77 points. Phil Wye earned 73 points, Giles Goford 71, and Pat Nevin, a former Scotland international, finished sixth with 64 points. Mitch Cook (former Scarborough and Blackpool midfielder) scored 63, while George Mills and Phil Lovelace each earned 62 points. Mike Thompson also reached 62, Garry Thompson (former Coventry, Aston Villa and West Brom striker) 60, and Garreth Roberts (former Hull City midfielder) 58. Nick Punal, Rich Harwin and Richard Foster (presenter of ‘It Started with a Kick’ podcast) each collected 58 points, with Louise Taffa (Australian football journalist) 55, Dave Puckett (former Southampton and Bournemouth striker) 53, Jon Barbuti and Chris Cooper (BBC Radio Humberside presenter and Senior Lecturer) 52, Alistair Bruce‑Ball (BBC Radio 5Live commentator) and Rolf Hessebrugge (German football journalist) 44, and Graham Lambert (Inspiral Carpets founder) 38. Pat Nevin, the former Scotland international, placed sixth, while Football Extra writers George Mills and Jon Barbuti shared joint eighth and joint eighteenth positions respectively, underscoring the challenge of accurately forecasting World Cup groups.