Reacting To My World Cup Predictions

The World Cup has come and gone, and a champion has been crowned. As you may recall, before the tournament began, I made my group stage predictions. You might think that interning with the Carolina Ascent and Bethesda SC would help me make good predictions. On the other hand, you might remember my history of predictions and expected they were probably going to be brutal.

It is time that I own up to the predictions I made and see how I did.

Here's how the scoring system works:

• 4 points for correctly predicting the 1st-place team.

• 3 points for correctly predicting the 2nd-place team.

• 2 points for correctly predicting the 3rd-place team.

• 1 point for correctly predicting the 4th-place team.

• 0 points if I got that team's finishing position wrong.

• And finally, if you're me and have a massive brainfart, completely forget who Erling Haaland is, and pick Norway to finish last, you get -20 points. (Seriously...what was I thinking?)

Hopefully, these aren't as bad as the Norway pick.

Group A

My group standings: 1st Mexico, 2nd South Korea, 3rd South Africa, 4th Czechia

Actual standings: 1st Mexico, 2nd South Africa, 3rd South Korea, 4th Czechia

Honestly, this wasn't a bad start. I nailed Mexico and Czechia but completely flipped South Africa and South Korea.

Score: Mexico (+4), Czechia (+1)

Group Total: 5 points

Running Total: 5 points

Group B 

My group standings: 1st Switzerland, 2nd Canada, 3rd Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4th Qatar

Actual standings: 1st Switzerland, 2nd Canada, 3rd Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4th Qatar

WAIT...I actually got an entire group perfect? Somebody check if someone hacked my blog because that doesn't sound like something I'd do.

Score: Switzerland (+4), Canada (+3), Bosnia and Herzegovina (+2), Qatar (+1)

Group Total: 10 points

Running Total: 15 points

Group C

My group standings: 1st Brazil, 2nd Morocco, 3rd Scotland, 4th Haiti

Actual standings: 1st Brazil, 2nd Morocco, 3rd Scotland, 4th Haiti

Back-to-back perfect groups! Clearly buying way too many Brazil jerseys paid off.

Score: Brazil (+4), Morocco (+3), Scotland (+2), Haiti (+1)

Group Total: 10 points

Running Total: 25 points

Group D

My group standings: 1st USA, 2nd Türkiye, 3rd Australia, 4th Paraguay

Actual standings: 1st USA, 2nd Australia, 3rd Paraguay, 4th Türkiye

Who knew blind patriotism would actually pay off? Unfortunately, it only worked for picking the United States to win the group. Everything else...not so much.

Score: USA (+4)

Group Total: 4 points

Running Total: 29 points

Group E

My group standings: 1st Ecuador, 2nd Germany, 3rd Curaçao, 4th Ivory Coast Actual standings: 1st Germany, 2nd Ivory Coast, 3rd Ecuador, 4th Curaçao

Let's just say that my "country starts with the same letter as the group" strategy aged about as well as milk. Germany reminded everyone why they're Germany (at least until the knockout round started), and Ecuador apparently didn't get the memo about my advanced analytics.

Score: 0

Group Total:0 points

Running Total: 29 points

Group F

My group standings: 1st Netherlands, 2nd Japan, 3rd Sweden, 4th Tunisia

Actual standings: 1st Netherlands, 2nd Japan, 3rd Sweden, 4th Tunisia

ANOTHER PERFECT GROUP! Maybe these predictions aren't so bad after all! At this point I'm starting to think I actually know what I'm talking about.

Score: Netherlands (+4), Japan (+3), Sweden (+2), Tunisia (+1)

Group Total:10 points

Running Total: 39 points

Group G

My group standings: 1st New Zealand, 2nd Belgium, 3rd Egypt, 4th Iran

Actual standings: 1st Belgium, 2nd Egypt, 3rd Iran, 4th New Zealand

Forget everything I said in Group F because...WHAT WAS I THINKING?! It turns out having "New" in your country's name doesn't actually give you new strategies. Who would've guessed?

Score:0

Group Total:0 points

Running Total: 39 points

Group H

My group standings:  1st Spain, 2nd Uruguay, 3rd Cape Verde, 4th Saudi Arabia

Actual standings: 1st Spain, 2nd Cape Verde, 3rd Uruguay, 4th Saudi Arabia

Spain winning the group was one of my safer predictions, and thankfully FIFA video games did not betray me. Spain gave me a minor heart attack against Cape Verde, but in the end they saved me from looking like an even bigger idiot.

Score: Spain(+4),Saudi Arabia(+1)

Group Total:5 points

Running Total: 44 points

Group I

My group standings:  1st France, 2nd Iraq, 3rd Senegal, 4th Norway

Actual standings: 1st France, 2nd Norway, 3rd Senegal, 4th Iraq

WHY?! WHY?! WHY?! What was I thinking? I picked a team with a -11 goal differential over a team with Erling Haaland. Somewhere in Norway, Haaland is probably reading my predictions and laughing. Honestly...I'd be laughing too.

Score: France(+4),Senegal(+2), Norway(-20)

Group Total:-14 points

Running Total: 30 points

Group J

My group standings: 1st Argentina, 2nd Algeria, 3rd Austria, 4th Jordan

Actual standings: 1st Argentina, 2nd Austria, 3rd Algeria, 4th Jordan

Lionel Messi showed us all why he is the “goat” of soccer. The only thing I did wrong in this group was swapping Algeria and Austria. Oh well, they gave us an amazing last game of the group stage so at least there's that.

Score: Argentina(+4),Jordan(+1)

Group Total:5 points

Running Total: 35 points

Group K

My group standings: 1st Portugal, 2nd Colombia, 3rd Uzbekistan, 4th DR Congo

Actual standings: 1st Colombia, 2nd Portugal, 3rd DR Congo, 4th Uzbekistan

Nothing in this group went my way. I knew Portugal wasn’t gonna win the group when they tied against DR Congo. Despite being a fun name to say, Uzbekistan couldn’t score goals so they couldn’t win games. Its not my worst group despite earning a goose egg in the score column.

Score:0

Group Total:0 points

Running Total: 35 points

Group L

My group standings: 1st England, 2nd Croatia, 3rd Ghana, 4th Panama

Actual standings: 1st England, 2nd Croatia, 3rd Ghana, 4th Panama

We end the group stage with another perfect group. Four perfect groups isn't too bad...it's just unfortunate that one prediction was bad enough to overshadow all of them.

Score: England (+4), Croatia (+3), Ghana (+2), Panama (+1)

Group Total:10 points

Running Total: 45 points

Final thoughts

Of a possible 120 points, I scored 45.

Honestly...I'll take it. I somehow managed to predict four perfect groups (B, C, F, and L) and correctly picked five group winners. Unfortunately, all of that was overshadowed by one prediction.

Norway.

I somehow looked at a group with Erling Haaland in it and thought, "Yeah, they're finishing last." That prediction alone cost me 20 points and probably any credibility I had left.

Overall, these predictions were a mix of surprisingly good and spectacularly awful. There were moments where I looked like I actually knew what I was talking about, and then there were moments where I looked like I'd never watched a soccer match before.