FIFA World Cup 2026: France and defending champions Argentina have emerged as the favourites to win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, according to predictions made by nine major artificial intelligence models.
The models based their forecasts on squad strength, coaching, past World Cup performances and how each team has fared in the tournament so far. These included overall team strength, squad quality, coaching, past World Cup performances and each team’s displays during the ongoing tournament.
Among the nine AI systems, France emerged as the slight favourite to win the World Cup. Five models backed Les Bleus to become world champions, while four predicted that Argentina would successfully defend the title they won in Qatar in 2022.
The five AI models that picked France were Gemini, Grok, DeepSeek, Le Chat and Qwen. ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot and Meta AI backed Argentina to finish on top.
Although the predictions were closely divided, France received the highest number of votes to lift the trophy.
The forecasts for the runners-up produced a more mixed picture. France and Argentina each received three votes to finish second. England was chosen twice as the losing finalist, while Spain received one prediction for the runner-up spot.
The results suggest that AI models see France and Argentina as the two strongest contenders heading into the final stages of the competition, though there is less agreement on which team will finish second.
Spain backed for third place
There was much stronger agreement over the battle for third place.
Six of the nine AI models predicted Spain would finish third, making them a favourite for that position. England received two third-place predictions, while one model expected France to end the tournament in third place.
The forecasts show agreement that the four remaining teams (France, Argentina, Spain and England) are the strongest sides left in the competition. The predictions have come just as the World Cup enters its last four stage.
France face Spain in the first semi-final at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on July 14. The following day, England will take on defending champions Argentina at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, with the second place in the final up for grabs.
The winners will advance to the World Cup final, which is scheduled for July 19 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The third-place playoff will be played a day earlier on July 18.
With four of world football’s biggest teams in contention, most AI models expect either France or Argentina to lift the trophy. The remaining matches will decide whether those predictions come true.
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