2026 World Cup: Mbappé, Ronaldo, Messi eliminated — the economist who predicted everything names a winner

German economist Joachim Klement published his predictions for the World Cup in the United States, Canada, and Mexico in April 2026. His algorithmic model, which correctly identified the winners of the last three editions (Germany 2014, France 2018, Argentina 2022), names the Netherlands as future world champions. According to this simulation, the semi-finals would be exclusively European: Netherlands vs Spain, Portugal vs England, with Argentina eliminated in the quarter-finals and France missing from the last four. Brazil would be eliminated in the group stage by Japan.