Picture three men, one table, and the unshakeable confidence of people who don’t have to be right until July. That was us on the 9th of June – Bra Pelé, Bra Lucas and Bra Thierry – two days before a ball was kicked, solving the entire World Cup between rounds. Forty-eight teams. One bar tab. No crystal ball, no inside information, no shame whatsoever.

  We argued. We agreed. We changed our minds twice and a third time when the next round arrived. Then we sealed the lot, dated it, and handed it to the Editor of the Kruger2Canyon News with a single instruction: don’t let us anywhere near it again.

  So whatever has happened in the groups by the time you read this – the heartbreak, the daylight robbery, the team nobody rated suddenly sitting top of the pile – we didn’t know. We guessed in a calculated sort of way. Three grown men and a long evening. Mark us against reality and tell us how the fools did.

  Here’s the catch that makes it fun: the group stage is behind us now, by the time you read this. But the knockouts aren’t. So half of this you can already laugh at. The other half is still up for grabs. Read on, and bet alongside us.

Bafana first, because of course

  South Africa opened the whole tournament against Mexico in front of 80,000 hosts. First World Cup since we hosted it ourselves in 2010. We didn’t pick them to win the group – Mexico and South Korea were always the two we had going through. But we called Bafana to scrap their way to one of the eight best third-place spots and sneak into the Round of 32 anyway.

If that came off, you already know. If it didn’t, we’ll own it. Either way, they were there, and that alone was worth staying up for.

The groups, called blind

  Brazil and Morocco out of Group C – and we’ll come back to Morocco, because that’s where the real money is. Spain and Uruguay from H. France and Norway from I, with Senegal the third-placed side we’d least want to draw. Argentina and Austria. Portugal and Colombia. England and Croatia, because England always survive the easy part.

  The hosts? USA through. Mexico through. Canada we had scraping second behind Switzerland. Home advantage is a real thing and three nations had it.

  The ones we expected to go home early and quietly: Haiti, Curacao, New Caledonia’s neighbours, the makeweights of a bloated 48-team format that gave us more football than any human needs.

The bet of the tournament

  Morocco to reach the final. Not the semis – the FINAL!

  They made the last four in 2022 and everyone called it a fairy tale. It wasn’t. It was a very good football team that defends like a fortress and counters like a knife. Give them a kind bracket and they frighten anyone. The odds will be long because the world refuses to back an African side that far. That’s the whole point. That’s where the value lives.

  Stake only what you’d happily set alight. But stake it.

Through to the end

  Quarter-finals, the usual suspects: Argentina, Spain, France, England, Brazil, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands. Germany would have been there too, but the draw threw them straight at France in the last 16 – one of them had to fall early, and it was the Germans.

  Semis: Spain past France. Argentina past England.

  Final: Spain versus Argentina.

  Winner: Spain. Deepest squad on the planet, Lamine Yamal in his pomp, a team that peaked at Euro 2024 and simply never came back down. Argentina run them ragged in what is surely Messi’s last dance, and a neutral’s heart wants the send-off. But the head says Spain’s engine room wins it.

We had the gap between the top six measured in millimetres. England in a semi was us being kinder than they deserve. If one of our picks has already crashed out by the time you’re reading this, that’s the tax you pay for calling it blind.

The individual silverware

  Golden Boot: Kylian Mbappé. France go deep, he takes the penalties and the headlines, and he’s hunting history.

  Golden Ball, player of the tournament: Lamine Yamal. If Spain lift the trophy, the kid is the face of the whole show. Barely out of his teens, already the best winger alive.

  Golden Glove: Emiliano Martínez. Argentina go far, and that man is a shootout nightmare dressed as a goalkeeper.

  Best Young Player: Yamal again, unless Brazil’s Endrick steals it with one moment of magic off the bench.

Now go check

  That’s it. Sealed on the 9th June – opened today. No hedging, no editing, no quiet deletions under the table.

  Football is the one thing on earth that makes fools of everyone who’s certain. The three of us were certain. Tell us how wrong (or right) we were – and let’s see if the back half still comes good.

Called by Bra Pelé, Bra Lucas and Bra Thierry over a drink or two (or three!) on 9th June 2026. Untouched since.