{"id":2052482,"date":"2026-07-20T13:53:47","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:53:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2052482"},"modified":"2026-07-20T13:53:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T10:53:47","slug":"ea-sports-fc-simulations-correctly-predicted-the-fifa-world-cup-winner-would-be-spain-and-its-not-the-first-time-it-has-happened","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2052482","title":{"rendered":"EA Sports FC simulations correctly predicted the FIFA World Cup winner would be Spain, and it&#8217;s not the first time it has happened"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/ea-sports-fc-26\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      EA Sports FC 26<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">EA Sports FC simulations correctly predicted the FIFA World Cup winner would be Spain, and it&#8217;s not the first time it has happened<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">Secured goals.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/EA-FC-26-Spain-team.png?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"EA FC 2026 - Spanish team screenshot\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"EA-FC-26-Spain-team.png\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Electronic Arts<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/fran-j-ruiz-author.png?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Fran Ruiz avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"fran-j-ruiz-author.png\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"180\" height=\"180\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/fran-ruiz\">Fran Ruiz<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Contributor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-07-20T13:53:47+00:00\">July 20, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-sports-fc-spain-winner-fifa-world-cup?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          8 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"b52be6cd-d973-4a99-96bd-c39299be2d43\" data-name=\"EA Sports FC 26\" data-follow-text=\"Follow EA Sports FC 26\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following EA Sports FC 26\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow EA Sports FC 26\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following EA Sports FC 26\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow EA Sports FC 26\" title=\"Follow EA Sports FC 26\"><br \/>\n  Follow EA Sports FC 26<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Spain is the new FIFA World Cup winner after defeating Argentina one to zero last night, and once again, the EA Sports FC game correctly predicted the result in advance.<\/p>\n<p>As shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EASPORTSFC\/status\/2078964071517376986?s=20\">the game&#8217;s official account on X<\/a> (hat tip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.videogameschronicle.com\/news\/ea-sports-fc-has-correctly-predicted-the-fifa-world-cup-winner-for-the-fifth-time-in-a-row\/\">VGC<\/a>), Spain also emerged victorious in the simulations EA ran of every match in the group stages and knockout rounds. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EASPORTSFC\/status\/2063274777335214273?s=20\">The prediction was initially shared on 6th June<\/a>, and yesterday it became a tangible reality. &#8220;Congratulations on your second star,&#8221; EA&#8217;s account said while tagging the official profile for the Spanish team.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\" style=\"display: none\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>EA Sports FC 26 &#8211; Official Reveal Trailer<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Paz2CGvBgxE\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Additionally, EA revealed Spain&#8217;s national football team lifted the cup over 11m times across EA Sports FC 26 &#8211; the series&#8217; latest iteration &#8211; and FC Mobile. Obviously, this match was a perfect opportunity to drum up excitement for the games, and nailing the World Cup&#8217;s end result for the fifth time in a row is impressive.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As explained by VGC&#8217;s report, EA predicted Argentina would win the 2022 World Cup, with France taking it home in 2018 and Germany emerging victorious in 2014. If we go all the way back to 2010, it also said Spain would win its first World Cup. Pretty solid streak, ey?<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, EA no longer has the World Cup licence after breaking its partnership with FIFA over higher licensing fees and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-sports-fc-unveils-post-fifa-rebranding\">rebranding its famous year football games into EA Sports FC<\/a>. However, that hasn&#8217;t stopped it from having an International Tournament mode that sort of doubles as the real FIFA tournament.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Spain is the new FIFA World Cup winner after defeating Argentina one to zero last night, and once again, the EA Sports FC game correctly predicted the result in advance.<\/p>\n<p>As shared by <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EASPORTSFC\/status\/2078964071517376986?s=20\">the game&#8217;s official account on X<\/a> (hat tip to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.videogameschronicle.com\/news\/ea-sports-fc-has-correctly-predicted-the-fifa-world-cup-winner-for-the-fifth-time-in-a-row\/\">VGC<\/a>), Spain also emerged victorious in the simulations EA ran of every match in the group stages and knockout rounds. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/EASPORTSFC\/status\/2063274777335214273?s=20\">The prediction was initially shared on 6th June<\/a>, and yesterday it became a tangible reality. &#8220;Congratulations on your second star,&#8221; EA&#8217;s account said while tagging the official profile for the Spanish team.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<div class=\"primis_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"primis_video\">\n<p><span class=\"embed_placeholder\" data-type=\"targeting\" style=\"display: none\"><br \/>\n<span class=\"message\">To see this content please enable targeting cookies.<\/span><br \/>\n<button class=\"optanon-show-settings link\"><br \/>\nManage cookie settings<\/button><\/span> <\/div>\n<\/div><figcaption>EA Sports FC 26 &#8211; Official Reveal Trailer<a class=\"video\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=Paz2CGvBgxE\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Watch on YouTube<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Additionally, EA revealed Spain&#8217;s national football team lifted the cup over 11m times across EA Sports FC 26 &#8211; the series&#8217; latest iteration &#8211; and FC Mobile. Obviously, this match was a perfect opportunity to drum up excitement for the games, and nailing the World Cup&#8217;s end result for the fifth time in a row is impressive.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>As explained by VGC&#8217;s report, EA predicted Argentina would win the 2022 World Cup, with France taking it home in 2018 and Germany emerging victorious in 2014. If we go all the way back to 2010, it also said Spain would win its first World Cup. Pretty solid streak, ey?<\/p>\n<p>Needless to say, EA no longer has the World Cup licence after breaking its partnership with FIFA over higher licensing fees and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/ea-sports-fc-unveils-post-fifa-rebranding\">rebranding its famous year football games into EA Sports FC<\/a>. However, that hasn&#8217;t stopped it from having an International Tournament mode that sort of doubles as the real FIFA tournament.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News EA Sports FC 26 EA Sports FC simulations correctly predicted the FIFA World Cup winner would be Spain, and it&#8217;s not the first time it has happened Secured goals. Image credit: Electronic Arts News by Fran Ruiz Contributor Published on July 20, 2026 8 comments Follow EA Sports FC 26 Spain is the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2052482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2052482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2052482\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2052482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2052482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2052482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}