FIFA 23 predicts the World Cup 2022 winners — and they’re not the favourites

THERE are only a few days left before the World Cup 2022 kicks off in Qatar, and EA Sports creators of FIFA 23 have picked an unlikely team to win.

Starting November 20, 32 nations will compete for the cup, including last tournament’s winners France.

Messi will apparently dominate the tournament.Credit: Reuters

Despite the current champions remaining the favourite to take the title again, EA Sports has different ideas.

It could be a good idea to listen to the prediction. It correctly predicted Spain’s 2010 win, Germany’s win in 2014, and France’s win in 2018.

The way this works is that the team uses FIFA’s dedicated World Cup mode to simulate how all 64 matches in the tournament will play out.

The in-game tournament runs just like the real one, with teams being knocked out along the way.

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Players in-game, have stats and performance based on the real-life players, which is likely how FIFA games managed to predict past winners.

This year’s winning team will apparently be the current third favourites, Argentina.

Captained by Lionel Messi, Argentina would win their third World Cup if the prediction is correct.

However, the team hasn’t won an international honour in 28 years, despite more recent success in South America.

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Messi is also EA Sports’ choice for the Golden Boot, and will apparently be the top scorer of the entire competition.

Despite all his accolades in five World Cups, Messi has never lifted the trophy, and this one will be his final chance.

Messi is also predicted to take home the Golden Ball, for the best player overall.

You can read a full breakdown of the simulated tournament on the FIFA 23 website.

Players with higher ratings in FIFA 23 obviously did better in the simulation.

Messi is one of the highest-rated players in the game with a 91-rating, though he shares the title with Karim Benzema, Kevin De Bruyne, and Kylian Mbappé.

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Free World Cup content updates for FIFA 23 players arrive on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One beginning November 9, with FIFA Ultimate Team updates kicking off November 11.

Written by Alex Bugg and Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.