World Cup 2026: Another Win For Scotland? Prediction by Chris Sutton
BBC Sport's Chris Sutton shares his predictions for the second round of FIFA World Cup 2026 group stage matches, featuring the odds for Scotland and other national teams.
The surprises continue this FIFA World Cup 2026 after the debutantes got a strange result, particularly the Cape Verde team against the strong Spain. In the first game of Group H, almost everyone—from Chris Sutton's prediction, an AI tool, and 99.65% of those taking part in the BBC predictor game—favored Spain to win, but it ended in a draw. Of the more than 37,000 who played, only 61 guessed the result was a draw while 67 gambled on Cape Verde to win.
Meanwhile, there were also correct predictions. Chris Sutton was correct in 12 of the 24 first encounters of each group, the AI predictor was correct in 13, while the online voters got 14 correct.
Now, attention turns to the second set of matches, including correcting the prediction for hotly contested Scotland v Morocco, and England v Ghana.
<figure style="margin:2rem 0;overflow:hidden;border:1px solid #e2e2e2;background:#f9f9f9"><img src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/ace/branded_sport/1200/cpsprodpb/da24/live/94353bc0-641a-11f1-8546-8f19e4fe30f4.jpg" alt="Image" style="width:100%;height:auto;object-fit:contain" loading="lazy" /></figure>Here are Chris Sutton's pre-tournament picks for each group and the likely order of each team after the group stage:
GROUP A: South Korea, Mexico, Czech Republic, South Africa GROUP B: Switzerland, Canada, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Qatar GROUP C: Brazil, Scotland, Morocco, Haiti GROUP D: Turkey, Paraguay, United States, Australia GROUP E: Germany, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Curacao GROUP F: Japan, Netherlands, Tunisia, Sweden GROUP G: Belgium, Egypt, New Zealand, Iran GROUP H: Spain, Uruguay, Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde GROUP I: Senegal, France, Norway, Iraq GROUP J: Argentina, Austria, Algeria, Jordan GROUP K: Colombia, Portugal, DR Congo, Uzbekistan GROUP L: England, Ghana, Croatia, Panama
Sutton's predictions show that he expects powerhouses such as Germany, Spain, Argentina, England, and Brazil to progress to the knockout rounds. But the Spain-Cape Verde result also reminds us that there are no guarantees and there is always room for surprise at the World Cup. It is also highlighted that the new format of the tournament, which is 48 teams, has intensified the competition and the possibility of an upset.
Fans in the Philippines are hoping to see the Azkals in the next edition as well, as they continue to follow the moves and results of the top teams in the world. For the next round of matches, look out for the marquee matchups Scotland-Morocco and England-Ghana where attention will be drawn to the tactics and courage of teams looking to make a marked impression on football's biggest stage.
