Thursday 12th June
Brazil 3-1 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 2-0 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 2-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 4-1 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-0 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-1 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 3-2 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 3-1 Ecuador 5pm E
France 2-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 3-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 1-2 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 1-2 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 2-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 3-2 South Korea 11pm H

My four semi-finalists are:
Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Germany

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 2-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 2-2 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 2-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 3-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 2-1 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 2-1 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 0 -0 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 2-0 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-0 Ecuador 5pm E
France 3-1 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 4-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 1-2 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 1-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 0-0 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 1-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 0-2 South Korea 11pm H

My four semi-finalists are
Brazil
Spain
Argentina
Germany

Brazil 3-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 2-1 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 3-2 Holland 8pm B
Chile 1-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 2-1 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-0 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 2-0 Ecuador 5pm E
France 4-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-2 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 3-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 1-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 3-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 2-1 South Korea 11pm H

My four semi-finalists are:
Brazil, Germany, Spain & Argentina.

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 2-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 1-0 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 2-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 2-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-0 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-1 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-1 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 1-1 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-1 Ecuador 5pm E
France 2-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 2-0 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-1 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 2-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 3-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 2-1 South Korea 11pm H

Brazil Germany Spain Argentina

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 2-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 1-2 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 1-0 Holland 8pm B
Chile 3-1 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 2-0 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-1 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-1 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 2-3 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-0 Ecuador 5pm E
France 2-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-1 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 1-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 1-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 2-1 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 1-1 South Korea 11pm H

Semi-finalists: Argentina, Spain, France, Brazil

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 2-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 1-2 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 1-0 Holland 8pm B
Chile 2-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-0 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-2 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 3-2 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 2-1 Ecuador 5pm E
France 4-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 2-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-1 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 1-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 3-1 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 2-1 South Korea 11pm H

Semi-finalists: Brazil, Spain, Argentina, Germany

Thursday 12th June
Brazil v Croatia 9pm A : 5-0

Friday 13th June
Mexico v Cameroon 5pm A :2-1
Spain v Holland 8pm B : 2-0
Chile v Australia 11pm B : 4-0

Saturday 14th June
Colombia v Greece 5pm C : 3-1
Uruguay v Costa Rica 8pm D : 4-1
England v Italy 11pm D : 1-2

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast v Japan 2am C : 1-0
Switzerland v Ecuador 5pm E : 2-1
France v Honduras 8pm E : 5-1
Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F : 4-0

Monday 16th June
Iran v Nigeria 8pm F : 0-1
Germany v Portugal 5pm G : 1-0
Ghana v USA 11pm G : 3-2

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium v Algeria 5pm H : 3-0
Russia v South Korea 11pm H : 2-1

My four semi-finalists are: Argentina,Germany,Spain & Brazil

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 4-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 0-1 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 3-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 2-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-1 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 2-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 0-0 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-1 Ecuador 5pm E
France 3-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-2 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 3-2 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 0-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 5-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 4-1 South Korea 11pm H

My four semi-finalists are: Brazil - Germany, England - Argentina.

Thanks for running this competition.

Clean forgot to add the semi-finalists, many thanks Dim and TC for the reminder!

My four are Brazil, France, Spain and Argentina.

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 3-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 2-1 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 0-0 Holland 8pm B
Chile 2-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-1 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 2-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-1 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 3-1 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-2 Ecuador 5pm E
France 2-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 1-0 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 0-2 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 4-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 1-1 South Korea 11pm H

My four semi-finalists are:

Brazil
Argentina
Spain
Germany

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 3-1 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 1-0 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 1-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 2-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-1 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 2-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-0 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 2-1 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-0 Ecuador 5pm E
France 3-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-2 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-2 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 0-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 2-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 1-2 South Korea 11pm H

Semi-finalists:
Brazil
Portugal
Argentina
Spain

Thursday 12th June
Brazil v Croatia 9pm 2-0

Friday 13th June
Mexico v Cameroon 5pm A 1-0
Spain v Holland 8pm B 1-1
Chile v Australia 11pm B 3-1

Saturday 14th June
Colombia v Greece 5pm 0-0
Uruguay v Costa Rica 8pm 2-1
England v Italy 11pm 0-1

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast v Japan 2am C 2-1
Switzerland v Ecuador 5pm 1-1
France v Honduras 8pm 2-0
Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F 3-0

Monday 16th June
Iran v Nigeria 8pm F 0-1
Germany v Portugal 5pm 2-2
Ghana v USA 11pm G 2-3

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium v Algeria 5pm H 3-0
Russia v South Korea 11pm H 1-0

My four semi-finalists are:

Spain
Germany
Argentina
Holland

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 2-0 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 1-0 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 3-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 1-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 1-0 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 1-1 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 2-2 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 1-0 Ecuador 5pm E
France 2-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 4-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 0-1 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-1 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 2-1 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 2-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 1-0 South Korea 11pm H

Semi-finalists:
Brazil
Spain
Argentina
Germany

Thursday 12th June
Brazil 3-1 Croatia 9pm A

Friday 13th June
Mexico 2-1 Cameroon 5pm A
Spain 2-1 Holland 8pm B
Chile 2-0 Australia 11pm B

Saturday 14th June
Colombia 2-1 Greece 5pm C
Uruguay 3-0 Costa Rica 8pm D
England 2-1 Italy 11pm D

Sunday 15th June
Ivory Coast 1-0 Japan 2am C
Switzerland 2-0 Ecuador 5pm E
France 1-0 Honduras 8pm E
Argentina 3-1 Bosnia-Herzegovina 11pm F

Monday 16th June
Iran 1-1 Nigeria 8pm F
Germany 2-2 Portugal 5pm G
Ghana 0-2 USA 11pm G

Tuesday 17th June
Belgium 2-0 Algeria 5pm H
Russia 1-0 South Korea 11pm H

My four semi-finalists are:
Brazil, Germany, Spain, Portugal

Welcome to the 2014 World Cup Finals prediction competition. We have 61 players (including Lauro) who have predicted ahead of the opening fixture. This compares with 65 players who predicted the opening fixtures in South Africa (2010) and 33 players for the opening matches in Germany (2006). To date 136 different players have taken part in at least of one the three World Cup Finals prediction competitions, with Apple_Crumble and yakutz being the only players to have taken part in each of them.

Brazil v Croatia (Group A)
This is one of only two fixtures from the opening 16 where we all agree on the outcome – as we have all gone for a Brazil victory. Only six different score-lines have been predicted for this match, with the 2-0 win being the most popular (27 players have gone for that). A further 9 players have gone for 2-1 and 7 have gone for a 3-0 win. 15 of the 18 uber-max predictions are for a 3-1 Brazil win, whilst rwo players have gone for 5-0 and the other player has gone for a 4-0 win.

The two previous World Cup Finals Predictions competitions both featured one match in the first 16 where we all failed to score any points (Switzerland beating Spain four years ago, and Sweden’s goalless draw with Trindad and Tobago four years before that). There has only been one match from the opening round in those two tournaments where everyone scored points (England’s 1-0 win against Paraguay in Germany). The record number of maxes from an opening round fixture is 18 and that was achieved in both Slovenia’s 1-0 win against Algeria and the 1-1 draw between South Africa and Mexico (both in 2010). The most uber-maxes managed from the first round of group matches is a rather meagre 2 (from Germany’s 4-0 win against Australia in 2010).

Here is the breakdown of which teams are favoured most in our semi-finalist list:
Brazil 58
Argentina 57
Spain 45
Germany 42
France 10
Netherlands 6
Portugal 6
Uruguay 5
Chile 3
England 3
Russia 3
Belgium 1
Italy 1

In total 29 of the 60 players (as lauro did not nominate his semi-finalists ) have gone for the final four to be: Argentina, Brazil, Germany and Spain, whilst another 26 players have gone for at 3 of those 4 to reach the semis. Three players have gone for a semi-finalists selection whereby two of the sides involved had met in the group stage.

beth84, davethecue, DimbleBurbleby, eugenespeed, fatsi, Hutchy_Muse, James1953, JMTD, neilwatson, O'Neill, Pacha67, Realale, spindiddly, Thebenster and Xavier Quebeck each went for Brazil to beat Croatia 3-1 and start the competition with 7 points. The other 46 players all scored 2 points. Commiserations to the 9 players who went for a 2-1 win and were on for a max until injury time.

With 15 players getting an uber-max that is easily a new record for any group stage match to date

The cumulative total of 197 points from our predictions is also a new record for a group stage match (beating the 172 points we amassed from Argentina beating Greece 2-0 in South Africa four years ago) [Note that the very first World Cup Prediction competition had a completely different scoring system, so for the purposes of this stat it is assumed previous competitions all used the current scoring system)

Perfect ubermax start for nearly a quarter of our field thanks to the Oscar injury time goal!

Excellent nights work Dim in more ways than one

Thought I'd post these as early as poss to maximise prediction time:

TUE 17 JUN
Brazil V Mexico 20:00

WED 18 JUN
Cameroon V Croatia 23:00
Australia V Netherlands 17:00
Spain V Chile 20:00

THU 19 JUN
Colombia V Ivory Coast 17:00
Japan V Greece 23:00
Uruguay V England 20:00

FRI 20 JUN
Italy V Costa Rica 17:00
Switzerland V France 20:00
Honduras V Ecuador 23:00

SAT 21 JUN
Argentina V Iran 17:00
Nigeria V Bos-Herce 23:00
Germany V Ghana 20:00

SUN 22 JUN
USA V Portugal 23:00
Belgium V Russia 17:00
South Korea V Algeria 20:00

The second day of the World Cup finals gets underway with

Mexico v Cameroon (Group A)
38 players have gone for Mexico to win this, 14 have gone for a draw and 9 have gone for Cameroon to win. 16 players have gone for a 2-1 Mexico win, 12 for 1-0 and 6 for a 2-0 win. There are 9 players going for a 1-1 draw and one player has gone for it to finish goalless. Five players have gone for a 2-1 Cameroon win and three for them to win 1-0. We have 9 players going for an uber-max prediction here: four players have gone for a 2-2 draw and three have gone for Mexico to win 3-2. Both the 3-2 Cameroon win and the 3-2 Mexico win have been chosen by one player each.

The 12 players who got Mexico's 1-0 win against Cameroon spot on were: anap, charlieparr, dazc, Hayden, InTheLoop, lauro, Matthartlane, Paul Chuckle, Terrence Chant, Thebenster, U.R.Correct and Xavier Quebeck. A further 26 players also went for a Mexico win and scored 2 points.


The very early leaderboard looks like this:

Thebenster 12
Xavier Quebeck 12
beth84 09
DimbleBurbleby 09
fatsi 09
Hutchy_Muse 09
neilwatson 09
O'Neill 09
Realale 09
anap 07
charlieparr 07
davethecue 07
dazc 07
eugenespeed 07
Hayden 07
InTheLoop 07
James1953 07
JMTD 07
lauro 07
Matthartlane 07
Pacha67 07
Paul Chuckle 07
spindiddly 07
Terrence Chant 07
U.R.Correct 07

Thebenster and Xavier Quebeck have got both matches exact to lead the way. 38 of the 61 players have got the outcome of both matches correct.

The second match today:

Spain v Netherlands (Group B)
In a rematch of the 2010 World Cup Final, 41 players have gone for a Spain victory, whilst 17 players have gone for a draw and 3 have gone for Netherlands to win. There are 15 players going for Spain to win 2-1, 14 going for 1-0, 6 going for 2-0 and one player has gone for them to win 3-0. 11 players have gone for a 1-1 draw and five have gone for it to finish 0-0. Two of the players tipping Netherlands for victory have gone for a 1-0 win. Four of the 7 uber-max predictions here are for a 3-1 Spain win. The 2-2 draw, the 3-1 Netherlands win and the 3-2 Spain win have all been picked by one player each.

No-one went for Netherlands to beat Spain 5-1 (Bhaveshgor came closest having gone for them to win 3-1). He, James1953 and U.R.Correct were the only players to back the Dutch to win.


After 3 matches the leading scorers are now:

Thebenster 12
Xavier Quebeck 12
beth84 09
DimbleBurbleby 09
fatsi 09
Hutchy_Muse 09
James1953 09
neilwatson 09
O'Neill 09
Realale 09
U.R.Correct 09
anap 07
charlieparr 07
davethecue 07
dazc 07
eugenespeed 07
Hayden 07
InTheLoop 07
JMTD 07
lauro 07
Matthartlane 07
Pacha67 07
Paul Chuckle 07
spindiddly 07
Terrence Chant 07

U.R.Correct is the only player to have got the outcome of all three matches correct.

For the final match today:

Chile v Australia (Group B)
59 of the 61 players have gone for Chile to win this match, whilst the other 2 players have gone for a draw. Australia are one of four teams that no-one has picked to win their opening match. The 2-0 Chile win is the most popular prediction here as 19 players have gone for that. A further 15 players have gone for them to win 3-0, 12 have gone for 1-0 and two players have gone for a 2-1 win. One player has gone for a 1-1 draw. We have 14 players going for an uber-max prediction: both the 3-1 and 4-0 wins have been selected by five players each, whilst three players have gone for a 4-1 Chile win. Finally one player has gone for a 2-2 draw.

-Bandit-, clarky323, HaloJoe, Matthartlane and yakutz all earned an uber-max from Chile's 3-1 win against Australia. anap and DimSum were the unlucky players who went for a 2-1 win and were denied a max by the late third goal. 54 players scored 2 points from this match.

After the first 4 fixtures the top scores are now:

Matthartlane 14
Thebenster 14
Xavier Quebeck 14
-Bandit- 11
beth84 11
DimbleBurbleby 11
fatsi 11
Hutchy_Muse 11
James1953 11
neilwatson 11
O'Neill 11
Realale 11
anap 09
charlieparr 09
clarky323 09
davethecue 09
dazc 09
eugenespeed 09
HaloJoe 09
Hayden 09
InTheLoop 09
JMTD 09
lauro 09
Pacha67 09
Paul Chuckle 09
spindiddly 09
Terrence Chant 09
U.R.Correct 09
yakutz 09

Matthartlane, Thebenster and Xavier Quebeck have managed a normal max and an uber-max.

No-one has scored points in all of the matches, but 39 players have scored points from 3 of them.