For the fourth edition of the World Cup in a row, the FIFA video game has made the right prognosis. He had put Argentina as winners, like Spain in 2010, Germany in 2014 and France in 2018.
At the end of a match with a sensational scenario, Argentina won the 2022 World Cup, the third in its history, under the nose and beard of the French team (which was aiming for the same record). If sadness predominates, it will be difficult to say that we have not been warned. A few weeks agoEA Sports used its football game FIFA 23 to make predictions. The publisher had put Argentina on top of the world.
This is the fourth time in a row that the simulation is right. In 2010, she had designated Spain. In 2014, Germany came out a winner in its analyses. In 2018, she ticked the name of France. In short, we would tend to believe EA Sports for future international competitions.
How FIFA saw Argentina win
To achieve this result, EA Sports teams simulate thousands of matches in the video game FIFA 23, with the teams involved in the World Cup. The end result is therefore good, but the process is far from exact. According to FIFA, the Albiceleste should have won against Brazil, with the score of 1-0. The final phase has also little to do with what really happened.
That of FIFA brings together only large teams, suggesting that there is no consideration for the unpredictability of football in the virtual world. For example, there is absolutely no trace of Morocco, while this surprise nation managed to rise to fourth place.
The differences between FIFA predictions and real life :
| MATCH | Fifa | REAL LIFE |
|---|---|---|
| Round of 16 1 | Netherlands-England (3-1) | Netherlands-USA (3-1) |
| round of 16 2 | Argentina-Denmark (2-1) | Argentina-Australia (2-1) |
| Round of 16 3 | USA-Senegal (2-1) | Japan-Croatia (1-1, 1-3 on tab) |
| Round of 16 4 | France-Poland (2-1) | Brazil-South Korea (4-1) |
| Round of 16 5 | Germany-Belgium (2-1) | England-Senegal (3-0) |
| Round of 16 6 | Brazil-South Korea (3-0) | France-Poland (3-1) |
| Round of 16 7 | Croatia-Spain (2-1) | Morocco-Spain (0-0, 3-0 on pens) |
| round of 16 8 | Portugal-Switzerland (2-0) | Portugal-Switzerland (6-1) |
| 1/4 final 1 | Netherlands-Argentina (0-1) | Netherlands-Argentina (2-2, 3-4 on pens) |
| 1/4 final 2 | USA-France (0-1) | Croatia-Brazil (1-1, 4-2 on pens) |
| 1/4 final 3 | Germany-Brazil (0-3) | England-France (1-2) |
| 1/4 final 4 | Croatia-Portugal (0-1) | Morocco-Portugal (1-0) |
| Semi-final 1 | Argentina-France (1-0) | Argentina-Croatia (3-0) |
| Semi-final 2 | Brazil-Portugal (0-0, 5-4 on pens) | France-Morocco (2-0) |
| small final | France-Portugal (4-2) | Croatia-Morocco (2-1) |
| Final | Argentina-Brazil (1-0) | Argentina-France (3-3, 4-2 on pens) |
FIFA was also mistaken about the top scorer in the competition: it is not Lionel Messi, but Kylian Mbappé who sits at the top of the rankings. Same thing for the best passer: Karim Benzema did not even participate in the World Cup.
Note that EA Sports is not as successful with other sports. As Video Games Chronicle reports in an article published Dec. 18, Madden NFL has only correctly predicted five Super Bowl winners (out of eleven attempts) while NHL has never been good with the Stanley Cup (ice hockey ).