A German mathematician has used a unique algorithm to accurately predict the winner of each World Cup since 2014, revealing his selection for this summer’s tournament
Netherlands boosted to win World Cup glory
A German mathematician who predicted the last three World Cup winners has backed the Netherlands to win this summer.
Joachim Klement used a unique algorithm to accurately guess the final three teams to dominate the planet. It started when he cheered for his country to win the World Cup in 2014, and it was right when he chose France in 2018 and Argentina four years ago.
Clement’s model takes into account several factors, including each country’s GDP per capita. He does so because he believes it will affect the country’s sports infrastructure, population size and the team’s position in the world rankings.
Using that theory, he helped Ronald Koeman’s Netherlands win their first ever World Cup. They have finished runners-up three times recently, including in 2010, but their only success in a major tournament came at Euro 88.
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Clement claims the Netherlands will beat Spain in the semi-finals and Portugal in the final in New York. He hinted that England would advance to the last four, but they would lose there to the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo.
The Netherlands, ranked 8th in the world, are in the same group as Japan, Sweden and Tunisia, and have a good chance of advancing. The Netherlands have lost just one of their last 16 games inside 90 minutes.
However, the German has confessed in the past that his predictions are so loaded that they should not be taken as fact. “It’s completely irrational. It’s like playing the lottery. I always say that if someone makes a bet based on my prediction of who the next world champion will be, there’s nothing they can do about it.”
Argentina retains with victory over Qatar (Image: Getty)
“It’s like flipping a coin. If you predict that the coin will come up heads instead of tails, there’s a good chance that it will happen. But that doesn’t mean it will happen the next time.”
Clement confessed that he was shocked when he saw Germany defeat Argentina in the final in 2014, considering how much European countries had struggled in South America, where the tournament was being held.
“When Germany became world champions in Brazil, I felt fear for the first time. That was also because all the experts pointed out that no European team had ever won the South American World Cup before,” he said.
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