According to recently released research from Oxford University, no African side will advance out of the group stage in the World Cup.
Predictions for the men’s FIFA World Cup, which begins this weekend in Qatar, are included in a study based on a mathematical model developed at Oxford University.
Related: Media General acquires TV rights for 2022 FIFA World Cup
Further, it forecasts that Brazil and Belgium will meet in the tournament final, with the South Americans emerging victorious.
Ghana, Cameroon, Tunisia, Senegal, and Morocco are all Africa teams competing in the World Cup.
- Ghana in Group H along with Portugal, Uruguay and South Korea (Portugal, Uruguay to qualify).
- Senegal in Group A with Netherlands, Ecuador and hosts Qatar (Netherlands, Ecuador to qualify).
- Tunisia in Group D with Australia, Denmark and France (France, Denmark to qualify).
- Morocco is in Group F with Belgium, Croatia and Canada (Belgium, Croatia to qualify) whiles Cameroon will take on Brazil, Switzerland and Serbia in Group G (Switzerland and Brazil to qualify).
The model – created by Oxford Mathematics researcher Joshua Bull – forecasts among others:
Wales to go out in the group stages
England to lose in the quarter-final
Argentina vs Brazil in the semi-final
Brazil to beat Belgium in the final
The model has been created by analysing team rating data from http://eloratings.net, focusing on every first-team international game since 2018, the post added.
