"South Korea Fails to Reach Round of 16, Japan Possible"…Examining Supercomputer Predictions

'The Sun' Reveals 2026 North America World Cup Performance Predictions

'South Korea eliminated in the Round of 32, Japan advances to the Round of 16'

The British daily newspaper The Sun has attracted attention by revealing the predicted results of the 2026 North American World Cup. On the 17th (Korean time), The Sun reported the 2026 North American World Cup results predicted by a supercomputer. The supercomputer selected Argentina as the champion, forecasting that Argentina would defeat Spain in the final.

The third round of the North and Central America World Cup qualifiers match between South Korea and Oman.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

The media focused on this result because the England national football team recently appointed former Bayern Munich coach Thomas Tuchel as their new head coach. England, who finished as runners-up in Euro 2024, parted ways with manager Gareth Southgate after the tournament and decided on Tuchel as the new national team coach.

German national Tuchel became the third foreign coach in the history of English football to lead the national team, following Sven-G?ran Eriksson (Sweden) and Fabio Capello (Italy).

Tuchel, who signed a contract with the English Football Association through the 2026 North American World Cup, stated, “I came here to achieve the best possible results at the World Cup. I am proud to be the England manager. I will do whatever it takes to show my role in the England team and my respect for England.”

The match between South Korea and Iraq, the 4th game of Group B in the 3rd round of the AFC qualifiers for the North and Central America World Cup, held on the 15th at Yongin Mireu Stadium in Gyeonggi-do. Coach Hong Myung-bo is drinking water before the start of the match.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to The Sun, the supercomputer predicted that England would reach the semifinals but lose to Spain and finish in third place. Among Asian countries, South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Australia are expected to advance to the Round of 32 tournament.

South Korea is predicted to reach the Round of 32 but will be eliminated from advancing to the Round of 16 after facing the Netherlands, while Japan is expected to advance to the Round of 16, achieving the best result among Asian countries.

Coach Hong Myung-bo stated at the national team head coach appointment press conference in July, “The best World Cup result in the history of the South Korean national football team was reaching the Round of 16 abroad. We will put in a lot of effort to achieve better results than the Round of 16.”

Hong Myung-bo’s team is currently progressing smoothly with 3 wins and 1 draw in the four matches played in the third round of World Cup qualifiers.

Meanwhile, for the first time in history, the North American World Cup will feature 48 teams divided into 12 groups of 4 teams each for the group stage. Then, the top 1st and 2nd place teams from each group (24 teams) along with the top 8 third-place teams will advance to the Round of 32 knockout stage.