GAFFER
Who you draw, and how hard it is

Paths

The model plays the real bracket every simulation, so it knows who each team is likely to meet. Pick a team to trace its road to the final, and see who got the kindest — and cruelest — draw.

Round of 320%
Cape Verde100%86%
Round of 160%
Egypt100%74%
Quarter-final0%
Switzerland100%65%
Semi-final0%
England100%51%
Title0.0%to win it all

Top likely opponents per round · grey % = chance of the meeting · tinted pill = Argentina’s win probability if it happens

Kindest → cruelest draw

Path difficulty

TeamLikely R32
1
0
0%
2
0
0%
3
0
0%
4
0
0%
5
0
0%
6
0
0%
7
0
0%
8
0
0%
9
0
0%
10
0
0%
11
0
0%
12
0
0%
13
0
0%
14
0
0%
15
0
0%
16
0
0%
17
0
Cape Verde100%
100%
18
19
Ghana100%
0%
19
20
South Africa100%
0%
20
21
Egypt100%
0%
21
23
Bosnia and Herzegovina100%
0%
22
23
Paraguay100%
0%
23
23
DR Congo100%
100%
24
28
Canada100%
0%
25
33
Sweden100%
100%
26
35
United States100%
0%
27
36
Mexico100%
0%
28
43
Senegal100%
100%
29
48
Australia100%
0%
30
49
Algeria100%
100%
31
55
Japan100%
0%
32
56
Switzerland100%
0%
33
57
Netherlands100%
100%
34
58
Ivory Coast100%
100%
35
59
Morocco100%
0%
36
60
Austria100%
100%
37
61
Ecuador100%
0%
38
61
Norway100%
0%
39
64
Colombia100%
0%
40
72
Croatia100%
0%
41
73
Belgium100%
0%
42
84
Germany100%
0%
43
86
England100%
0%
44
86
Portugal100%
0%
45
87
Brazil100%
0%
46
88
Argentina100%
0%
47
91
France100%
0%
48
100
Spain100%
0%

Difficulty 0 = kindest draw, 100 = cruelest — the expected strength of likely R32 + R16 opponents, relative to the field. Click a team to trace its road to the final.