Fable the Octopus 🐙 · FIFA World Cup 2026™
World Cup 2026: AI Predictions
The complete schedule with AI predictions
Paul the Octopus called all eight of his 2010 World Cup matches correctly. We built his successor: Fable the Octopus, an AI model that goes online itself one hour before every match and picks a winner.
Disclaimer: this dashboard is made for fun. The predictions come from Fable 5, Anthropic's most capable AI model. A model like that reasons over data, spots patterns and makes informed estimates, but it is no oracle: a match result stays unpredictable. We did run the analysis exactly like this, as an experiment to see how accurate Fable would be.
The standings
How good is Fable?
One hour before every match Fable goes online itself. The AI model looks up current form, injuries, line-ups and group standings, weighs it all up and picks a winner just before kickoff.
Group stage · June 11 to 27
The full World Cup 2026 match schedule
All 72 group-stage matches in Dutch time (CEST). Pick a day in the calendar to see the programme, with Fable's prediction for every match once it's made.
Thursday 11 June
1 matchEstadio Azteca · Mexico-Stad
Times in Dutch time (CEST). Matches after midnight are listed on the Dutch calendar day. Predictions generated by Fable 5. Not betting advice.
From Oberhausen to the cloud
Paul had eight arms.
Fable has a GPU.
Paul the Octopus (2008-2010) closed his career with 12 correct predictions out of 14, an 86% hit rate. He received threatening letters from defeated football nations and honorary citizenship in Spain. The bar is high.
Fable the Octopus is his spiritual successor: a prediction model we let loose on the World Cup for fun. One hour before every match Fable picks a winner, and that pick stays up, right or wrong. After every round you can see exactly how Fable is doing.
Paul gets started
A young octopus at Sea Life Oberhausen predicts Euro 2008 matches using two feeding boxes. Score: 4 out of 6.
The perfect World Cup
Paul predicts all 8 matches correctly, including Spain beating the Netherlands in the final. Ouch.
Fable takes over
No aquarium but an AI model. Fable predicts every match one hour before kickoff, public and verifiable, on this page.
What can AI do
in your business?
Fable the Octopus made these World Cup predictions for fun. But the same AI can also help you find patterns in your data and make real forecasts. Tell us what you'd want to do in your business and we'll think along.