How to Play Our World Cup 2026 Prediction Game

The 2026 World Cup kicks off on 11 June in Mexico City, and for the first time it is a 48-nation tournament played across three host countries. That is 104 matches, six weeks of football, and a lot of fixtures to have an opinion on. Our free World Cup prediction game is the simplest way to put those opinions on the line against your mates and the global leaderboard.

Here is everything you need to know to play.

Sign up takes about a minute

Head to scorebadger.com/signup and create an account with an email address. You can play the entire World Cup for free. No card, no trial, no upsell during the tournament. If you have already played our Premier League game, you do not need a second account. The same login works for both.

Once you are in, click World Cup in the side navigation. That drops you into the WC version of the predict screen, which looks identical to the Premier League one but with a gold accent so you always know which competition you are predicting.

Predicting the group stage

The group stage runs from 11 June to 27 June. Twelve groups of four nations play three matchdays each, which is 72 group-stage matches in total. Every match works the same way:

• Pick a scoreline. Tap the plus and minus buttons to set a home and away score. Anything from 0-0 to 9-9 is allowed, but we would gently suggest not predicting 9-9.
• Your prediction auto-saves. There is no submit button per fixture. We save your pick the moment you set it. A small tick confirms it landed.
• The deadline is kick-off. You can change a prediction right up until the match starts. After that, it is locked.
• Scoring is simple. Three points for an exact score (3-1 predicted, 3-1 result), one point for the correct result without the exact score (you said 2-0, the match ended 3-0). No partial credit for getting one team's score right.

If you are new to score prediction games, our longer guide to picking the right scoreline covers the basics. Most of it applies to international football too.