"Opta" places Morocco among the World Cup elites.

The Moroccan national team has entered the list of the most prominent teams expected to compete for the title of the 2026 World Cup, after being placed by the supercomputer of the "Opta Analyst" platform in the fourteenth position globally, according to its latest predictions for the knockout stages, following the conclusion of the group stage matches.

"Opta" issued its predictions after conducting 25,000 simulations of the remaining matches of the tournament, relying on a statistical model that takes into account the level of the teams, their previous results, the performance they delivered in the group stage, as well as each team's path in the competition table, in order to calculate their chances of reaching various knockout stages up to the final match and winning the title.

The specialized platform granted the Moroccan team a 38.8 percent chance of qualifying for the Round of 16, compared to 24.3 percent for reaching the quarter-finals, and 8.7 percent for reaching the semi-finals, while its chances of reaching the final match stood at 3.8 percent, with a 1.6 percent chance of winning the World Cup title, which is the same percentage that the Belgian team received, with the "Atlas Lions" outperforming in the overall ranking.

In contrast, France topped the list of candidates for the title with a probability of 18.7 percent, benefiting from a perfect run in the group stage, having achieved a full score with three victories, ahead of Argentina, which had a probability of 16.3 percent, followed by Spain at 13.5 percent, and England at 9.7 percent, while Brazil came in fifth place with a probability of 6.5 percent, followed by the Netherlands, Portugal, and Germany.

The supercomputer's predictions also showed a significant closeness in the chances of several teams that are in the second half of the candidates' table; Colombia, Norway, the United States, Switzerland, and Mexico were among the teams that directly precede Morocco, while the "Atlas Lions" ranked ahead of Belgium and Japan.

The Moroccan national team will face the Netherlands tomorrow, Tuesday, starting at 2 PM, in the city of Monterrey, Mexico, in the Round of 32.