Skip to main content

EA Sports Predicts Spain to Win the World Cup

Image used with permission by copyright holder

It was a tense final, with five time World Cup champions Brazil looking for their sixth star, against the European champions, Spain. The action was fierce on both sides, and Brazil took an early lead on a goal from Felipe Marko. The Spaniards equalized with a shot from David Villa (his sixth of the tournament) to end the first. Then the second half belonged to Spain as their teamwork and stifling defense managed to frustrate the Brazilians. Villa scored his second in the 61st minute, while Andres Iniesta put in Spain’s 3rd,to lead the number two ranked team in the world overd the top ranked Brazilians in a memorable 3-1 final! Or at least according to the game 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa.

EA ran a simulation of the entire tournament, from the group stages through the finals, and Spain came out victorious. Each year, EA does a similar event for the Super Bowl, playing out the game and announcing the champion with eerily accurate results. In the seven years that the Madden franchise has run the simulation, it has predicted six correct champions, including this year’s New Orleans Saints, who were the Vegas underdogs going in.

The US begins its World Cup run this Saturday versus England, a game that EA predicts will favor England 2-1, although both teams are predicted to advance to the knock out stage where the US will lose to Germany in a shoot out. The semi-finals will see Brazil take out the English in a penalty shootout, while Spain knocks off Argentina. England then goes on to win third place with a 2-1 victory over rival Argentina.

The game also predicted that Spain’s David Villa would win the Golden Boot with 7 goals, and Brazil’s Kaka would be the Golden Ball winner.

It should be noted that in 2006, EA predicted the Czech Republic to win the Cup in a 2-1 victory over Brazil. Unfortunately, the Czech Republic failed to make it out of the first round.

Editors' Recommendations

Ryan Fleming
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Ryan Fleming is the Gaming and Cinema Editor for Digital Trends. He joined the DT staff in 2009 after spending time covering…
PlayStation Plus’ most notable free April offerings come from Microsoft
Four players stand together in the 4v4 PvP mode of Minecraft Legends.

Sony outlined all the new offerings PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can expect in April; surprisingly, Microsoft is the company behind two of this month's four offerings, Minecraft Legends, and the Overwatch 2 Mega Bundle.

On April 2, PS Plus can get those two things free of charge in addition to Immortals of Aveum and Skul: The Hero Slayer. Immortals of Aveum is a single-player shooter where players use magic instead of weapons. Although the thing it's most notable for is flopping upon its release, Immortals of Aveum is still a solid shooter that you might have missed out on, and you should give it a shot now that you can get it through PS Plus. Meanwhile, Skul: The Hero Slayer is a tough 2D platformer roguelike that should entertain fans of that genre for quite some time.

Read more
These are the 10 best gaming PCs I’d recommend to anyone
Graphics card in the CLX Hathor PC.

We review dozens of gaming PCs each year. In 2024, there are a ton of great options, but we've narrowed down a list of the 10 best gaming desktops that deserve your hard-earned money.

In 2024, we still recommend the Alienware Aurora R16 due to its fantastic design, solid performance, and decent value. However, there are several other options depending on your needs and budget. If you want a deeper look into how we evaluate gaming PCs, make sure to read our post on how we review desktops.

Read more
Mecha Break’s robot customization shakes up the battle royale formula
Mecha Break robot head with glowing blue eyes

Mecha Break isn't the kind of multiplayer game you can master right away.

You might equip a lance that you barely know how to use because it seemed like a good idea, and spend the rest of a round attempting to bash yourself into enemies to help your teammates. It incorporates action that's more similar to that of Armored Core 6: Fires of Rubicon than it is to the shooter-focused gameplay in Gundam Evolution, Bandai Namco's multiplayer mecha shooter that shut down last year. Overwatch does come to mind, but in a way where mechs are still the focus rather than the pilots within them.

Read more