Two fans split £1,000 after correctly predicting 16 World Cup group-stage results

Two players have walked away with £500 apiece after topping the first round of FourFourTwo’s World Cup Match Predictor competition, each correctly calling 16 of the 24 group-stage opening fixtures.

The pair hit a 66.67 per cent accuracy rate — predicting only win, loss or draw rather than exact scorelines — which proved enough to split the £1,000 prize pot between them. Both winners have been contacted and credited.

The competition spans eight rounds in total, tracking the tournament from the group stage through to the World Cup final. Prediction formats become progressively more demanding as the rounds advance: early rounds require only a result call, while later knockout rounds ask for correct scorelines and, in the final two rounds, the minute of the first goal as a tiebreaker.

Five further prize pots remain available across the remaining rounds, with each pot reset independently — meaning a player who missed the early rounds can still compete for the full £1,000 in subsequent matchdays.