What if the 2022 World Cup grand champion was determined by how much content fans read about their beloved national teams, who would win?

Data from Taboola’s Topic Insights, part of the real-time audience analytics platform Taboola Newsroom, shows each team’s winning odds based on page views, and from that data, the tournament was also simulated.

The teams qualified for the World Cup were divided into eight groups of four teams. The top two teams move on to the next stage. If the most popular team wins, the first in each group would be: Netherlands (A), England (B), Argentina (C), France (D), Germany (E), Croatia (F), Brazil (G) and Portugal (H).

As Brazil, France and England are considered three of the main favorites to win the tournament, they all have a good chance of going first in their respective groups. The Netherlands, for example, are favorites to move easily into Group A, despite failing to qualify for the last World Cup in 2018.

In group F, the interest of the supporters is quite divided. While Croatia has almost 40% fan interest in this group with 96 million views, Belgium is not far behind with 76 million. Most predictors expect Belgium to win this group, but Croatia could reach the next round as the second seed – if they can get past the promising Canadian generation, led by players from big European clubs.

Before leaving for the round of 16, let’s talk about the most anticipated matches. For the first round of the World Cup, it is obvious that the games with the teams with the best chances of playing for the cup attract more page views, as in the case of England against the United States, the France against Denmark and especially Spain against Germany. , which is the most anticipated first-round match with 500 million views.

Both teams have a track record as World Cup champions. Spain won in 2010. Prior to 2018, Germany had finished at least third in four consecutive tournaments and held four World Cups.

Current circumstances also play an important role. The Qatar-Ecuador match is highly anticipated, despite Qatar being the lowest-ranked nation in the FIFA Group A rankings. People want to see the host of the tournament defending their territory, not forgetting that Qatar are a team on the rise. Although 2022 is their first World Cup, Qatar qualified well for the 2018 World Cup, winning a record nine matches.

Now, which team would win the World Cup if their wins and losses were based on the number of page views? The top ranked teams are England, France, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands.

According to the simulation, Argentina, France, Brazil and Spain reach the semi-finals, having overtaken the Netherlands, Germany, England and Portugal in the quarter-finals. Brazil have the best-placed team, but Germany have a history that always makes their matches a big draw. Everything can be decided by details, but when it comes to page views, Brazil would win.

Thus, it follows for the final duel between two classic rivals: Brazil and France. Both teams likely have the players to win on the pitch and the popularity to win in page views. The bad news is that, depending on this data, France will win the title.