The 2026/27 /r/soccer Predictions Survey - the results! First, thank you to everyone who participated in the annual Predictions Survey - and second, read on for a summary of the results (janky charts and all). We had 575 participants this year - which although only a small minority of the /r/soccer userbase, is a good enough sample size to draw some conclusions. I will post a reminder of the results, after 2026/27 comes to a close - and then we will be able to look back with delight and dismay about how individually and collectively wrong we all were. Please remember too that this endeavour is entirely off my own back and does require a fair amount of effort to bring together. The survey is not designed to be a comprehensive census of every league and team ever, but a snapshot of some key topics of interest, appealing to the broad audience rather than specific. (So sorry if you feel left out, but I don’t have endless free time). The full results can be viewed in a single album here … and for those who still want to leave their “Mark My Words” predictions, make sure to check out the two threads below: 2026/27 Mark My Words thread - Non Premier League edition 2026/27 Mark My Words thread - Premier League edition The results Disclaimer: I used Google’s in-built AI function to help me with some of the calculations, but all of text is my own Part 1 - The Biggest Prizes The Women’s World Cup Over half of /r/soccer picked current champions Spain to retain their title, at Brazil 2027 - with next favourites England with 17.2%, and then the USA with 12.6%. The UEFA Champions League A more even split than in recent years - Bayern are /r/soccer’s favourites, with their 28.7% of the vote putting them ahead of Barcelona, with 23.6%. Two-time champions PSG were only fourth favourites, with 15% - edged out by Arsenal with 16.2% of the vote share. Other teams to receive votes were (in order): Real Madrid, Liverpool, Man United, Man City, Inter, Aston Villa, Atletico Madrid - and then Roma and PSV (though the last two had just one vote each). The UEFA Women’s Champions League No surprise here - Barcelona the clear favourites to retain their title, with over half the vote. OL Lyonnes (16.8%), Arsenal (14.5%) and Chelsea (7.7%) were next. The Copa Libertadores Don’t ask me about Google’s auto-generated colour choices… but what is clear is that Flamengo are the favourites to win the Copa Libertadores, with 36.4% of the vote, followed by Palmeiras (25.7%), and then Fluminense and Corinthians with 14.5% and 11.1% respectively. The Men’s Ballon d’Or An interesting topic this year, as there does not really seem to be a stand-out favourite - except from on /r/soccer, where Harry Kane received a massive 61.1% of the vote. English bias? We’ll see. The only other player to receive a significant chunk of the vote was Lamine Yamal with 20.1% - Messi got just 3.4%, for those interested. The Women’s Ballon d’Or Aitana Bonmati won the battle of the Spanish supremos, over her (now) former Barcelona team mate Alexia Putellas - 44.7% vs 32.3%. Manchester City’s super striker Bunny Shaw was third, with 12.4%. Part 2 - The UEFA Mafia (or /u/AnnieIWillKnow’s Eurocentric Tour of World Football) I have pared down our next section even more this season, to mainly focus on title winners and a few more bonus predictions. There is an admitted bias towards the “bigger” league but that also reflects the demographics and knowledge base of /r/soccer - sorry Ekstraklasa fans… but do you really want our hot takes? The English Premier League (aka Super League by stealth) Champions No surprise here, with nearly 60% predicting the runaway favourites Arsenal will defend their title. Manchester City were next with 12.7%. It was splitting hairs between the next three - Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United, with 8.3%, 8.1% and 8% of the vote share. Bridging the gap? Of the three promoted teams, Coventry were picked as the most likely to stay up, with 48.8% thinking they’d beat the drop. 27% thought Ipswich would survive, and 14.4% backed Hull to overcome the odds. Nearly a quarter of respondents (23.5%) thought all three would go straight back down. There was a big dropoff to Wolves and Brentford - but they were close as next favourites with 30.3% and 28.9%. First PL manager to get sacked? A mess of a pie chart - the headline being Arbeola received nearly 20% of the fairly split vote as first PL manager to be handed his P45. Gary O’Neil and Sergej Jakirović were next. All twenty managers received a vote - although it was just one for Mikel Arteta. Big 6 banter era /r/soccer is not too impressed by the cool half a billion spent in the window this summer - with over 60% still rating them as the lowest finishers of the Big 6. La Liga (Los Agricultores) Champions By far the most confident /r/soccer have been since the surveys began - 80% of votes think Barcelona will be crowned champions again. The Pichichi (Golden Boot) winner Maybe Barcelona’s lack of a top class number 9 factored into this - a massive 87.1% voting Mbappe as most likely La Liga top scorer; Lamine Yamal a distant second with 4.6% of the vote. The Mourinho show Despite the dim view on Real Madrid’s title prospects, nearly two-thirds thought Jose would keep his job. The German Bundesliga (Landwirteliga) Champions An improvement on their 93.3% majority from last year - 97.3% of people think Bayern will win the Bundesliga, leaving just 15 votes for anyone else. Runners-up A slightly more sporting contest, but still with a clear winner - 63.7% predicted Dortmund would be the bridesmaids again, followed by RB, Bayer and the unbranded Stuttgart. Fallen giants An even more even split - feels like /r/soccer is ruling nobody out, but Schalke just about “won” it. Italian Serie A (I respect James Richardson too much to call them farmers) Champions Serie A has been one of the most entertaining leagues in Europe in recent years, but Inter are /r/soccer’s clear favourites this year - with just over three-quarters of the vote. Pretty split between the rest - Milan, Napoli, Juve, Como and Roma the five other wedges you can make out (and in that order). Do Juventus qualify for the Champions League? Yes, according to /r/soccer - or 67.6% of us, anyway. Allgeri vs De Laurentiis... Our closest vote yet - a Brexit-esque majority predicted Max Allegri emerges from the season still in charge of Napoli. Best of the rest (selected other European league champions) French Ligue 1 - PSG the runaway winners, with 94% of the vote. Dutch Eredivisie - over half picked PSV - and then Feyenoord (18.8%), with just one more vote than Ajax (18.6%). Portuguese Primeira Liga - a close run contest between Porto with 41% of the vote and with 38.2% - and then Sporting just behind with 19.3%. Belgian Pro League - Club Brugge another clear favourite with 58.4%, followed by defending champions Union SG with 16.8% and Anderlecht with 11%. Scottish Premiership - remarkably, the 85.9% of the vote Celtic received is the exact same as last year’s survey - but the difference here is the split between the next most popular pick - 6.3% for Rangers, and 5.1% for Hearts (last year, almost all of the remaining vote went to Rangers). English Championship - no surprise that West Ham were the runaway favourites with over 60% of the vote - but how split the vote was otherwise is interesting, Middlesbrough being next with 8.5% and then Wolves with 7.3%. Part 3 - Bonus Questions! Our final section is all about some miscellaneous hot topics... Infantino vs the World (or UEFA/AFC/CONCACAF) Whether by democracy or otherwise, /r/soccer expects to see Infantino ousted. The 2026 MLS Cup This pie chart is vile and the labelling is crap - but that 37.2% is Messi and Friends/Inter Miami, with LAFC and Vancouver Whitecaps the next favourites with a 10% chunk each. Mo Salah and the Turkish Super Lig No, that title is not the latest young adult fantasy book series. /r/soccer has been fairly conservative with its predictions - the majority thinking Salah will net in the 11-20 goal bracket. Pep Guardiola’s gap year /r/soccer believes Pep when he says he wants a break - nearly 80% thinking he will genuinely have a year off, and under 5% thinking he’ll manage again this season. England ruins football again Congratulations Brighton, I guess. The real AFCON champions A delightfully close vote for a very controversial decision - /r/soccer just about thinks CAS will side with the "original" champions of Senegal. Man City’s charges This chart takes some interpreting - note: the percentage adds up to more than 100, as you could vote for more than one option. Essentially, the most likely outcomes were as follows… The hearing doesn’t happen City are fined City get a transfer ban City get a points deduction City escape unpunished City are relegated Anyway, see you in 2027, when I’ll ask again. The AFC Champions League I would be willing to bet /r/soccer just voted for the names they recognised - and so Saudi Pro League teams with big name players did well here. The WSL Accident rather than design probably, with pre-season title favourites Arsenal winning this poll. It would be the Gunners’ first WSL title in nine years, just saying… Disney FC Probably a reasonable prediction - nearly half of voters thinking Wrexham will finish in the play offs of England’s second tier, and only a very small percentage voting for them to be automatically promoted or relegated. And finally… The Wildcard Predictions There were hundreds of unique predictions made, so too many to summarise here - I enjoyed reading the range of takes, which went from Infantino faking his own death, to Danny Welbeck scoring 20 goals for Chelsea. I’ll return to them next year, to pick out my favourites (dealer’s choice…) And that's all folks! See you next summer...   submitted by   /u/AnnieIWillKnow [link]   [comments]