"Who's Going to Win!? Everyone's World Cup Prediction Project" Launched

On May 28th, six companies—Sankei Shimbun, Sports Nippon Shimbun, Chunichi Shimbun Tokyo Headquarters, Daily Sports, Nikkan Sports Shimbun, and Hochi Shimbun—held a launch event for the "Which Team Will Win!? Everyone's World Cup Prediction Project" at the Jiji Press Hall in Chuo Ward, Tokyo. This event commemorated the release of the sports promotion lottery "World Cup toto."

This toto lottery targets the Brazil World Cup and went on sale nationwide starting May 31. It marks the first time a toto lottery has targeted World Cup matches. Products include "toto" (predicting results of 13 group stage matches), "mini toto" (predicting 5 matches), and "toto GOAL3" (predicting goal totals for 3 matches/6 teams).

The six sports newspapers jointly launched the participatory prediction site "Which Team Will Win!? Everyone's World Cup Predictions" ( www.worldcup-yoso.com ), opening on the same day as the toto sales launch. On the site, approximately 50 participants—including team leader and soccer commentator Yasutaro Matsuki, Sergio Echigo, manga artist Yoichi Takahashi (known for "Captain Tsubasa"), former national team players, actors, artists, comedians, and celebrities—will predict the outcomes of the group stage matches, the winning nation, and their supported countries. Users can also compare their predictions with national trends, potentially aiding in toto purchases.

The launch event featured Matsuki alongside former national team players Nobuyuki Kojima, Masahiro Fukuda, Go Kitazawa, Akira Nagahashi, Atsuhiro Miura, and Takashi Fukunishi, along with gravure idol Sayaka Isoyama and pro wrestler Masahiro Chono. These nine project team members engaged in heated predictions on stage before an audience of about 100 people. Regarding predictions for Group C, which includes Japan, the prevailing view was that Japan would advance from the group stage with either two wins and one draw or one win and two draws. Notably, Matsuki and Kitazawa, as well as Miura and Chono, matched all six match outcomes in their predictions. The nine also shared predictions on the winning nation and dark horse contenders. They enjoyed making predictions from various perspectives, such as "Countries that win the Confederations Cup don't win the World Cup" and "The humidity at the venue is a disadvantage for European teams."