5 Football Predictions for 2026
By: AT
Image Credit: BoliviaInteligente
(A belated) welcome to 2026, and we wish you all a wonderful year! This year will be packed with football/soccer action, at both the club and international levels. Before we delve into the following section of this week’s newsletter, we would like to highlight upcoming major events, while also offering some hot takes related to these events.
In the top five European leagues, Bayern will win the 2025-26 Bundesliga title, FC Barcelona the 2025-26 LaLiga title, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) the 2025-26 Ligue 1 title, Manchester City the 2025-26 Premier League (EPL) title and SSC Napoli the 2025-26 Serie A title. This season will be one of title repeats across these five leagues.
In domestic cup competitions concerning the five countries that host the top five European leagues, Bayern will win the 2025-26 DfB-Pokal title, Barcelona the 2025-26 Copa del Rey title, PSG the 2025-26 Coupe de France title, Arsenal FC the 2025-26 EFL Cup and FA Cup titles, and Napoli the 2025-26 Coppa Italia title.
Regarding the three European continental club competitions, Bundesliga club Bayern will win the 2025-26 UEFA Champions League title, EPL club Aston Villa the 2025-26 UEFA Europa League title and Ligue 1 club RC Strasbourg the 2025-26 UEFA Conference League title.
Portugal will win the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will take place in June and July in Canada, Mexico and the United States. That said, however, forward Cristiano Ronaldo (CR7) will not be the x-factor associated with his name for the last couple of decades.
Bayern Munich forward Harry Kane will win the 2025-26 Ballon d’Or. The Englishman will continue to play a crucial role in Bayern’s provisional treble, as both goalscorer and playmaker. Kane’s goalscoring will be significantly supported by his two world-class wingmen: Luis Díaz and Michael Olise. At the international level, Kane will have a major impact at the 2026 World Cup, but it will not be enough for England to bring the trophy home.
On an additional note, CR7 will attain the 1,000-goal milestone. At 956 goals in all competitions — club and international levels — so far, CR7 will score most of those 44 remaining goals at the club with Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr; very few of those goals will occur at the international level.
