Qatar and Ecuador play in the tournament’s first game this weekend
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Soccer fans around the world only have a few more days to wait until the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
Ecuador will play the host nation in the tournament’s first match on Nov. 20.
The end goal for each of the tournament’s 32 participating countries is to raise the FIFA World Cup trophy after the final whistle blows on Dec. 18.
And while analysts and experts are looking at rosters, formations and other factors to determine their picks for world champions, Farms.com is doing things a little differently.
Using available data, Farms.com will determine the group and knockout stage winners using agriculture as a percentage of a country’s gross domestic product.
The two countries in each group where agriculture accounts for larger portions of their GDPs will advance to the knockout stage.
Today’s predictions focus on Groups E to H.
All figures are from 2021 and in $USD unless otherwise noted.
| Group E | Countries | Ag Percentage of GDP | Total GDP in 2021 |
| Advances to knockout stage | Spain | 2.73 | $1.425 trillion |
| Winners of Group E | Costa Rica | 4.45 | $64.28 billion |
| | Germany | 0.8 | $4.223 trillion |
| | Japan | 1.03 in 2019 | $5.123 trillion |
| | | | |
| Group F | | | |
| | Belgium | 0.59 | $599.9 billion |
| | Canada | 1.6 | $1.991 trillion |
| Winners of Group F | Morocco | 12.65 | $1.327 billion |
| Advances to knockout stage | Croatia | 3.13 | $67.84 billion |
| | | | |
| Group G | | | |
| Winners of Group G | Brazil | 29 | $1.609 trillion |
| | Serbia | 6.53 | $63.07 billion |
| | Switzerland | 0.62 | $812.9 billion |
| Advances to knockout stage | Cameroon | 17.25 | $45.24 billion |
| | | | |
| Group H | | | |
| | Portugal | 2.19 | $249.9 billion |
| Winners of Group H | Ghana | 19.71 | $77.59 billion |
| Advances to knockout stage | Uruguay | 6.91 | $59.32 billion |
| | Korea Republic | 1.84 | $1.799 trillion |
Check out the predictions for Groups A to D.
And be sure to visit Farms.com again this week to find out how the knockout stage games will play out.