China will fail to qualify for 2026 Fifa World Cup, DeepSeek predicts
The team, who are bottom of their group and face Saudi Arabia, have only a 2.6 per cent chance of finishing in the top two, it says
China’s artificial intelligence chatbot DeepSeek has predicted the country’s national team will fail to qualify for the 2026 World Cup, ahead of their crucial qualifying match against Saudi Arabia.
The men’s national team were bottom of Group C on goal difference before Thursday’s match, but level on points with fourth-placed Saudi Arabia and Indonesia in third spot.
The top two teams, currently Japan and Australia, automatically qualify for the tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada. Third and fourth-placed teams across the three Asian groups will form two more groups, with only the top teams of each qualifying for the World Cup.
The two sides that finish as runners-up in those groups will face off in a two-legged contest, with the winner advancing to a play-off tournament.
DeepSeek has estimated there to be a 70.7 per cent chance that China will finish in the bottom two of Group C, therefore missing out again on making their first World Cup appearance since 2002.
The AI chatbot also said the chances of the national team finishing in the top two of Group C was 2.6 per cent.