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Welcome to The Athletic’s daily World Cup Predictions.
This article gives you the lowdown on all today’s games, but with the bonus of some friendly competition…
Throughout the tournament, we will have two of The Athletic’s writers (either Andy Jones or Elias Burke — with help from our experts from each of the 48 competing countries) pitting our soccer knowledge against a different subscriber each day and “Algo”, the shiny new algorithm from our data team, which is making its computerised debut this summer.
Oh, and also a dog called Stanley and a six-year-old boy named Wilfred (who some of you may remember from last season’s Premier League predictions).
Our guest subscriber today is Elizabeth from the United States, who supports Brazil and Newcastle United. Good luck, Elizabeth!
If you would like to apply to be our guest subscriber for a day during this tournament, please follow the instructions in the article here.
Qatar’s 94th-minute equaliser provided us with the first real surprise of the tournament as Miro Muheim’s late own goal saw Switzerland stumble in a 1-1 draw.
Breel Embolo had given Switzerland a 17th-minute lead from the penalty spot (after some issues over FIFA’s offside technology), but a combination of wasteful finishing (they registered an expected goals total of 3.2) and an inspired performance from Qatar goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada left them vulnerable to a sucker punch.
Among our predictors, only Stanley the dog correctly went for a draw while the rest of us — well, the humans anyway — had our hands on our heads.
In the second game, Ismael Saibari gave Morocco a deserved lead after 11 minutes when he coolly beat Brazil ‘keeper Alisson. The South Americans answered through Vinicius Junior, who produced a bit of magic as he bent an effort into the far corner after a slaloming run.
It was a pulsating contest, with Morocco in control for large periods (and 18-year-old Ayyoub Bouaddi, what a talent).
Stanley extended his streak, and our Athletic subscriber Leo also got back in the win column as they predicted the draw.
This Athletic expert (Andy) had semi-retired from making football predictions before this World Cup, and midway through matchday three, flashbacks to why could not be avoided.
A Scotland victory over Haiti provided us, youngster Wilfred and the Algo with our first correct prediction of the day, while the subscribers continued to cement their spot at the top of the league table. Unfortunately for Stanley, he went for one underdog too many.
 Haiti  Scotland | SCO  | SCO | SCO | SCO | HAI  |
 Australia  Turkey | TUR |
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