FantEasy Stats

Welcome to the first Staturday of the FantEasy 2026 World Cup.  Today we’ll look at some key metrics as we close towards the start of the competition and the ever anticipated opening ceremony.

"So!" I hear you ask, I’m picking my team but what are the chances I pick the exact same as someone else??  Well there’s 48 teams in the tournament, split into 8 groups. “Easy Maths” I hear you shouting! But NO! The groups are irregular. In actual fact, there is a 1 in 1,411,200 chance of picking the same team as your fellow competitors.

OK, so let’s build in some bias, we’ll all obviously choose England and there seems to be other teams being favoured in the lower groups.  Using a methodology unexplainable in language, we come right down to a 1 in 60,760 chance of duplication.

With an expected 100 competitors this year, let’s call that a 1 in 607.6 chance of duplication in 2026.  Amazing.

HOLD ON!!  What about my numbers???

Fair point. We forgot about the goal scoring times!!  Let’s run it again!  

So the chance of picking the same numbers (assuming no bias) is 1 in 8,010. Apply the bias factor and we come down to 1 in 2,383.

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN PHIL??

Essentially we’re left with a  1 in 144,791,080 chance of a draw!!

That is:

• Like randomly picking one specific person out of the entire combined populations of the United Kingdom, France, and Ireland.
• The equivalent of picking one exact, specific second out of a time span of 4.5 years.
• The same as picking the exact grain out of three, 5 gallon buckets of sand
• Imagine a giant measuring tape stretching 360 kilometres (224 miles) long—roughly the driving distance from London to Manchester.  If someone marks one single, exact 2.5-millimetre spot (the thickness of a coin) somewhere along that entire highway route, your odds are the same as blindly guessing its location on the first try.

But don’t worry, there’s a tie breaker if needed!! 

Want some real-time-information??  Here’s some stats so far….

Number of entries into FantEasy 2026 so far:  70

Total time taken to fill out application forms:  5 hours, 12 mins, 40 secs

Average completion time:  4 min 28 secs

Entries per day:  8.75

Number of teams not picked:  0

Number of teams picked: 48

Picks for most popular team:  29

Picks for least popular team:  1
 

Closing party attendees:  56

Vegetarians:  3

Phew! That was a lot to take in! But don’t take a breath just yet, there’s only 11 days to get your applications in!!!

Keep your spirits high, the anticipation is all part of the fun!!