World Cup 2022 score predictions: Chris Sutton predicts the final round of group games in Qatar

We all remember when Paul the Octopus was Germany’s World Cup hero – but this time their hopes hung on how BBC Sport football expert Chris Sutton called their final Group E game against Costa Rica.

Sutton was spot-on with his predictions of the results and scorelines for both of Germany’s first two games in Qatar – their shock 2-1 defeat by Japan and 1-1 draw with Spain.

Sadly, he has not been right about too much else. After getting 12 results right from the first set of 16 group matches, it was only six correct from the second round of games.

That gives him a 56% success rate overall after the first two rounds of fixtures. Sutton still clearly has some way to go to match the football knowledge shown by Paul, the ‘psychic’ sea creature who famously chose the correct outcome of all seven of Germany’s games at the 2010 World Cup – as well as Spain’s final win over the Netherlands.

Sutton is predicting the outcome of all 64 matches in Qatar and, before the tournament, he picked his two teams to go through from each group and reach the knockout stage.

He is backing France to win the World Cup (having been the only BBC pundit to say they would be world champions in 2018), believes England will reach the quarter-finals and thinks Wales will not get out of their group.