Every FIFA World Cup produces predictions from fans, former players and pundits about who will be the World Cup winner. Most are forgotten as soon as the tournament begins.But one forecast is attracting unusual attention ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026.It comes from Joachim Klement, a strategist at London-based investment bank Panmure Liberum. More than a decade ago, Klement created a model to predict World Cup winners. What happened next was something he never expected.Click here to catch latest developments on FIFA World Cup 2026The model correctly picked Germany to win the 2014 World Cup. Four years later, it selected France. In 2022, it chose Argentina.Now, with the FIFA World Cup 2026 under way across the United States, Canada and Mexico, Klement has returned with another prediction. And after three straight successful calls, many football supporters are curious to see whether his streak can continue.The irony is that none of this was supposed to happen.A FIFA World Cup prediction model accidentally became football's most unlikely oracleKlement never created the model with the aim of becoming football's answer to a fortune teller.In fact, the project started as an attempt to show the limitations of economic forecasting."Originally, this was supposed to be an exercise in humility to show the world how stupid and unreliable economic models are," Klement wrote in his latest report.The experiment was supposed to demonstrate that models can produce strange outcomes and should not always be trusted blindly.Instead, it produced a result that Klement did not expect.Click here to check FIFA World Cup 2026 Schedule Indian TimeThe model correctly picked Germany to win the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.Four years later, it selected France.Then it successfully predicted Argentina's triumph in Qatar in 2022.The remarkable run transformed what began as a light-hearted exercise into one of the most talked-about forecasting tools in football.Klement himself admits the outcome was not what he had planned."And the worst thing happened. I got it right. And then a second time. And a third time."Those three successful predictions have helped turn a little-known financial model into a talking point every time the World Cup comes around.From Paul the Octopus to FIFA World Cup 2026 predictionsThe attention surrounding Klement has drawn comparisons with one of football's most famous predictors.During the 2010 World Cup, Paul the Octopus became a global sensation after correctly predicting the outcome of all seven of Germany's matches.The sea creature's success made headlines around the world and eventually led to a memorial being created in Oberhausen.Klement's journey has been very different, but the fascination is similar.After three correct World Cup winner predictions in a row, he says he has received requests to forecast other sporting events as well.The finance strategist has even found himself discussing football predictions when many people would normally expect him to be talking about markets and the economy.That unusual track record is one reason his latest FIFA World Cup 2026 forecast is attracting so much attention.Who will win FIFA World Cup 2026 predictionAfter building suspense throughout the report, Klement's model eventually delivers its verdict.The team predicted to win the FIFA World Cup 2026 is the Netherlands.It is a choice that immediately stands out because the Dutch are not among the leading favourites in most betting markets.According to figures cited in the report, prediction market Polymarket gave the Netherlands only around a 3% chance of lifting the trophy before the tournament began.Yet the model sees a very different story unfolding.It predicts the Netherlands will overcome some of the biggest names in international football on their way to the final.Among the forecast's biggest surprises is a victory over France in the quarter-finals. The report then projects another dramatic triumph over Spain in the semi-finals.Those results would send the Dutch into a final against Portugal.Neither nation has ever won the World Cup.Portugal's greatest international success came with their Euro 2016 triumph, while the Netherlands have suffered heartbreak after reaching three World Cup finals without winning the trophy.According to Klement's model, that wait is finally set to end.The report forecasts a Dutch victory over Portugal and a first World Cup title for the Netherlands.FIFA World Cup 2026 winner predictionEven Klement admits that his latest prediction feels unusual."This year, I make a very unlikely prediction for the winner that subjectively feels wrong. Alas, the model is the model, and I trust the system."That sentence captures what makes the story so intriguing.The creator himself recognises that the forecast appears surprising. Yet he is sticking with it because that is what the numbers produced.At the same time, he warns readers against treating the model as a crystal ball."If you take this model and these forecasts seriously, you are deluding yourself."Whether the Netherlands actually lift the FIFA World Cup 2026 trophy remains unknown.But after correctly calling Germany, France and Argentina as champions in the last three tournaments, Klement's latest forecast is unlikely to be ignored.The model was built to show why predictions can fail.Instead, it has become one of the most fascinating stories of the FIFA World Cup 2026, and its boldest call yet is that the Netherlands will be crowned world champions.