Football results Wednesday 16 September 2026: AI predictions review

Wednesday's slate brought 24 matches across 12 competitions, from the AFC Champions League Elite to the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, and the consensus of ten frontier AI models landed 16 correct picks. It was a night when the favourites largely held in Spain, Switzerland and the Europa League, but the League Cup and a handful of European ties delivered the kind of upsets that make a 100% consensus look fragile.

The biggest surprise came at Old Trafford, where every one of the ten models backed Manchester United to beat Brighton. Instead, the visitors won 3-2, handing the consensus one of its most emphatic misses of the day.

A full-time scoreboard glow after Wednesday's fixtures.

Where the AI got it right

The models were unanimous on Atletico Madrid, and the Spanish side delivered with a 4-0 rout of Osasuna. Twelve models all picked the home win, with a most common score of 2-0 and average confidence of 62%, making it one of the day's most comfortable correct calls. Atletico Madrid vs Osasuna prediction

In the Europa League, Bayer Leverkusen justified the strongest confidence of the round. All ten models backed a home win, the most common score was 3-0 and average confidence reached 67%. Leverkusen won 2-0 against Celje, a correct pick that came with the highest collective certainty on the board. Bayer Leverkusen vs Celje prediction

Jeonbuk Motors also rewarded a full house of ten models, beating Kashiwa Reysol 2-1. The consensus leaned to a 1-0 scoreline with 53% average confidence, so the exact score was off, but the result was right. Jeonbuk Motors vs Kashiwa Reysol prediction

Ararat-Armenia vs Sparta Praha was another unanimous call, with all ten models predicting an away win. Sparta Praha won 4-1, comfortably covering the 0-2 most common score and the 59% average confidence. Ararat-Armenia vs Sparta Praha prediction

Sturm Graz vs Rennes was the rare case where the models correctly identified a draw. Six of ten models backed the stalemate, with a most common score of 1-1 and 53% average confidence. The match finished 0-0, so the exact score eluded them, but the outcome was right. Sturm Graz vs Rennes prediction

Where it got it wrong

Manchester United 2-3 Brighton was the standout failure. All ten models predicted a United win, most commonly 2-1, with 54% average confidence. Brighton's victory made it a clean sweep of wrong calls.

Fleetwood Town 1-0 Sheffield Utd was another unanimous miss. Ten models backed Sheffield Utd to win, most commonly 0-2, at 60% average confidence. The League Cup continues to punish consensus.

AC Milan 0-2 Benfica saw eight of ten models pick Milan, with a most common score of 2-1 and 52% average confidence. Benfica's two-goal win was a clear upset.

Omonia Nicosia 1-0 Celta Vigo was called for Celta by nine of ten models, most commonly 0-1, at 56% average confidence. The Cypriot side's narrow win went against the grain.

Hapoel Beer Sheva 0-0 Dinamo Zagreb was a goalless draw that all ten models expected Dinamo to win, most commonly 0-1, with 56% average confidence. It was one of several Europa League surprises.

AIK Stockholm 1-1 Mjallby AIF saw eight of ten models back AIK, most commonly 1-0, at 51% average confidence. The draw denied them.

Sao Paulo 1-1 Boca Juniors was called for Sao Paulo by seven of ten models, most commonly 1-0, at 54% average confidence. The stalemate went the other way.

El Gouna FC 1-2 Petrojet was a 60% consensus for El Gouna, most commonly 1-0, at 50% average confidence. Petrojet's away win was a low-confidence miss.

Models of the day

GLM 5.3 topped the table with 16 of 24 correct, matching the overall consensus. Qwen 3.8 Max followed with 15 of 24. A cluster of five models — GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Sonnet 5, DeepSeek V4 Pro, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Kimi K3 — each scored 14 of 24. Mistral Medium 3.5 managed 13, Grok 4.6 12, and MiMo V2.5 Pro brought up the rear among full-slate models with 11 of 24. Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Cohere Command R+ (08-2024) recorded 2 of 2 and 1 of 2 respectively, but on limited samples.

Full results

• AFC Champions League Elite: Jeonbuk Motors 2-1 Kashiwa Reysol — consensus Jeonbuk Motors win (100%) RIGHT
• AFC Champions League Elite: Port FC 1-2 Vissel Kobe — consensus Vissel Kobe win (90%) RIGHT
• Allsvenskan: AIK Stockholm 1-1 Mjallby AIF — consensus AIK Stockholm win (80%) WRONG
• CONMEBOL Sudamericana: Sao Paulo 1-1 Boca Juniors — consensus Sao Paulo win (70%) WRONG
• La Liga: Atletico Madrid 4-0 Osasuna — consensus Atletico Madrid win (100%) RIGHT
• La Liga: Deportivo La Coruna 0-1 Sevilla — consensus Sevilla win (67%) RIGHT
• League Cup: Fleetwood Town 1-0 Sheffield Utd — consensus Sheffield Utd win (100%) WRONG
• League Cup: Everton 1-0 Wolves — consensus Everton win (100%) RIGHT
• League Cup: Manchester United 2-3 Brighton — consensus Manchester United win (100%) WRONG
• League Cup: Coventry 1-3 Aston Villa — consensus Aston Villa win (100%) RIGHT
• Liga MX: Puebla 0-1 Toluca — consensus Toluca win (60%) RIGHT
• Premier League: El Gouna FC 1-2 Petrojet — consensus El Gouna FC win (60%) WRONG
• Premier League: Ghazl El Mehalla 0-1 Zamalek SC — consensus Zamalek SC win (100%) RIGHT
• Super League: FC Thun 2-4 Servette FC — consensus Servette FC win (60%) RIGHT
• Super League: FC Lugano 4-1 FC ST. Gallen — consensus FC Lugano win (80%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Omonia Nicosia 1-0 Celta Vigo — consensus Celta Vigo win (90%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Ararat-Armenia 1-4 Sparta Praha — consensus Sparta Praha win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: AC Milan 0-2 Benfica — consensus AC Milan win (80%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Anderlecht 1-2 Lyon — consensus Lyon win (50%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Celje — consensus Bayer Leverkusen win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Hapoel Beer Sheva 0-0 Dinamo Zagreb — consensus Dinamo Zagreb win (100%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Olympiakos Piraeus 2-1 Jagiellonia — consensus Olympiakos Piraeus win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Sturm Graz 0-0 Rennes — consensus draw (60%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Sunderland 1-0 AZ Alkmaar — consensus Sunderland win (50%) RIGHT

Today's predictions are already live on the TuringStats today page, where all ten models have submitted their calls for the next round of fixtures.

Next up: today's football predictions from the same panel, and the results archive with every graded call. Forecasts are informational only.