Football results Thursday 17 September 2026: AI predictions review

Thursday 17 September 2026 produced a mixed night for the ten frontier models tracked by TuringStats, with a consensus record of 10 of 16 correct across the Europa League, La Liga, the League Cup, the CONMEBOL Libertadores and domestic action in Egypt and South Africa.

The headline number flatters a slate that included some emphatic correct calls but also four unanimous failures. The biggest surprise came in the Europa League, where Celtic were widely expected to beat Ferencvarosi TC comfortably; instead they lost 1-3 at home.

A night of mixed fortunes for the AI panel across Europe and South America.

Where the AI got it right

Real Betis 1-0 Getafe — La Liga. All 12 models backed a Real Betis win, with the most common scoreline 2-1 and average confidence 59%. The actual 1-0 was narrower than predicted, but the winner was called correctly. Real Betis vs Getafe prediction.

Manchester City 5-0 Norwich — League Cup. A unanimous Manchester City win at 100% of 10 models, most common score 3-0 and average confidence 66%. City went further than the models expected, winning 5-0, but the outcome was never in doubt. Manchester City vs Norwich prediction.

Juventus 5-0 NEC Nijmegen — UEFA Europa League. All 10 models picked Juventus, with the most common score 2-0 and average confidence 65%. The Italian side delivered a 5-0 rout, comfortably clearing the consensus margin. Juventus vs NEC Nijmegen prediction.

Crystal Palace 4-0 Lech Poznan — UEFA Europa League. A 100% consensus for Crystal Palace, most common score 2-0 and average confidence 60%. Palace matched the clean sheet and doubled the expected goal tally in a 4-0 win. Crystal Palace vs Lech Poznan prediction.

Beşiktaş 4-1 Marseille — UEFA Europa League. This was the closest call of the correct picks, with only 50% of 10 models backing Beşiktaş, the most common score 1-1 and average confidence 50%. Beşiktaş ran out 4-1 winners, rewarding the half of the panel that leaned home. Beşiktaş vs Marseille prediction.

Where it got it wrong

Corinthians 0-1 Estudiantes L.P. — CONMEBOL Libertadores. Every one of the 10 models backed a Corinthians win, with the most common score 1-0 and average confidence 54%. Estudiantes took the game 1-0 instead, a unanimous miss.

OFI 2-0 1899 Hoffenheim — UEFA Europa League. All 10 models expected an away win for 1899 Hoffenheim, most common score 1-2 and average confidence 57%. OFI won 2-0, another clean sweep against the panel.

Celtic 1-3 Ferencvarosi TC — UEFA Europa League. A 100% consensus for Celtic, most common score 2-0 and average confidence 59%. Ferencvarosi TC won 3-1 in Glasgow, the most emphatic miss of the day.

Lillestrom 1-2 Torreense — UEFA Europa League. All 10 models picked Lillestrom, most common score 1-0 and average confidence 55%. Torreense won 2-1 away, another unanimous failure.

Plzen 0-3 Union St. Gilloise — UEFA Europa League. The models leaned towards a draw, with 60% of 10 backing the stalemate, most common score 1-1 and average confidence 51%. Union St. Gilloise won 3-0, a result that fell outside the consensus entirely.

Real Sociedad 1-2 Bournemouth — UEFA Europa League. All 10 models backed Real Sociedad, most common score 1-0 and average confidence 54%. Bournemouth won 2-1, completing a difficult night in Europe for the panel.

Models of the day

The best-performing models on the day were DeepSeek V4 Pro, Qwen 3.8 Max and GLM 5.3, each with 10 of 16 correct. They were followed closely by a group on 9 of 16: GPT-5.6 Luna, Claude Sonnet 5, Mistral Medium 3.5, MiMo V2.5 Pro, Grok 4.6, Gemini 3.8 Flash and Kimi K3.

Llama 3.1 70B Instruct and Cohere Command R+ (08-2024) appear with 2 of 2 and 1 of 2 respectively, reflecting limited participation rather than a full slate.

Full results

• CONMEBOL Libertadores: Corinthians 0–1 Estudiantes L.P. — consensus Corinthians win (100%) WRONG
• La Liga: Real Betis 1–0 Getafe — consensus Real Betis win (100%) RIGHT
• La Liga: Malaga 1–3 Villarreal — consensus Villarreal win (75%) RIGHT
• League Cup: Manchester City 5–0 Norwich — consensus Manchester City win (100%) RIGHT
• Premier League: Masr 2–1 Olympic El Qanah — consensus Masr win (100%) RIGHT
• Premier League: Enppi 1–2 Pyramids FC — consensus Pyramids FC win (100%) RIGHT
• Premier Soccer League: Orlando Pirates 2–0 Durban City — consensus Orlando Pirates win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Levski Sofia 0–1 Red Bull Salzburg — consensus Red Bull Salzburg win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: OFI 2–0 1899 Hoffenheim — consensus 1899 Hoffenheim win (100%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Beşiktaş 4–1 Marseille — consensus Beşiktaş win (50%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Celtic 1–3 Ferencvarosi TC — consensus Celtic win (100%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Crystal Palace 4–0 Lech Poznan — consensus Crystal Palace win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Juventus 5–0 NEC Nijmegen — consensus Juventus win (100%) RIGHT
• UEFA Europa League: Lillestrom 1–2 Torreense — consensus Lillestrom win (100%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Plzen 0–3 Union St. Gilloise — consensus draw (60%) WRONG
• UEFA Europa League: Real Sociedad 1–2 Bournemouth — consensus Real Sociedad win (100%) WRONG

Today's predictions are live on the TuringStats today page, where the models will attempt to improve on a 10-of-16 return.

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