The 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup kicks off on June 11, 2026, and our School of Business & Economics has prepared an informative, scholarly website (in German) dedicated to the event: https://www.fu-berlin.de/wm2026. To add to the excitement, they have even prepared a university-wide bracket game, where you can make predictions about the matches: https://www.kicktipp.de/freie-universitaet-berlin/. Don’t worry, you won’t be competing alone! The game is organized so that the members of the various status groups (students; professors; academic staff; and technical, service, and administrative staff) participate as teams, which then compete against one another. There will also be rankings by departments/institutes. You won’t want to miss out!

Thanks to the generous support of the Ernst Reuter Society (https://www.fu-berlin.de/sites/erg/), there are prizes in all categories, including a premium tour of Berlin’s Olympic Stadium, official World Cup soccer balls, jerseys of your choice, and other items from the university shop (jackets, hoodies, T-shirts, sports bags). Prizes will be awarded to those who place in the top twenty of the individual rankings; first place in each status group will also win prizes, as well as the best department/institute with at least ten participants.

Not a soccer expert? Then take a look at the School of Business & Economics’ website, where you will find fun statistical tools and simulations that predict World Cup matches. You can sign up and register for free right up until the start of the first match on June 11: https://www.fu-berlin.de/wm2026/

Looking for some animal assistance with your predictions? The School of Veterinary Medicine is home to a very special World Cup specialist: Tina the sheep will make her own predictions on the German national team’s group-stage matches during her morning time out to pasture in Düppel. Tina is a Pomeranian Coarsewool sheep who will choose between three feeding troughs, each indicating a “win,” “tie,” or “loss” for the German team. You can follow Tina’s predictions on Freie Universität’s social media channels and at https://www.fu-berlin.de/wm2026/