The Simpsons has a storied history of predicting (or at least appearing to predict) various future events over the course of its run. There’s a debate in some circles as to whether this is a “monkeys with typewriters”-type phenomenon or if Matt Groening and crew are truly soothsayers. These “predictions” have become so commonplace that fans have started to give the show credit for predicting things that we can’t even confirm will happen yet. Like, let’s say, the 2018 World Cup final.
As reported by BBC, some people on social media have credited The Simpsons season nine episode, “The Cartridge Family,” with predicting a Portugal-Mexico final for this year’s World Cup. For those of you not following the tournament, Portugal was an early favorite to win it all thanks to their lead-scorer and wealthiest athlete in the world, Cristiano Ronaldo. Mexico, on the other hand, seemingly came out of nowhere, handily defeating the defending German champs in their opening game, and capitalizing on their own speed and scrappiness. So, while a Portugal-Mexico final isn’t out of the question, it’s certainly not something many would have predicted before the tournament began. Unless you can see the future like the Simpsons writers.
Of course, there’s still a long way to go before the Finals, and this “prediction” could end up being nothing but a pipe dream. At the time of writing this article, Mexico is still playing for their chance to advance out of the Group Stage. If they lose to Sweden—and Germany wins their game—Mexico’s World Cup dreams will be dashed and everyone will pretend The Simpsons never said anything.
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