It's, of course, impossible to perfectly predict a World Cup, with some underdogs always pulling off upsets and some heavyweight nations always under-performing.
However, what we can do is simulate how the bracket will look if there aren't any such upsets, revealing the most likely knockout round match-ups and paths to the final.
We've done so using the official FIFA world rankings, projecting that each match from the playoffs in March all the way to the final in July will be won by the higher-ranked side.
We've also used the world rankings to sort the third-placed teams, with the eight of them ranked highest advancing to the round of 32.
In this simulation, the playoffs are won by Denmark, Italy, Turkey, Ukraine, DR Congo and Iraq, and the World Cup then pans out like this:
This year's draw purposely guaranteed that the world's top four nations of Spain, Argentina, France and England will be in separate quarters of the bracket if they win their groups. However, their routes to the semis are still set to be far from easy.
European champions Spain have the least daunting path in this simulation, with Austria, Croatia and Belgium their most likely opponents in the first three knockout rounds.
Things look much trickier for France, with clashes against European giants Germany and the Netherlands on the agenda before a rematch of the EURO 2024 semi-final against Luis de la Fuente's side.
England arguably have the most difficult route of the top four, one consisting of Erling Haaland's Norway, host nation Mexico and five-time champions Brazil.
As for reigning champions Argentina, they're projected to face national treasure Marcelo Bielsa and his Uruguay side before taking on Portugal in a mouthwatering quarter-final that would see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo finally do battle on the biggest stage.
That being said, the world rankings aren't a perfect science.
For instance, while they're ranked lower than Senegal, Norway have a high chance of beating the African nation to second in Group I, and their reward could be a meeting with Ecuador rather than England in the first knockout round.
Elsewhere, if Turkey do indeed make it through the playoffs, they'll fancy their chances of beating the United States to top spot in Group D.
Whoever wins that group is arguably the lower-ranked nation most likely to go on a surprise run, potentially only needing to beat hosts Canada and an unconvincing Belgium side to reach the last eight.
On the flip side, Brazil and the Netherlands look to be the major nations most at risk of a shock early exit.
The heavyweight nations are likely to face off in the round of 32 if one fails to top their group, which is a real possibility given Carlo Ancelotti's side have been drawn with 2022 semi-finalists Morocco and Ronald Koeman's are going up against an impressive Japan. Even if they avoid each other, they won't have it easy against those respective nations in the first knockout round.
All in all, we have a draw that is guaranteed to give us some blockbuster clashes from the beginning of the knockout stages all the way to the final, and one that provides ample opportunity for an underdog to go on a fairytale run.
