What a ride it’s been. If you thought the 2026 World Cup was going to be a rollercoaster of footballing drama, the "Force Awakens" prediction game took that sentiment and cranked it up to eleven. We didn't just see a tournament - we saw a gruelling 104-fixture marathon where every single pick felt like a high-stakes gamble, and I’m pretty sure my nerves were frayed by the time the final whistle blew.

Looking at the final standings, it’s clear that staying at the top of the heap required a mix of bold intuition and some seriously lucky breaks. Paddy walked away with the crown, finishing on a massive 170 points. It wasn't just about picking the winners, it was about the surgical precision. Paddy managed to snag a staggering 102 points during the group stages, which is the kind of consistency you only see from a seasoned veteran of the game. But let's be real, those 18 bonus points were the secret sauce that kept him just out of reach for the rest of us.

Right on their heels was Glenn, who secured a hard-fought second place with 150 points. Glenn showed incredible resilience, racking up 76 group-stage points. While they didn't quite hit the exact score frequency of like Paddy, he made a late rally during the knockout rounds, picking up 62 points which proved to be a huge buffer as the pressure mounted.

Then we have SwaggyMcD - aka Durandt - in third, finishing with 140 points. He was arguably the most daring of the bunch, picking up 20 bonus points. The Boland Media Manager relied heavily on getting the right result in the majority of the fixtures, even if he didn't always nail the scoreline perfectly.

As for me? I’m happy to take 4th place with 133 points. It was a massive mountain to climb, but I stayed in the hunt by being aggressive on the bonus points, banking 24 of them. My 78 points in the group stage showed I had the pulse of the tournament, but man, those few missed group games and the average showing in the knockout stages were the difference between a podium finish and staying in the top five.

The real story of the "Force Awakens" was how the points were earned. The group stages were a steady accumulation of 2-point "correct result" nuggets, but the fireworks started in the knockouts. We saw players like Kai Berry and Daryn De Villiers put up some massive fights, both hovering around that 130-point mark, proving that this wasn't just a walk in the park.

The real difference-maker, as the rules reminded us, was that "Exact Score" 5-point haul. Seeing a perfect 2-1 or 3-1 prediction was the ultimate goal, and it turned the leaderboard into a living, breathing beast where a single lucky guess could catapult someone up the ranks or leave a frontrunner stranded.

This was a tight finish with Durandt squeaking 6 perfect matches while Paddy and Glenn managed 5 each. Myself, Daryn and Kai managed just 4 - showing the difference was just a goal or two.

However, we have to talk about the "ghosts" of the competition. While some of us were sweating over every 90 minutes, a few others seemed to be taking a very relaxed approach to the 104-fixture journey. We had a few folks who decided that some games were just "not for them" and left them blank.

Durandt came second despite missing out on 23 fixtures, which means things could have been much closer at the top, with Glenn failing to predict 17 games. Paddy missed just 2, showing why is came out tops. Daryn missed 18 games while I forgot about 13, however, the two people ghosted us completely.

Woody and Ian. Look, I love the enthusiasm, but what was the plan there? You guys started with the best of intentions, but then it was like you both decided to go for a long lunch and never came back. Ian only managed 9 predictions, and Woody, my man, ended up with a grand total of 7. You guys were there for the kickoff, but you clearly didn't want to do the heavy lifting! It's all fun and games until the results start coming in and the leaderboard starts moving, but I guess some of us were just happy to be invited to the party.

It was a fantastic run, and while the points are now locked in, the memories of those late-night tension sessions over the predictions will stick. It was a proper battle of wits, and while Padster91 might have the trophy, the way the pack stayed neck-and-neck until the very end made it a result for everyone involved.