World Cup Predictor 2026 — WordPress Plugin

Plugin Slug: wc26-predictor
Namespace: WC26Predictor
PHP: 8.2+ | WordPress: 6.4+
Version: 1.0.0

Overview

A production-grade, scalable FIFA World Cup 2026 prediction platform built as a WordPress plugin. Designed for large traffic, REST-API-first, and extensible to Telegram Mini App, PWA, and mobile apps.

Architecture

wc26-predictor/
├── wc26-predictor.php          # Entry point, constants, autoloader boot
├── includes/
│   ├── Autoloader.php          # PSR-4 class loader
│   ├── Plugin.php              # DI container + bootstrap
│   ├── Database/
│   │   └── Migrator.php        # dbDelta migrations for all 12 tables
│   ├── Repositories/
│   │   ├── AbstractRepository.php
│   │   └── Repositories.php    # All concrete repos (Team, Match, Prediction, etc.)
│   ├── Services/
│   │   ├── MatchService.php
│   │   ├── PredictionService.php
│   │   ├── ScoringService.php
│   │   ├── StandingsService.php
│   │   └── Services.php        # Leaderboard, Notification, Badge, League services
│   ├── REST/
│   │   └── Router.php          # All REST API endpoints
│   ├── Admin/
│   │   └── AdminLoader.php     # Admin menu, AJAX, CSV import
│   ├── Frontend/
│   │   └── FrontendLoader.php  # Shortcodes + asset enqueue
│   └── Events/
│       └── EventManager.php    # Hook-based event bus
├── assets/
│   ├── css/frontend.css        # Dark sports-platform UI
│   ├── css/admin.css
│   └── js/admin.js
├── templates/
│   ├── admin/                  # Admin page templates
│   └── frontend/               # Shortcode templates (Alpine.js)
└── migrations/
    ├── sample-teams.csv
    └── sample-groups.csv

Database Tables (prefix: wp_wc26_)

REST API Endpoints

Base: /wp-json/wc26/v1/

Authentication uses X-WP-Nonce header (WordPress REST nonce).

Shortcodes

Scoring Engine

Scoring is driven by the wc26_scoring_rules database table (no hardcoded values):

Joker doubles earned points for one match per tournament.

3-State Logic:

1. pred == real → Exact (10 pts)
2. pred_diff == real_diff → Goal Difference (5 pts)
3. Same winner/draw → Winner/Draw (3-4 pts)

Event-Driven Hooks

// Fired when admin submits a match result
do_action('wc26_match_finished', $match_id, $home_score, $away_score);

// Fired after all predictions for a match are scored
do_action('wc26_match_scored', $match_id);

// Fired when a user submits a prediction
do_action('wc26_prediction_submitted', $pred_id, $user_id, $match_id);

// Fired when a user earns a badge
do_action('wc26_badge_earned', $user_id, $badge_id);

Installation

1. Upload wc26-predictor/ to /wp-content/plugins/
2. Activate in Plugins → Activate
3. On activation: all 12 tables are created, default scoring rules and badges are seeded
4. Import teams via WC26 Predictor → CSV Import using sample-teams.csv
5. Import groups, then matches
6. Add shortcodes to pages:
   • [wc26_predictor] — prediction page
   • [wc26_leaderboard] — rankings page
   • [wc26_standings group_id="1"] — group table
   • [wc26_my_leagues] — user leagues

Performance Notes

• Leaderboards are pre-aggregated (no SUM() on every request)
• Standings are recalculated only after a match result is submitted
• All hot reads use wp_cache_get/set with appropriate TTLs
• MySQL indexes on all foreign keys and commonly filtered columns
• Match lock check is server-side (kickoff_at - 1 minute)

Future Extensions

This architecture is designed to support:

• Telegram Mini App — REST API is Telegram-ready; no changes needed
• PWA — All data via REST; add service worker externally
• UEFA Euro / Champions League — Change season field; all logic is tournament-agnostic
• Real-time — Replace polling with WP Server-Sent Events or pusher integration via wc26_match_scored hook
• Rate limiting — Add nonce rate limiting middleware to prediction endpoint