The Champions League is one of the most unexpected leagues in the world.

Predicting where particular teams will finish and who will win the league becomes more difficult with each passing year, making it nearly impossible to forecast who will be Champions in 2050.

As a result, Football League World has turned to popular AI-powered chat site ChatGPT to choose who they believe will be the next 25 winners of the division no one dares to forecast.

2025/26 – Coventry City

We’re just passed the halfway point of the current season, and despite a drop in form in December, ChatGPT predicts Coventry City will persevere and regain momentum in 2026 on their path to a Championship triumph.

It would cap off an excellent managerial comeback to the second division for Frank Lampard, who appears to have another shot at the Premier League, this time with a Sky Blues team that will have ended a 25-year absence from the top flight with this Championship victory.

2026/27 – Norwich City

AI must be on Philippe Clement’s side, because they believe that the team that has spent the majority of the 2025/26 season in the bottom three will win its third Championship championship in nine years in May 2027.

Norwich City has always had such purchasing power, and despite previous transfer flops, the club currently has a large number of quality players. With Clement in the dugout, they also have a quality manager.

It remains to be seen whether he is capable of orchestrating a complete turnaround from relegation hopefuls to Championship champions, but he has the support of AI to do so.

2027/28 – Burnley

The Clarets are now suffering in their first season back in the top division after achieving promotion and another centenary season in consecutive Championship campaigns.

AI predicts that Burnley will return to the second division soon, regardless of whether they survive this season in the Premier League.

In any case, ChatGPT believes the two-time Championship champions will win their third title in just over two years.

2028/29 – Sunderland

Following that is another current Premier League team. However, unlike Burnley, who are presently battling relegation, Sunderland, last season’s Championship play-off final winners, are attempting to finish in a European spot in their first season back in the top flight.

Despite this, ChatGPT does not believe the Black Cats’ current success will persist. It remains to be seen whether this is due to Regis le Bris’ poor performance or the Frenchman’s move to a normally ‘larger’ team.

However, if and when a Championship return becomes a reality, the north-east club will not have to wait long to reclaim their Premier League status.

2029/30 – Wolverhampton Wanderers

While it is unclear when Burnley and Sunderland will return to the Championship, Rob Edwards’ Wolves appear bound to relegation in May, ending their seven-year Premier League stint.

According to AI, the rebuilding process in the second division will take several years, and they will not return to the Premier League as Championship champions until their parachute payouts are depleted in 2030.

2030/31 – Brentford

Brentford, who last played in the Championship in the 2020/21 season, have established themselves as a respectable mid-table Premier League club, much to the surprise of many neutrals.

Even after Thomas Frank left the club and Keith Andrews took over, many anticipated the Bees to struggle, but they appear to be thriving at the Gtech Community Stadium.

As a result, relegation in the near future appears unlikely, but not impossible, based on AI. However, a rapid recovery is expected in the shape of a title win, a decade after gaining Premier League promotion for the first time.

2031/32 – Leeds United

ChatGPT predicts that Leeds United, the two-time Championship champions, will win their third title in May 2032.

The Whites are striving valiantly under Daniel Farke to stay in the Premier League in their first season back after winning the second division title by 100 points last year. Leeds fans will be hoping to continue if they survive, but AI does not believe they will.

However, like with attractive sides that fall out of the top flight, a comeback within a few years is unavoidable.

2032/33: Reading

A surprising turn of events here, as League One team Reading stops a five-year streak of Premier League sides stretching their biceps and making light work of their Championship comeback.

Indeed, the Royals have not competed in the top flight since their inaugural season in 2012/13, and have nearly disappeared due to poor ownership under Dai Yongge.

A Premier League return in 2033 would be an incredible comeback story, just eight years after Yongge’s exclusion from the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors’ Test, and they’ll be hoping to stay in the top division for a little longer than they did 20 years ago.

2033/34 – Preston North End

Reading’s underdog narrative the year before may have inspired some of the other perennial EFL clubs, as AI believes Preston North End will be winners of the second division in 2034, ending a 73-year absence from the top flight.

The Lilywhites, on the other hand, are hoping for a Premier League campaign next season after breaking into the promotion picture midway through the current season.

Perhaps this momentum will propel Paul Heckingbottom’s side to the top of the second division in the coming years, culminating in their eighth title-winning season.

2034/35, Oxford United

Oxford United’s exile from the top division isn’t as long as the previous season’s winners, but the story of the Yellows winning would perhaps be more compelling than Preston’s.

Oxford dropped out of the Football League for a few years in the 2000s before returning to League Two in 2010. 25 years later, ChatGPT expects they’ll be in the Premier League.

The Kassam Stadium’s current focus is on avoiding relegation back to League One, but if they can do so while also establishing themselves in the second division, they may be able to build themselves up to becoming promotion contenders and winning the Championship title in 2035.

2035/36 – Hull City

A decade from now, AI predicts Hull City will be leading the race for second place and finishing the season as champions.

Like Preston, the Tigers have performed well above expectations this season, battling for a spot in the top six, which is especially noteworthy given Hull’s current fee constraints owing to late payments.

The limits will be eased in the summer, but ChatGPT believes that the momentum from this season will be built on over time, resulting in success in ten years.

2036/37 – Wrexham

Wrexham’s elevation to the Premier League appears unavoidable in the next years, but AI believes it will be 2037 before the Red Dragons ultimately cross the finish line.

It’s unclear whether Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac will still be in command by then, and it’s more probable that they won’t be in over a decade if Wrexham fail to reach the top flight.

But, notwithstanding, for a team that was in the National League in 2023, a 14-year transition from non-league to Premier League is not to be taken lightly.

2037/38 – Norwich City

From now until 2050, there will be a lot of repeat offenders in terms of Premier League promotion. Not all of them will win their second title, but Norwich will.

The Canaries appear to be addicted to second-tier silverware, and if AI’s forecasts prove correct, this will be their fourth title in 20 seasons. That’s 20% of Championship campaigns in 20 years that have ended with Norwich at the top!

I’m sure some at Carrow Road would prefer to be recognized as Premier League winners rather than Championship winners, but there’s plenty to be happy about at Norwich throughout those seasons.

2038/39 – Burnley

Burnley will follow Norwich’s title-winning campaign once more, like they had done over a decade ago.

It’s unclear how long these clubs were in the Championship before returning to the top flight, but with AI branding the Clarets a “yo-yo club,” it’s likely that their spell in the second tier, like Norwich’s, was that long.

2039/40: Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough will lead the Championship into the 2040 decade, making a return to the Premier League after winning promotion through the play-offs in the 2027/28 season, according to AI predictions.

By this point in the future, it’s almost certain that personnel will have changed.

However, one thing has not changed: a promotion-winning mindset. Many people identify Boro with being around the top of the second tier when they play in it, and this does not appear to have changed nearly 15 years later.

2040/41 – Derby County

Derby County, like Middlesbrough, is experiencing its first title-winning season in this 25-year projection, but it is not their first attempt at promotion, having advanced via the play-offs precisely a decade ago in 2031.

Derby are another team with Premier League pedigree, despite the fact that they are on the verge of leaving the top level after 18 years, pending a solid second half of the season.

But the Rams are a club with lofty goals, and there’s no doubt that this project, now led by John Eustace, will eventually end in promotion back to the top flight, at least according to AI.

2041/42, Crystal Palace

ChatGPT forecasts that the current FA Cup holders will be relegated to the second tier by at least 2029. Crystal Palace has been promoted for the second time in this simulation, joining the ranks of former victors.

The Eagles appear to be moving from strength to strength in the top tier right now, having progressed from a competent mid-table club to one capable of competing for European places.

However, as Leicester City and Wolves have demonstrated, those added priorities can often backfire.

Palace will be hoping that they do not return to the Championship, but if they do, AI feels they will not last long.

2042/43 – Queens Park Rangers

AI forecasts that QPR and Crystal Palace would rise at the same time, along with title winners Wolves, in the 2029/30 season, and then win league titles one after the other more than a decade later.

QPR are another club with a recent history in the Premier League, but they have also spent a significant amount of time in the Championship since being relegated in 2015.

The most recent summer window suggests that the Hoops may be seeking to rise back out of the second tier, and ChatGPT predicts that they will do so twice in the following 17 years, with a league title on top.

2043/44 – Reading

Reading is the third team to have won two titles based on AI forecasts.

The Royals are expected to make the jump to being a top Championship club very soon, and they will then bounce between the top flight and the second tier in the years to follow.

That may be difficult to see for a club now sitting in mid-table in League One, but I’m sure Reading fans would be thrilled.

2044/45 – Portsmouth

Portsmouth are another team that has slid down the EFL since their last appearance in the Premier League, but AI predicts they will return within the next 20 years. They won the play-offs in 2034 and now win the championship eleven years later.

Pompey have steadily risen from League Two to their current position in the Championship, and the focus is now on guaranteeing their continued presence in the second tier.

Then they may think about returning to the Premier League for the first time since 2010, which ChatGPT believes they will do twice.

2045/46, Stockport County

ChatGPT forecasts that Stockport County will win the Championship and be promoted to the Premier League for the second time in 20 years, following their second-place finish in 2035.

The Hatters have never played in the top division, but they appear destined to do so at some point, having won three crowns in five years to return to League One, and then placing third in their first season back in the third tier before failing in the play-offs.

Stockport’s growth is one of the more exciting tales in the EFL right now, and AI predicts it will come to an end within the next several decades.

2046/47 – Wolverhampton Wanderers

Wolves will be relegated to the second division for at least 17 years after returning to the Premier League in 2030 thanks to AI’s entrance, before winning the Championship again.

Whether it was 17 consecutive top-flight seasons before another shock relegation or not, Wolves fans will be hoping that this title win keeps them in the Premier League for a long time.

2047/48 – Fulham

Fulham have been promoted out of the Championship in each of the previous three seasons, winning one title.

In this 25-year prediction, AI believes the Cottagers will be promoted twice more, first in 2029 and then in 2048, adding a second Championship title to their trophy cabinet.

Like Wolves, they’ll be trying to use this title to cement their place in the Premier League for decades rather than just years.

2048/49 – Ipswich Town

In this prediction, Ipswich Town become the first team to receive a third promotion, and AI believes they will complete every promotion scenario, placing second in 2025/26, winning the play-offs in 2036/37, and finally winning the title here.

Again, for a team that has been out of the top flight for so long, being one of the most successful Championship teams in the following 25 years is a significant accomplishment.

Ipswich will, however, be hoping that by 2050-75, they will be in the Premier League for lengthier lengths of time.

2049/50 – Leicester City

Finally, to conclude this 25-year Championship prediction, AI predicts Leicester winning the title once more, as they did 26 years ago.

When the former Premier League champions and FA Cup winners defeated Chelsea at Wembley Stadium to win the oldest cup tournament, they could not have predicted that the majority of their success would come in the second division over the next 30 years.

However, the reality has been harsh since then, and ChatGPT does not see them leaving the Championship for too long in the near future.