2026 Worlds MAG Qualification by the numbers

Total score as a function of D score

Caveats for all data - Qualification score is not directly translatable to what a team will compete in the finals, as the format 4 up 3 count in prelims, and lineups/routines may change.

That said, Japan should go in as the favorite because they combine difficulty and execution. Great Britain was actually ahead of Japan in the difficulty they actually counted, but Japan lost more difficulty due to dropped scores (for instance, they dropped Fusuke Maeda’s 6.3 HB).

Let’s look at what total qualification D scores these teams would have had if they could count all their hardest routines.

Things to notice:

GBR is still not that far off Japan in difficulty (although Japan may bring more to finals. They are capable of over 100).

China was able to use all its hardest routines. They don’t have as much depth without Zhang Boheng, so they had to put up some interesting routines in qualifying.

The Netherlands also didn’t have any unused D, because everyone executed as planned.

The US had the most unused D by far. What really hurt them was still rings, which is already a weak event for them and the way the cards fell caused them to count a routine with a 3.9 D score.

Possible surprises: GBR Gold, China off the podium, Colombia on it.

Total E score v Total D score

There were two routes to the finals - execution (provided the team had a threshold level of difficulty) and difficulty. In general, the teams with the higher difficulty qualified. Japan is the total package.

Teams with greater difficulty tend to execute better (but not always).

The chart doesn’t list bonuses and penalties separately, but the results show that the last spot went to Colombia over Italy because of a combination of neutral deductions and bonuses.

The Bottom Line

This isn’t one of those competitions where one team is so far ahead it can have multiple large errors/falls and still win.

With 3 up 3 count, almost anything can happen.