Abstract
The precise prediction of football match outcomes holds significant value in the sports domain. However, traditional prediction methods are limited by data complexity and model capabilities, struggling to meet the demands for high accuracy. Quantum neural networks (QNNs) leverage the unique quantum properties of quantum bits (qubits) such as superposition and entanglement. They have enhanced information processing capabilities and potential pattern mining abilities when dealing with vast, high-dimensional, and complex football match data. This makes QNNs a superior choice compared to traditional neural networks and other advanced models for football match prediction. This study focuses on a deep learning (DL)-based QNN model, aiming to construct and optimize this model to analyze historical football match data for high-precision predictions of future match outcomes. Specifically, detailed match records from 2008 to 2022 of major European football leagues were obtained from the "European Football Database" public dataset on Kaggle. The data includes various factors such as match outcomes, team information, player stats, and match venues. The data are cleaned, standardized, and feature-engineered to meet the input requirements of neural network models. A multilayer perceptron model consisting of an input layer, multiple hidden layers, and an output layer is designed and implemented. During the model training phase, gradient descent is used to optimize weight parameters, and quantum algorithms are integrated to continuously adjust network weights to minimize prediction errors. The model is trained, parameter tuning is completed, and performance is evaluated using the training, validation, and independent test sets. The model's effectiveness is measured using indicators such as F1 score, accuracy, and recall. The study results indicate that the optimized QNN model significantly outperforms other advanced models in prediction accuracy. The optimized QNN model has an improvement of more than 20.5% in precision, an enhancement of over 23.2% in recall, and an increase of over 22.3% and 21.8% in accuracy and F1 score. Additionally, the model predicts the championship probabilities for Spain, France, England, and the Netherlands in the European Championship as 31.72%, 27.61%, 22.58%, and 18.09%, respectively. This study innovatively applies the optimized QNN model to outcome prediction in football matches, validating its effectiveness in the sports prediction field. It provides new ideas and methods for football match outcome prediction while offering valuable references for developing prediction models for other sports events. By integrating public data with DL technology, this study lays the foundation for the practical application of sports data analysis and prediction models, holding significant theoretical and practical value. Furthermore, future research can further explore the integration of QNN models with mathematical analysis systems, expanding their application scenarios in the real world. For example, sports betting agencies are provided with more accurate risk assessments, assisting teams in formulating more scientific tactical strategies, and optimizing event organization arrangements, to fully leverage their potential value.