Method for identifying combinations of at least three individuals within a breeding population, wherein the combinations have for at least one phenotypic trait of interest a higher Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Value in the offspring for said at least one phenotypic trait of interest, as compared to at least 70% of the other combinations of at least three individuals within said breeding population, wherein the method comprises: a) providing a training population of individuals; b) collecting phenotypic data for the at least one trait of interest for each individual within said training population; c) collecting genotypic data for each individual within said training population using molecular marker techniques, sequence-based genotyping or whole genome sequencing, and attributing to each allele of a plurality of loci of each individual, an allele substitution effect for the at least one phenotypic trait of interest; d) providing a genotype/phenotype relationship model for said training population of individuals, wherein the model estimates for a given genotype of an individual what the quantitative contribution is of the allele substitution effects of said plurality of loci on the at least one phenotypic trait of interest; e) genotyping each individual within a breeding population in the same way as in step c); f) calculating for each individual within the breeding population the allele substitution effect for each allele of said plurality of loci by using the genotype/phenotype relationship model of step d), and correcting for recombination probabilities with flanking loci, wherein for an allele with a positive allele substitution effect said effect is multiplied with the probability that said allele is transmitted to the offspring, and for an allele with a negative allele substitution effect said effect is multiplied with the probability that said allele is not transmitted to the offspring; g) determining the Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Value in the putative offspring for the at least one phenotypic trait of interest for each combination of at least three individuals within the breeding population by calculating for each combination of at least three individuals for each locus of said plurality of loci in the offspring the highest combination of allele substitution effects using the calculated and corrected allele substitution effects of the individuals calculated in step f); h) identifying the combinations of at least three individuals within the breeding population that provide for said at least one phenotypic trait of interest Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Values in the offspring that are higher than at least 70% of the Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Values in the offspring of other combinations of at least three individuals within the breeding population, wherein the method does not involve crossing and subsequent selection of plants or animals. a) providing a training population of individuals; b) collecting phenotypic data for the at least one trait of interest for each individual within said training population; c) collecting genotypic data for each individual within said training population using molecular marker techniques, sequence-based genotyping or whole genome sequencing, and attributing to each allele of a plurality of loci of each individual, an allele substitution effect for the at least one phenotypic trait of interest; d) providing a genotype/phenotype relationship model for said training population of individuals, wherein the model estimates for a given genotype of an individual what the quantitative contribution is of the allele substitution effects of said plurality of loci on the at least one phenotypic trait of interest; e) genotyping each individual within a breeding population in the same way as in step c); f) calculating for each individual within the breeding population the allele substitution effect for each allele of said plurality of loci by using the genotype/phenotype relationship model of step d), and correcting for recombination probabilities with flanking loci, wherein for an allele with a positive allele substitution effect said effect is multiplied with the probability that said allele is transmitted to the offspring, and for an allele with a negative allele substitution effect said effect is multiplied with the probability that said allele is not transmitted to the offspring; g) determining the Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Value in the putative offspring for the at least one phenotypic trait of interest for each combination of at least three individuals within the breeding population by calculating for each combination of at least three individuals for each locus of said plurality of loci in the offspring the highest combination of allele substitution effects using the calculated and corrected allele substitution effects of the individuals calculated in step f); h) identifying the combinations of at least three individuals within the breeding population that provide for said at least one phenotypic trait of interest Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Values in the offspring that are higher than at least 70% of the Combined Genome-Wide Estimated Breeding Values in the offspring of other combinations of at least three individuals within the breeding population,