World Cup Predictions for 6/16/26

We had another amazing day yesterday, hitting three of our four main bets and despite our low expectations, most of the games were quality to watch! 

 

France vs Senegal

Kick-Off: 3 PM ET

Location: New Jersey

 

France was my pick to win the tournament, and they face off with a formidable Senegal side to start their quest for a second World Cup win in the Kylian Mbappe era. They are sizable favorites in this game at -215 on the moneyline and due to some parlays we’ve taken throughout the weekend they’re my biggest position today. 

 

My biggest concern is that their midfield can be inconsistent at times, but the talent is just too rich and I think Didier Deschamps will have these guys ready to go from the jump in his last World Cup as manager. Mbappe dealt with a lot of issues at Real Madrid this past year, but he is a prolific World Cup player and I don’t trust this Senegal defense whatsoever. 

 

Prediction: France 3, Senegal 1 

 

Norway vs Iraq

Kick-Off: 6 PM ET

Location: Boston

 

In the second game of Match Day 6, we have the highly anticipated World Cup debut for Erling Haaland and Norway’s first World Cup action overall since 1998. Iraq also hasn’t tasted the world’s biggest stage since the 80’s, and were the last team to qualify for this year's tournament. 

 

Norway are massive favorites in this game, and it’s tough to ignore how dominant they were in their qualifying run. Haaland has also been absolutely insane for his nation, scoring 55 goals in his 50 career caps including 16 goals in their 8 qualifying matches. We just haven’t seen Iraq perform against this level of competition, and I think this is a really soft spot for Haaland to showcase his abilities in his first World Cup game. 

 

Prediction: Norway 4, Iraq 0

 

Argentina vs Algeria

Kick-Off: 9 PM ET 

Location: Kansas City 

 

Lionel Messi and Argentina start their quest to go back-to-back tonight against Algeria – and they’re looking to get off to a better start than what we saw from them in 2022. This is a good spot for them to get off on the right track, and they look equipped for another run deep into the tournament. Despite relatively low expectations, Algeria is exciting to watch and has some of the most offensive firepower of any of the lesser known teams in this World Cup. Ibrahim Maza and Riyad Mahrez are my players to watch for them – I’m expecting this to be a potentially high scoring affair. 

 

Given it’s the first game and he is just back from injury, I doubt we see Messi pushed here similar to what we saw from Spain with Lamine Yamal yesterday. I am not expecting his full workload, but I don’t expect a similar result to Spain vs Cape Verde either. 

 

Prediction: Argentina 3, Algeria 1 

 

Austria vs Jordan 

Kick-Off: 12 AM ET

Location: San Francisco 

 

Austria are one of my favorite true sleeper teams in this tournament that I didn’t see getting much hype over the last few weeks. They have tons of offensive firepower, and Ralph Rangnick has completely transformed the vibes of the team since taking over in 2022. I’m expecting Austria to dominate possession and chances in this game while Jordan sits back and plays the counter attack. Jordan doesn’t really have the high-level talent that I think can compete – and I’m expecting Austria to suffocate them from the opening kick-off. Anything can happen, as we saw yesterday, but this one of the biggest mis-matches of group play in my opinion. 

 

Prediction: Austria 4, Jordan 0