World Cup Predictions for 6/22/26

Argentina vs Austria 

Kick-Off: 1 PM ET

Location: Dallas

 

We kick-off Monday with an absolute banger between the defending World Champions, Argentina, against Austria. I know that everyone is ready for Argentina to repeat after their opening 3-0 win over Algeria – but I want to remind people this is a long tournament and not to overreact to one game. I’m not saying that Argentina can’t repeat, but we haven’t seen a repeat World Cup winner since the 1960’s so this is no easy feat and they won’t be playing Algeria every game. Everyone thinks Argentina smashes again here and I think this game could go a bit differently. For starters, I’m high on this Austrian side who I have said have real dark horse appeal in this tournament under Ralf Rangnick. They are very good at pressing especially after they lose the ball so I think that Austria could be on the ball a bit more than people are expecting in this match. Algeria did score against Argentina, but it was overturned due to offsides and I don’t think a clean sheet is likely here personally for either side. I’m expecting both teams to score and it to be a competitive match – I won’t be surprised if Austria jumps out to an early lead so their first half props interest me as well. Lionel Messi needs a goal to become the World Cup’s all-time leading scorer (until Mbappe passes him) so I understand people wanting to back him. 

 

Prediction: Argentina 2, Austria 1 

 

France vs Iraq 

Kick-Off: 5 PM ET

Location: Philadelphia 

 

France was my pick to win this tournament before it started, and boy did they start slow against Senegal. Kylian Mbappe has been a prolific World Cup performer, but after an uneasy campaign at Real Madrid this past season it took him some time to loosen up. He did, though, scoring twice and after the first one went in he looked like his old self. I believe that really helped with his confidence and I’m expecting France to dominate one of the weaker teams in the tournament today. Michael Olise looked amazing as well, and I think they are going to completely overwhelm Iraq on Monday afternoon. 

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Prediction: France 5, Iraq 0

 

Norway vs Senegal 

Kick-Off: 8 PM ET

Location: New Jersey 

 

Primetime presents us with a really fun match between Norway and Senegal. Norway secured three points in their opening match against Iraq while Senegal fell to France. Norway is already in place to qualify for the round of 32 while Senegal is going to be desperate to avoid elimination in this spot. There is simply no answer for Erling Haaland right now as he found the back of the bet twice in his first World Cup game. Those two goals made it 57 in 51 matches for his country as well as 11 matches in a row. Even at even odds, it’s hard not seeing him score again today. Senegal is good offensively too, and I expect them to score today. For as good as Norway is up top, they struggle defensively and I think this is going to be a tightly contested match. I would like to see Ibrahim Mbaye crack the starting lineup for Senegal after scoring off the bench last week. 

 

Prediction: Norway 2, Senegal 2 

 

Jordan vs Algeria 

Kick-Off: 11 PM ET

Location: San Francisco

 

We end the night with the two bottom teams in Group J desperate for a result. Algeria is better than they played against Argentina especially on offense – mustering below 0.5 expected goals. Though, they did find the back of the net in an offside position that was not registered after a VAR review. Algeria defeated the Netherlands in a recent friendly and I have more faith in them bouncing back here than Jordan, who are playing in their first ever World Cup. Jordan has not won a match since the calendar turned to 2026, though I could see them finding the back of the net this evening. I would like to see some tactical changes from Algeria in this one, with Mohamed Amoura coming into the starting lineup. He scored 10 times during World Cup qualifying and he can be the spark this team needs in the offensive third. Assuming he does start, I like him to score tonight. 

 

Prediction: Algeria 2, Jordan 1