FIFA World Cup 2026 Futures and Games Picks Thread

With just under 2 weeks to kick off of the largest world cup ever featuring 104 matches I will share all of my wagers in this thread. 

I will post my opinion and future plays group by group as the tournament nears. I shall also pick and play every game along with leans throughout the tournament. There are several new rules that will affect my wagers so hopefully before the books adjust we can take advantage. A GK now has only 5 seconds for a goal kick otherwise a corner is awarded to the other side. Only captains can speak to the referee all others will receive yellow cards. Players covering their mouths making offensive comments will be red carded. If a substituted players cent get off the field in 10 seconds his replacement has to wait 1 minute to be able to get on the pitch. VAR will now also be used to award corners. All that being said I think we see more corners and cards being awarded then usual. I will take those on a game by game basis depending on the referees assigned to a certain match. 

GROUP A

MEX

KOR

CZE

RSA

1. Mexico to win the group @ 2.00/+100 (2u)

2. Mexico to reach Round of 16 @ 2.25/+125 (1u)

3. Raul Jimenez top team goal scorer @ 4.00/+300 (1/2 u)

4. Ochoa to win Golden glove @ 81.00/+8000 (1/2 u)

I really cant believe the value you get here at Mexico at evens to win this group. I see them as a true dark horse with a potential meeting versus England in Mexico City in the round of 16 where anything can happen. Up to that point Mexico have a cake walk of a schedule all at home and at elevation for the most part. Mexico's manager has had the core of is Liga MX players released early as well as some European players released early by their club teams to start camp almost a month before their opening game. The Mexican keeper, the legend Memo Ochoa will turn 41 during this tournament and if he is to start which I believe he will in his 6th world cup joining Ronaldo and Messi. He was born in Guadalajara so I really think he puts on a show there versus South Korea. Usually you need to get to the final 4 to get a golden glove award and no one has one more then one. I can cross out previous winners MartineZ (ARG) Neuer (GER) and Curtois (BEL) and if Mexico can make a run which I think they can "Memo" at these odds is a great bet with pizza money. Raul Jimenez of Fulham is the primary penalty taker for Mexico and is worth a shot at being their top team goal scorer.

Group A -- Remaining thoughts

I will be fading all of these three teams regardless of who makes it out in second and/or 3rd place in the next round.

KOREA - Hong Myung-bo the manager is a classic case of a former great player and a bad manager with his simple 4-2-3-1 formation that most of his team does not play at club level thus it might echo what he has accomplished when he was the manager of the national squad in the world cup in Brazil. An early exit and a 4-2 drubbing to Algeria. He was begged to come back after the grifter Klinsmann was fired after the Asian Cup.

CZECHIA - If it was not for some dumb rules in qualification where they were awarded 2 home playoff qualification games both which went to penalties where they took out Ireland and Denmark both which would have been better sides on a neutral field. The side has horseshoes up their behinds. One has to remember this side lost to the Faroe Islands in qualification .Set pieces are their strength that should get them out of this group.

SOUTH AFRICA - Odds on favourite to finish bottom but will they?. This side have only one class player in center forward Lyle Foster of Burnley. He has scored 10 goals for the national side and I will be tempted to bet on him if healthy as an anytime goal scorer versus the likes of Korea and Czechia. Unfortunately when you have 8 players that play for the Orlando Pirates in the domestic league named in the squad there is pretty slim hopes for much progress. 

DJ  VERY HELPFUL , BOL 

Nice write up. I like it.  

@Barbarossa

@BigDickHertzer

Thank you for the great info !

Vamossss DJ

Looking forward to write ups. 

salivating at Morocco @ plus money vs Brazil. Turkeiy to win group. 

The sole reason I visit this forum every 2 years is for your International Tournament write-ups and picks. 

The greatest to ever do it!! 

@Maldinii

 Agree 100%

GROUP B

SWI

CAN

BOS

QAT

5. Qatar total team goals UNDER 2.5 @ 2.00/+100 (1u)

Qatar is the weakest side in the group and should finish bottom of the group. The only future I could find with any value was the team total goals. Qatar only managed to score 1 goal when they were hosts in 2022. In qualification for this tournament they had a -7 goal differential. They conceded 24 goals in their last 10 games. Qatar had to cancel 2 March friendlies due to the Iran situation. Aided by home advantage and a favourable schedule they barely qualified, At most I see them getting a point off the other three nations in their group.

CANADA - The home side has too many unknowns in regards to injuries. Bombito, Jones, Davies, David, Lareya etc. I think they will benefit in playing the Swiss in their last game in what should be the decider for the group winner. If Canada tops the group they get to stay in Canada for their next possible 2 games. There is a tad of value in them topping the group but with so many injuries I'm taking my boys game by game.

SWITZERLAND - The Swiss have been on a good run of form only dropping one game in their last 12 and that was a wild 4-3 loss to Germany. The price on them and their futures all seem on point.

BOSNIA - I think this side has a great chance of advancing out of this group and cause an upset or two. Any side that beat Wales in Wales and made sure Italy did not qualify has to be taken seriously. The squad in undefeated in their last 7 games. I was unable to find any decent futures backing Bosnia but I will be backing them in match play.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WetxNrUAQaE

this analyst picked correctly the last 3 WC winners , Germany , France , Argentina ,,, here is his pick for 2026 

@LJJU

@BaloKiD

@Maldinii

 you are far too kind and Thank you 

@HighwayToHell

 great to see you back 

DJ-thanks for the info--like South Korea also to win Group A--looking forward to it! 

Great stuff man.

Best of Luck!  

Unfortunately, as viewing concerned, IMO it will be the crappiest World Cup ever.

The strongest reason (but there are many others of course):

Never ever should have been more than 24 teams in any kind of World Cup. Because of this there will be loads of bad quality games featuring teams not in the top 30 strongest of the world.

GL DJ 

@ari

@Im_Chasing

@WagerViper

  I think you will see some upsets and hopefully teams like Haiti and Curacao don't get annihilated

@docpj72

GROUP C

BRA

MOR

SCO

HAI

6. Morocco Group C winners @ 6.00/+500 (1u)

On paper Brazil have more quality then Morocco however these are two sides heading in opposite directions. Three years ago these sides met in a friendly with Morocco winning 2-1. The last world cup Morocco made the semis where as Brazil made the quarters. Morocco is in great form with 24 wins and 3 draws. Brazil experienced their worst ever qualifying campaign in history. Their form is poor 12 wins 9 losses and 9 draws. Why is Neymar in the squad?. I'll trust Carlos Ancelotti as the man has won everything there is to be won as a manager. However Brazil must prove it to me they are grossly mispriced. Massive value on Morocco to top this group

SCOTLAND & HAITI - Destined to battle it out with Haiti for 3rd spot. I would not be surprised if they tied their opener with Haiti and ended up with a point & out as one of the worse 3rd place teams. Scotland's form is suspect 2 wins 5 losses and a draw recently. Haiti will be a difficult team to beat. Since 2024 they have 13 wins 4 draws and 5 losses. However outside Wolves midfielder Jean-Ricner Bellerde and Sunderland's Wilson Isidor the quality is just not there to trouble the likes of Brazil or Morocco.

GROUP D

TUR

USA

AUS

PAR

This is the tightest group from top to bottom where anything can happen and nothing would surprise me, That being said I have no futures on any of these 4 sides. The only wager I considered was Turkey to win the group. However they play the USA in their last game where you can have a scenario where either team rests players and do not need the win to advance. The USA have been lucky to have played all their opponents recently winning 2-1 versus Paraguay losing to Turkey 2-1 and beating Australia 2-1. They have the talent, they have the manager and I would not be surprised if they do get to the round of 16. 

I see Paraguay as the only team here with "value". They only lost 1 game in qualification and will be a hard team to beat. Turkey are priced right. I see Australia as the poorest in quality. Cristian Volpato who was snubbed by Italy finally decided to join the Aussies just last week becoming effectively their best attacking midfielder. I would not be surprised if they snatch a result.

21 teams precisely aren't in the top 30 

GROUP E

GER

ECU

CIV

CUR

7. Germany highest scoring team @ 7.00/+600 (1u)

The group winner will come down to the third game between Germany and Ecuador in which I was originally backing Ecuador at the odds. However I think Germany after 2 group stage exits are back and they mean business. They have 8 wins in a row scoring 26 goals for an average on 3.25 for a team total. Sure they have questions at the back and bringing back old man Neuer seems like a gamble. I think Germany shines goes on a high scoring run but comes up short.

Ecuador- This side has been unbeaten in their past 18 games. They say defense wins championips, well these guys have only allowed 2 goals against in South American qualification. In which they only had 1 loss away to Brazil 1-0. Mark Ecuador as a Dark Horse

Ivory Coast & Curacao- I'm looking for a future of an exact group finish as I see this group as a pretty easy 1234. Nothing yet for futures odds. 

@DiamondJack

 I have seen a play on lowest scoring team in the cup. Curacao is at +400. What do you think? I do not see how they can score against any of these teams barring penalties, Red cards etc.

@gotime

 You have a shitty line it is +600 at bet 365. There is realistically about 9 teams that can score 0 goals in their games. They are the rightful favourite, however all it takes is a PK awarded for them to screw over your bet. Plus these are Dutch players they don't know how to park the bus and play pretty much an open style. They scored 2 goals in the gold cup last year they also scored recently versus Scotland & Australia. I would need 10-1 odds to pull the trigger. Iraq on the other hand at +900 & Jordan at +1000 are much better bets. 

@DiamondJack

 Thank you. I will have to look more into this bet if I make it. Will be following your plays. You have helped me out many times! Have to say I also looked into Qatar on this wager as well. So far Only wager is 3 team which is rare for me parlay Canada, USA and Mexico to win their opening matches. I remember the last cup Qatar hosted and played the first match and won. Really looking forward to this year. Thanks again for all that you do to help out.