2026 World Cup: Picks Predictions, and Odds

The 2026 World Cup is less than six months away and with the group-stage draw now made, anticipation is building for next summer's tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada.

Spain is the +450 favorite for a second title, with France +500 and England +600. Brazil and defending champions Argentina are also both +800, while Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal is +1000.

The outright isn't the only market available, with several other team futures and player props out there, and here are some early picks for the 23rd edition of soccer's biggest international showcase.

2026 FIFA World Cup Picks

Spain to win outright (+450)

It might be easy to pick the favorite but Spain has talent in abundance as well as recent experience of winning tournaments.

They beat England 2-1 in the final of Euro 2024 and have quality throughout the squad, especially with Martin Zubimendi stepping up in midfield as Rodri continues to battle back from his knee injury.

Even at 18, winger Lamine Yamal is already trending towards being the best player in the world and strikers Ferran Torres and Mikel Oyarzabal all offer something different in attack for Luis de la Fuente.

La Roja is the team to beat ahead of England, who now has Thomas Tuchel in charge, but always seem to have fatigue issues due to the relentlessness of the Premier League.

This is expected to be France's last tournament under Didier Deschamps but they are struggling to find a way to accommodate their attackers, and also have good individuals in defence but don't always gel.

Brazil, Argentina and Portugal all have other deficiencies that help further the case for Spain, whose 2010 title was also preceded by Euros glory. 

Austria to win Group J (+450)

Argentina has shown a habit for starting World Cups slowly. They drew their opening game in 2018 1-1 with Iceland and famously lost 2-1 to Saudi Arabia first time out in 2022.

They face a tricky Group J against Jordan, Algeria, and Austria, the latter of which is the second favorite to take top seeding and real value to do so.

This is Austria's first World Cup since 1998 but they showed up well by winning their qualifying group and head coach Ralf Rangnick will have a plan for every game.

They start against Jordan in Santa Clara, before facing Argentina in Arlington and Algeria at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City.

This is the type of pool where everyone can take points off each other and Rangnick's consistent Austria has a chance to be the top dogs.

Kylian Mbappe top goalscorer (+600)

If he comes to the tournament fit, then Kylian Mbappe will almost certainly break Miroslav Klose's record of 16 career goals at the World Cup.

The France captain already has 12 World Cup goals, including his hat-trick in the 2022 final and, while Real Madrid are struggling, Mbappe is still having a great season, scoring 18 times in 18 games in La Liga. He also has nine in the UEFA Champions League.

Les Bleus have great attacking depth to create chances for Mbappe, and an awkward group featuring Senegal, Norway and a still-to-be-confirmed third opponent is no reason to think he won't produce a big tournament.

Injury impacted his Euro 2024, but after registering four goals in 2018 and eight in 2022, little is expected to stop Mbappe in his third career World Cup.

A second option at a bigger price is Spain's Oyarzabal. Real Sociedad is having a bad season in La Liga but Oyarzabal has still bagged five goals.

He scored six times in qualifying and his mobility looks to have made him De La Fuente's preferred option in attack. The 28-year-old is +1400 to be top scorer.

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Brazil top team goalscorer - Raphinha (+300)

Still underappreciated, Raphinha is key to Brazil from both a skill and a spiritual perspective, possessing the will to drag his country through when others may not share his abundant drive.

A guaranteed starter under Carlo Ancelotti, the Selecao's wide berths might be filled by either Vinicius Jr. or Gabriel Martinelli on the left. Raphinha's best work comes from wide but he has played as a number 10 at times this season for Barcelona and may do so this summer.

Vini is the +250 favourite to be Brazil's top scorer but his form has been patchy amid speculation he could leave Real and like at Qatar 2022, he may not produce his best performances. 

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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.