The 2026 World Cup has been whittled down to just eight teams after a dramatic round-of-16 and three of the last four winners of the competition are still in with a chance of adding to their trophy haul, including both finalists from the 2022 edition.
The quarterfinals kick off on Thursday as France face Morocco, running through Spain versus Belgium on Friday and England vs Norway on Saturday, before the final four are settled as defending champions Argentina lock horns with Switzerland in Kansas City.
As the quarterfinals get under way, here are our picks, predictions and best bets for this phase of the 23rd edition of soccer's biggest international showcase.
Kylian Mbappe to score in France vs Morocco (-125)
A hot-tempered match in Philadelphia saw Kylian Mbappe net his seventh goal of the 2026 World Cup, and the France captain could continue his quest for a record-breaking second consecutive Golden Boot award.
The Real Madrid forward is a goal shy of Lionel Messi at the top of the goalscoring charts, but he has scored an incredible 19 goals in 19 World Cup appearances and is only two behind Messi in the all-time leading goalscorer records.
Mbappe scored twice against Senegal, Iraq and Sweden before netting the only goal of the game against Paraguay and has registered 26 shots and 17 attempts on target so far.
Morocco may be stiff opposition, but they were beaten 2-0 by France in the 2022 World Cup semifinals and have conceded 12 goals in five previous meetings with Les Bleus.
Spain to beat Belgium to nil (+175)
Euro 2024 champions Spain have built their World Cup campaign on a seemingly impenetrable defence, and that stalwart back line should prevail once again when they face fellow Europeans Belgium in California.
La Roja’s 1-0 win over Iberian rivals Portugal in the round of 16 means they are yet to concede a goal this World Cup, and they have rarely ridden their luck.
Portugal managed just two shots on target in that defeat, meaning Luis de la Fuente’s side have allowed their opponents a total of five shots on target in five World Cup games, limiting them to 1.49 expected goals.
Belgium may have turned on the style in their 4-1 win over the United States, but they were extremely fortunate to come from behind to beat Senegal and they struggled to break down both Egypt and Iran in the group stages.
The Red Devils have lost their last five meetings with Spain and scored just one goal against them in that run, so expect their campaign to end in Inglewood.
Over 2.5 goals in Norway vs England (-139)
Two of world football’s best strikers go head-to-head at the Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, and that opens the door for another goal-filled encounter.
Erling Haaland and Harry Kane are both in the hunt for the World Cup Golden Boot and, while England struggled against low-block defences in the group stage, they have shown their attacking quality against more open teams.
Their 3-2 win over Mexico was a thriller from start to finish and was the third time in five games that over 2.5 goals has landed, with the Three Lions’ games averaging 3.2 goals per game.
That is dwarfed by Haaland’s Norway, who have seen a massive 21 goals across five matches and showed that they fear nobody as they eliminated Brazil in the round of 16.
Three or more goals have been scored in eight of these teams’ ten combined games this tournament and a similar outcome is expected in Miami.
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Argentina to beat Switzerland & both teams to score (+333)
Defending champions Argentina looked to be on the brink of World Cup elimination with just over 20 minutes remaining against Egypt, but talisman and captain Lionel Messi inspired them to a stunning late comeback and another thrilling match could be in store in Kansas City.
La Albiceleste have won 11 of their last 12 games inside regulation time and have the quality to beat a Switzerland side that scraped past Colombia on penalties, but Lionel Scaloni’s men are unlikely to have it all their own way.
They have conceded five goals in three games against Jordan, Cape Verde and Egypt, and underdogs Switzerland have scored in nine of their last 11 games.
Johan Manzambi may be forced to sit this one out, but the Rossocrociati still have plenty of quality going forward in Breel Embolo, Dan Ndoye and Ruben Vargas, and they should be able to make the defending champions work for their spot in the semifinals.
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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.
