Nick Seddon takes a look at the three FIFA World Cup 2026 knockout fixtures due to take place on Tuesday evening, which includes tournament favourites France.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Nick Seddon’s Tuesday Best Bets
Our opening fixture pits two tournament dark horses against each other and there’s every chance we’ll see plenty of goals, with a Round of 16 tie against Brazil at stake. A last-gasp defeat to Germany saw Ivory Coast finish as slightly unfortunate runners-up in Group E, though they’re not to be underestimated in their first ever World Cup knockout tie.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Ivory Coast v Norway (BBC One, 6pm)
Les Éléphants were economical rather than impressive when seeing off both Ecuador and Curaçao in their section, keeping a clean sheet on both occasions. In Nicolas Pépé, Amad Diallo and Yan Diomandé they have a high-class front-line that will look to soak up pressure and hurt their opponents on the counter-attack, an approach which worked to perfection in their warm-up victory over France.
Meanwhile, Norway have lit up the tournament so far, scoring seven goals when blowing away Iraq and Senegal before resting their key players against France. It’s difficult to call this result, but we’re almost certainly assured of goals, with both teams scoring in all three of Norway’s finals games. Erling Haaland is central to everything his side do and siding with the big man to find the net at 1.78 and both teams to score at 1.60 looks the play.
FIFA World Cup 2026: France v Sweden (ITV1, 10pm)
France rarely broke a sweat when winning their group with maximum points, performances which have seen them shorten into 3.20 outright favouritism for the trophy. Les Bleus will be quietly looking ahead to the prospect of a rematch of their 2022 semi-final victory over cultural neighbours Morocco in the last eight, with Paraguay up next. Didier Deschamps’ men scored 10 goals in the group stage, with Kylian Mbappé notching four of those.
The Real Madrid maestro looks a good price at 3.40 to score first considering he’ll be keen to keep up with current top scorer Lionel Messi (on six goals, with Cape Verde next). Sweden escaped their group for the fifth time in a row when qualifying as one of the best third-placed sides, though they’re 4.80 underdogs to go any further. The French will be wary of a genuinely world-class front pairing of Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres, who tore apart Tunisia, but a heavy defeat to now-eliminated Netherlands highlighted their fragilities.
The Swedes showed plenty of fight when holding Japan to a draw to get here, but aside from moments of individual quality, they look a long way short of troubling France. With Sweden likely to try and stay in this as long as possible, it could be worth having a go on slow starters France to win this in the second half, at an appealing 3.50 with kwiff.
FIFA World Cup 2026: Mexico v Ecuador (ITV1, 2am)
Mexico are one of just three sides to enter the knockout rounds with a flawless record and they’ll be hoping to set up a tasty Round of 16 tie with England by dispatching Ecuador. The fact that Mexico have recently cut all diplomatic ties with their South American opponents is a fascinating sub-plot to this, but they look worthy 2.05 favourites to win in 90 minutes based on what they’ve shown on the pitch.
El Tricolor had one of the easier sections, but each of South Africa, South Korea and Czechia were put away without too much fuss. Mexico are unbeaten in nine World Cup games at the Azteca and they’ll be tough to stop in front of a partisan crowd. Ecuador moved from embarrassment to ecstasy within a matter of days last week, when bouncing back from a meek goalless draw with minnows Curaçao to upset Germany.
That victory saved Sebastián Beccacece’s job in the process, though it’s hard to see them going too far into the knockout round. A defensive approach is key to everything that La Selección do and they’ll look to keep things tight and try to frustrate the hosts. One goal is likely to be enough and it’s worth siding with Mexico to pinch a 1-0 victory at 3.85, with a small saver on Mexico to win to nil at 2.85 in case they double their lead late on.
H3: World Cup 2026: June 30th Selections
Back Erling Haaland Anytime Goalscorer in Ivory Coast v Norway @ 1.78 with kwiff
Back Both Teams to Score in Ivory Coast v Norway @ 1.60 with kwiff
Back Draw/France Half Time/Full Time of France v Sweden @ 3.50 with kwiff
Back Kylian Mbappé First Goalscorer in France v Sweden @ 3.40 with kwiff
Back 1-0 Mexico Correct Score in Mexico v Ecuador @ 3.85 with kwiff
Back Mexico & No in Full-time Result & BTTS in Mexico v Ecuador @ 2.85 with kwiff
By Nick Seddon
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