Andy Schooler has made a decent start to the World Cup 2026 – here’s his preview of Tuesday’s four games, including France v Senegal.
FIFA World Cup 2026: June 16th 2026 Tips
Didier Deschamps will leave his role as France boss at the end of the World Cup – will he finish with a flourish and repeat Les Bleus’ famous 2018 triumph? The market suggests they have a strong chance, while a look at their forward options must fill opponents with dread. Either Rayan Cherki or Desire Doue will miss out here, with Michael Olise and Kylian Mbappe the nailed-on starters.
However, there are reasons to believe France might not be as strong as the market suggests. The midfield, where Adrien Rabiot still prowls, certainly isn’t the strongest in the tournament, while Dayot Upamecano still fails to convince me. While I may be wrong, it’s certainly fair to say he has a mistake or two in him. And you only have to go back to Euro 2024 to remember this was a bunch of players which didn’t function well as a team, famously failing to score from open play in the first five games of the tournament.
World Cup 2026: France v Senegal
Group I, New York/New Jersey (BBC, 8pm)
Against a side as good as Senegal, they could find more problems. The Lions of Teranga went unbeaten in qualifying, conceding just three goals, and that defence gave them a platform to win January’s Africa Cup of Nations – they let in just two goals while doing so. At least on the pitch, that is – they’ve since been stripped of the title and are currently appealing.
I’m a little tempted to get with the Africans in some shape or form but they aren’t huge underdogs so are only 1.53 to cover the +1.5 handicap line which isn’t big enough for me. In the player props markets, Pape Gueye has potential for shots. The midfielder hit 2+ in eight of his last nine starts for Senegal, doing so in all five of his AFCON games. He likes to stride forward – as evidenced by his winning goal in the final in January – and so even money about a repeat has potential, if you feel Senegal will see enough of the ball.
World Cup 2026: Iraq v Norway
Group I, Boston (BBC, 11pm)
It’s hard to know how good this Norway team really is. They smashed it up in qualifying, winning eight out eight and scoring 37 goals in the process. The machine that is Erling Haaland got 16 of them! Two of the victories came against Italy, although their travails in recent years very much suggest they are a fading force and maybe those results are being given greater weight due to the historical context.
I’m not sure we really find out too much more about the Norwegians in this match either, sadly. In a group also containing France and Senegal, the Asian side look by far the weakest in this pool. They struggled to qualify, finishing third in their main group, scoring just nine goals in their 10 matches. That meant a series of play-offs, with Iraq eventually sealing their finals spot by winning what was their 21st qualifying game against Bolivia in March.
Most recently, they lost to Venezuela but that came just a few days after a 1-1 draw in Spain – a rare outing against European opposition – so they clearly do have that ability to thwart. Still, facing Haaland is going to be a different threat and Norway have shown what they can do against weaker opponents. The Man City star has a decent supply line, with Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard the man often mentioned in that context.
However, the lesser-known Julian Ryerson is interesting to me here. The right-back loves to get forward and he managed four assists in eight qualifiers. He’s since added two more in the warm-up win over Sweden. That follows on from his season at Dortmund where he managed 14 in 33 starts. He’s 3.53 for an assist in this contest, admittedly not a price for everyone but one that could well deliver if Norway do hit the goal trail again here.
World Cup 2026: Argentina v Algeria
Group J, Kansas City (ITV, 1am Wed)
The holders start firm favourites to both win this game and the group which is fair enough given the talent in their squad. There were doubts over Lionel Messi’s participation for some time but the 2022 Golden Ball winner is back for more, although at almost 39 he could be used sparingly at times – and this game in the heat of Kansas City is unlikely to see him play the full 90 0minutes.
Messi certainly looked ready to go when appearing as a substitute in the warm-up win over Iceland when he played a series of perfectly-weighted passes to create openings. That skill may well be needed here, with Algeria having proved tough to beat in recent years – they’ve lost just three competitive games since the Argentines lifted the trophy in Qatar.
Given what I saw in that Iceland game, Messi is tempting for an assist at 2.7, although that game-time issue is certainly a concern, especially given the relatively short-for-the-market price. On the Algerian side of things, Ramy Bensebaini looks an interesting one in the player-card market. The centre-back is going to be one of those trying to stop those Messi line-cutting passes and he could get turned a few times here while doing so.
He’s been carded in 21 of his 81 international appearances, while he’s just finished the season with Dortmund having received nine in 32 games. Sadly, he’s not much of a price (2.37) so I’m happy to sit this one out.
World Cup 2026: Austria v Jordan
Group J, San Francisco (BBC, 5am Wed)
I’d be lying if I said was an expert on Jordanian football but what I do know about the Middle Eastern side is they were unconvincing in qualifying for what is their first World Cup. They finished well behind South Korea – but crucially ahead of Iraq – to progress.
However, dig deeper and you find they only scored one goal in four games against their fellow top-three sides, while they couldn’t beat the group’s bottom team, Kuwait, in either of their two matches. Indeed, their only wins of the campaign came against Oman and Palestine. Austria are a significant step up from that and are considered tournament dark horses by some.
They topped a group containing France and the Netherlands at Euro 2024 and boss Ralf Rangnick has them playing an aggressive, attack-minded brand of football. It’s not hard to see Jordan producing a mistake or two if they try to pass their way around the Austrian press. I think Austria could win this quite comfortably and there are a couple of strong contenders in the goalscorer markets.
Former West Ham and Stoke man Marko Arnautovic scored eight in seven qualifiers as an average of one every 53 minutes. However, it’s the ex-Manchester United man Marcel Sabitzer who is the man I like the most. He’s scored in all three warm-up friendlies and has now netted in nine of his last 18 internationals. A number of fellow World Cup nations were among his ‘victims’ in that run, including Netherlands, Turkey and Bosnia so this isn’t flat-track bully stuff from the Dortmund star. A weak Jordan look decent opponents for Sabitzer to continue that scoring run.
World Cup 2026: Best Bets, Tuesday June 16
Pape Gueye 2+ shots @ 2.0 with kwiff
Ryerson 1+ assist @ 3.53 with kwiff
Sabitzer anytime scorer @ 2.55 with kwiff
By Andy Schooler
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