2026 World Cup Picks & Predictions: France vs. Morocco (Thursday)
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is down to just eight teams remaining. The Quarterfinals take place, and we’ll keep providing our 2026 World Cup picks right down until a champion is crowned.
At 4:00 p.m. ET, France and Morocco square off in a battle of powers. The match can be viewed or streamed on FOX, Telemundo, and FOX One. We look to build our bankroll with our top 2026 World Cup picks and predictions for Thursday, July 9th.
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Thursday’s Best 2026 World Cup Picks & Predictions
(Odds courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook)
France (-175) vs. Morocco (+550) | Draw (+280) | O/U 2.5 (+100/-122)
In the first of four Quarterfinal matches, France and Morocco meet at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, at 4:00 p.m. ET on FOX. These two sides met in the Semifinals in Qatar in 2022, with France coming up with the 2-0 victory, as Les Bleus dispatched The Atlas Lions from the tournament after a surprising and deep run.
For Morocco, it needs all hands on deck against France, but striker Ismael Saibari is a question mark due to a hamstring injury. He has netted three goals in the World Cup, but he was forced off against Canada in the Round of 16 match after only 22 minutes due to his injury. It remains to be seen if he’ll be fit to play. The good news is that without Saibari, Azzedine Ounahi managed to score two goals against the Canadians to help Morocco to a 3-0 win, advancing in rather easy fashion. If Saibari cannot go, Ounahi, who plays for Girona FC in La Liga in Spain, will need to step up and be huge again.
France’s Kylian Mbappe, who was a little testy in the 1-0 win over Paraguay in a rough Round of 16 matchup, has scored 19 World Cup goals in his career, one behind Argentina’s Lionel Messi. He’ll not only be looking to help his nation advance, but he is also trying to make history.
France is ranked No. 1 in the FIFA World Rankings, but don’t overlook Morocco. The African nation checked in at No. 6, so this will be a gigantic matchup with huge implications, not only for who advances to the Semifinals, but for who actually wins the World Cup. Both nations possess the skills to win it all.
Les Bleus needed to gut out a 1-0 win over Paraguay last time out, and Mbappe hit a penalty at 70′ to serve as the difference maker. It was a rough-and-tumble game against Paraguay, which committed 13 fouls, although no yellows were shown. France actually had three yellow cards in the match. It also had five shots on goal, to just one for Paraguay, while Les Bleus had five attempts inside the box and 25 total touches in the opposition box. France also won 12 corners, and that’s an area to watch in this matchup with Morocco. The French were tremendously accurate, too, connecting on 510 of 569 total passes, good for an accuracy percentage of 90%, to just 54% (98-of-183) for Paraguay.
Morocco’s 3-0 win over Canada extended the Atlas Lions’ run to 33 consecutive matches without a loss. It maintained 55% possession while taking four shots on goal. Morocco wasn’t terribly accurate on passing, hitting 82% (388-of-473), but Canada was a touch worse at 76%. Morocco won just one corner against Canada, too, and it will need to win more against France. It also had just nine touches in the opposition box, as opposed to 33 for Canada. That is a stunning disparity, and if you looked at those stats, you might think Canada won 3-0 instead.
We’re going to take France on the 3-way moneyline, and let’s go low on the total. In addition, let’s go Under 10 on the total number of corners, and maybe go up to 11 if you’re a little more conservative, but also fold it into a multi-leg parlay. It’s easy to target Mbappe for a goal, but let’s back Ousmane Dembele to get on the board, giving us a chance to more than double up. Michael Olise has also scored three times while posting five assists, and he isn’t a bad option for the chance to multiply up by 2 1/2 times, if you prefer him over Dembele.
Quarterfinal Picks
- France 3-way Moneyline (-175),
- Under 2.5 Goals (-122)
- Under 10 Total Corners (-130)
- Ousmane Dembele Anytime Goal (+220)
- No – Both Teams to Score (-122)
- Correct Score Combinations – France to Win 1-0, 2-0 or 3-0 (+170)