World Cup DFS Picks & Strategy: Tuesday, June 16th

by Zach Thompson (zt_sports) Last Updated 2026-06-16 15:13:30 Premium Content Part of the product Soccer Premium

The World Cup continues today with 4 more games from Group Play. Group I and Group J step up for their first turn of the tournament. The 4 matches kick off a little later than yesterday, beginning at 3:00 PM ET with kickoff every 3 hours throughout the rest of the day, with the last game getting rolling at midnight on the east coast. DraftKings has some more great contests on the board, so let’s dive in and break it down.

We start with back-to-back games from Group I, France (#2 in the current FIFA rankings) takes on Senegal (#16), followed by Iraq (#57) vs. Norway (#31). France is the clear favorite to win the group, with Senegal and Norway each strongly favored to advance, according to the odds coming into the tournament from DraftKings Sportsbook.

Group J takes us home with the two later games, as top-ranked Argentina makes their World Cup debut against #27 Algeria. The midnight nightcap will feature Austria (#24) taking on Jordan (#65). Argentina is the clear favorite to win this group and is in the top 5 for shortest odds to win the tournament. Austria and Algeria are also strongly favored to advance.

Just a reminder that the tournament has been expanded this year to include more teams in both the Group Stage and Knockout Round. As a result, the top 2 teams will be moving on from each group, and the top 8 3rd-place teams will earn a spot in the Round of 32 as well.

Since we haven’t seen these teams in action, the rankings and odds can be helpful in determining which teams to lean into as you assemble your lineups. The heaviest favorites are Norway over Iraq, while Austria, Argentina, and France are also favored by -200 or more on the moneyline, but as we saw on Monday, that doesn’t guarantee anything.

If you’re new to soccer DFS, don’t worry! We have you covered with my Beginner’s Guide to Daily Fantasy Soccer, our soccer player projections, and our soccer optimizer (LineupHQ). And last but not least, don’t forget to check out our World Cup DFS Simulation tool. So you should be set if you are wanting to sweat any or all of the 104 matches in the 2026 World Cup.

Forwards

Top Play: Erling Haaland, Norway ($10,700)

Haaland is coming off another Golden Boot for Manchester United in the English Premier League. He has claimed the prestigious award that is given to the highest scorer in the league in 3 of the last 4 seasons and piled up 27 goals in 35 appearances, while adding 8 goals in 9 games in the Champions League.

Even though Man City finished 2nd in the EPL, Haaland continues to establish himself as one of the top scorers in the game. He is now ready to compete in his first major international tournament after helping Norway qualify for its first World Cup since 1998. Haaland racked up 16 goals in 8 games to help them qualify, and he’ll be the focus of the team’s attack as they look to open with a strong showing against Iraq.

Haaland will definitely be the focus of the defense as well, but with Martin Odegaard ($8,800) running things creatively out of the midfield, Haaland will likely be too much for Iraq to handle in the first match of Group Play.

The 25-year-old superstar will be ready to burst onto center stage, and his individual abilities and huge workload make him a great pay-up forward to build around.

To read more and also unlock the full capability of the above projections tool, sign up for Soccer Premium!

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