World Cup 2026 betting tips: Group B predictions, best bets and preview

Football

Tue June 02, 2026 · 2h ago

We break down every team, in every group in our World Cup 2026 betting guide. Group B features Bosnia and Herzegovina, co-hosts Canada, Qatar and Switzerland.

Football betting tips: World Cup

2.5pts Bosnia and Herzegovina to reach the round of 16 at 11/4 (Coral, Ladbrokes)

Sky Bet odds | Paddy Power | Betfair

Fixtures & kick-off times (BST)

June 12: Canada 20:00 Bosnia
June 13: Qatar 20:00 Switzerland
June 18: Switzerland 20:00 Bosnia
June 18: Canada 23:00 Qatar
June 24: Switzerland 20:00 Canada
Bosnia 20:00 Qatar

Canada

Led by former Leeds boss Jesse Marsch, CANADA will be hoping to make their home tournament a successful one as they line up as one of the three co-hosts.

Confidence should somewhat be there for them too with just one defeat (at the time of writing) from their last 15 games in 90 minutes - that being a 1-0 friendly defeat to Australia - but their showings in competitive tournaments haven't quite reflected that.

Beaten by Guatemala on penalties in the 2025 Gold Cup quarter-final, they would finish fourth in the 2024 edition of the Copa America before losing to Mexico in the semi-finals of the CONCACAF Nations League.

The same opponent could be waiting for them at the first knockout stage, making the 7/4 on ELIMINATION IN THE ROUND OF 32 an interesting prospect.

Jesse Marsch will be hoping to lead Canada to the knockout stages

The runner-up of this group faces the second-placed side from Group A while finishing third gives you a group winner from elsewhere, although that's a difficult one to fully predict.

While we shouldn't fully judge a team based on performances in friendlies, we have little else to go at with Canada in recent months and four of their previous five have ended in draws, two of which were goalless.

I can't quite place this team but they've not exactly caught the eye when it comes to their preparations, with some reservations about how suitable 'Marsch Ball' is to tournament football as well.

Bosnia

Two successful play-off penalty shootouts secured BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA's spot at the World Cup. The win over Italy in the final leading to celebratory scenes on the streets which swept across social media.

They may have needed the play-offs route but their qualification campaign could be viewed as a real positive. Winning five of their eight in the group, Bosnia netted 17, conceded seven and finished just two points behind group winners Austria.

While I won't be taking the 500/1 on them winning the whole thing, this looks like a side which can prove to problematic for some should they replicate a few of their qualification performances.

Bosnia ranked 14th of 54 for average shots per game but it's their direct approach which could work in their favour. Of all the European nations who made it to the tournament, Sergej Barbarez's side topped the charts for long passes attempted.

They backed it up with aerial showings too ranking fourth (of 54) overall for aerial duels won - Czechia the only other UEFA team at the tournament with a better return.

Barbarez has demonstrated some ability to adapt as well as they switched between a back-three and the preferred 4-3-3 in the play-offs.

Given the tournament structure and the way it could work out, the 11/4 on them REACHING THE ROUND OF 16 is actually becoming one of my favourite bets the more I look at it.

As far as I can tell following the bracket, the only possible round of 32 fixture which would make this price not worth it based on the 1/3 odds to qualify is Germany - one of two possible opponents if a third-placed team comes from Group B. The majority of the others shouldn't really see them as significant outsiders, with some contests likely to place them as favourites.

Qatar

Set to prop up the group are QATAR, four years on from their home tournament which ended in three defeats from three.

This time around delivered a qualification process which made them work. They went through four rounds of it before finally securing their place after topping a group containing the UAE and Oman.

Julen Lopetegui is at the helm but he'll have his work cut out getting anything from this tournament. They'll likely stick with the 4-4-2 (and slight variations of it) used throughout qualifying.

Defeat to Ireland in a World Cup warm-up, a side who played with ten men for the entire second-half, hardly provided the confidence that they'll cause any upsets in North America.

The 4/7 price for them to FINISH BOTTOM OF THE GROUP doesn't appeal a great deal but I certainly wouldn't put anyone off including it in the tournament accumulators.

Switzerland

SWITZERLAND are made the favourites to WIN GROUP B and that seems fair based on previous tournament showings. They're certainly the most experienced of the four.

An unbeaten six-game qualification campaign allowed them to top the group with just two goals conceded to 14 scored across that period. Kosovo, Slovenia and Sweden failed to deliver any real tough tests.

They join Bosnia and Canada in being aggressive out of possession in their pursuit to win the ball back. They'll be a part of what should be an entertaining group overall.

Protecting the ball when they have possession is another priority with a focus on short passing rather than more direct efforts forward. They also averaged the fewest yellow cards in European qualifying but, again, that could be down to the uncompetitive nature of their group.

Murat Yakin has been clear in his preference of playing a 4-3-3 formation but they have gone with a back-three previously (they did so at Euro 2024).

They've been knockout stage regulars over the past three tournaments and we can fully expect that to happen again here, particularly with the extra places on offer through the third-placed qualifying.

With Yakin at the helm, Switzerland have shown that they are a well-drilled tournament team. They shouldn't have too many issues against a third-placed side in the round of 32, while also fancying themselves in a potential one-off clash with Portugal in the round of 16.

Odds correct at 14:00 BST (02/06/26)

Group previews

Outright previews

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