FIFA World Cup Day 20 Betting Parlay Picks: Mexico look to remain unbeaten
The World Cup’s first-ever Round of 32 knockout stage continues with three more matches on Tuesday – the first two in the United States and the third in Mexico as we close out June. My most recent World Cup parlay picks were Day 13 last Tuesday, and that was profitable if you followed on the soccer odds.
Ivory Coast vs. Norway
Location: Arlington, Texas
Time: Tuesday, 1 p.m. ET
How to watch in Canada: TSN, TSN+
The winner will face Brazil or Japan in the Round of 16 on Sunday. Ivory Coast is one of a whopping nine African teams of 10 that qualified for the Round of 32 with Tunisia the only outlier.
The Elephants finished the knockout round tied with Germany atop Group E with six points but lost the goal differential edge and thus finished second. Nicolas Pépé leads the club with two goals in the tournament, while the rising star is 19-year-old Yan Diomande, who has a goal. Diamonde reportedly is close to a transfer move to Champions League winner Paris Saint-Germain. Right-back Wilfried Singo is in doubt injured.
Norway has arguably the world’s top goalscorer in Erling Haaland. He had a brace in each of his team’s first two matches, both wins, before Haaland and others were rested in the group finale 4-1 loss to France to finish second in Group I. While the Norwegians have looked dynamic offensively with Haaland and captain Martin Ødegaard, the defence has been shaky in allowing seven goals. Norway has kept just one clean sheet in the last 10 outings overall.
Ivory Coast vs. Norway betting pick: Both teams to score -145
Parlay pick: Norway +0.5 and Erling Haaland anytime goal
France vs. Sweden
Location: East Rutherford, N.J.
Time: Tuesday, 5 p.m. ET
How to watch in Canada: TSN, TSN+
The winner will face Germany or Paraguay in the Round of 16 on Saturday. France finished atop Group I with three wins, outscoring its foes 10-2. Ousmane Dembele took only 32 game minutes against Norway in the group stage finale to a hat trick, the second-fastest hatty from kick-off in World Cup history. He has four goals total as does fellow superstar Kylian Mbappe.
Lionel Messi for Argentina against Algeria, and Jonathan David for Canada against Qatar were the only other players to grab a group-stage hat trick this year. In previous French history, only Just Fontaine in 1958 and Mbappé in 2022 had scored a World Cup hat trick. No team has looked better than Les Bleus yet, and they are the +350 tournament favourites.
Sweden finished with a win, loss and draw in Group F and advanced as one of the top third-place teams in the tournament. The Swedes have two stellar direct-attack strikers of their own in Alexander Isak and Viktor Gyökeres, who have combined for two goals and five of Sweden’s six assists in this tournament. The country will be missing injured defender Isak Hien for the rest of the World Cup.
France vs. Sweden betting pick: Both teams to score -110
Parlay pick: France moneyline and over 1.5 team goals
Mexico vs. Ecuador
Location: Mexico City
Time: Tuesday, 9 p.m. ET
How to watch in Canada: TSN, TSN+
The winner will face England or the DR Congo in the Round of 16. Argentina, France and Mexico were the only teams to advance with a full nine points. Mexico and Spain were the only teams to advance without allowing a goal.
Mexico’s Gilberto Mora, at 17 years and 240 days, became the sixth-youngest player to make a World Cup appearance. El Tri easily won Group A, meaning both of the country’s first two knockout-round matches would be at the legendary Estadio Azteca in the altitude of Mexico City should it win here.
Ecuador, which finished third in Group E, is one of the best defensive clubs in the field and has allowed just two goals thus far. It’s a matter of whether Ecuador can score as both its goals came in a 2-1 upset of Germany to advance. The game before that Ecuador was held to a 0-0 draw by little Curaçao thanks to a whopping 16 saves from their keeper Eloy Room. Those were the most ever registered in a 90-minute World Cup match.
These countries play frequently and did last October, a 1-1 draw in Mexico.
Mexico vs. Ecuador betting pick: Mexico to qualify (-180)
Parlay pick: Mexico or tie regulation and under 2.5 goals