France vs. Iraq Prediction, Picks, Lineups for World Cup 2026 Today

France vs. Iraq kicks off Matchday 2 action for Group I on Monday, June 22, at 5:00 p.m. ET with 3 crucial points on the line for one of the tournament favorites.

Iraq are massive underdogs after a 4-1 defeat to Norway in their opening fixture. France are overwhelming favorites to win outright, returning a 1.06x payout on PrizePicks Team Picks if they claim each point.

Our PrizePicks World Cup power rankings reflect this massive gap in expectations. France sits atop the most recent update, while Iraq sit fourth from the bottom. 

France know they need to win — and win big — to set themselves up to potentially win Group I should they draw next time out with Norway. Iraq know a loss here all but seals their fate of advancing from the group stage given their horrific goal differential. 

Below, we’ll break down our France vs. Iraq prediction and picks for Monday’s World Cup match, including the spread, total goals, and key player picks for PrizePicks.

Make your France vs. Iraq prediction and World Cup picks on PrizePicks now! 

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France vs. Iraq Prediction, Spread, Over/Under – Monday, June 22

How to watch France vs. Iraq: FOX (English) / Telemundo & Peacock (Spanish)

Kickoff Time: 5:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Philadelphia Stadium, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Group: Group I

For 45 minutes, France looked like they might be headed for a shock result, much like Spain. The attack wasn’t flowing, players were getting in each other’s way, and they managed just 1 shot and 3 penalty-box touches heading into the break.

One tweak to the formation by Didier Deschamps fixed all of that. Michael Olise moved from the right side into the No. 10 role, with Ousmane Dembélé shifting to the right. And boy, did it work.

No longer were Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé getting in each other’s way. Olise was given freedom to roam around and drift into open spaces, and he did a marvelous job of it. The result was a 3-1 win over Senegal, with Mbappé scoring a brace and the French attack looking lethal as ever.

Deschamps knows now what could help early: scaring this Iraq side. Norway dropped 4 goals on them, including 2 from Erling Haaland, and scored on all but 1 of their 5 shots on target. 

Iraq competed well for long stretches but eventually capitulated, as Norway kept throwing wave after wave of pressure.

Norway managed 25 touches in the penalty area and attempted all but a lone shot from inside the box. Iraq also helped by committing 4 errors leading to a shot, 2 of which resulted in goals.

Iraq did find a goal on their only effort on target, but their 0.07 xG per shot is one of the lowest marks in the competition. Their 46 completed passes in the final third are also among the fewest of any nation.

France is more ruthless than Norway and has far more attacking threats as well. If Iraq doesn't take care of the ball and find a way to push France back, this one could get ugly in a hurry. 

With France needing to keep up with Norway’s goal differential in Group I, they’ll have ample reason to push for more goals, even with a lead.

Speaking of getting ugly, keep an eye on the weather. The forecast for the Philadelphia area is calling for thunderstorms through 7:00 p.m. ET, with high winds and quite a bit of lightning. There’seven the possibility of tornadoes with the storm. 

Each lightning strike within eight miles of the stadium would trigger a 30-minute suspension in play, so we could see a significant disruption to the match. 

The heavy winds may be more likely to impact Iraq than France, who are much better at moving the ball on the ground. The match flow could see Iraq trying to spring long counter moves, with long passes being more subject to wind interference.  

France vs. Iraq: Favorite to Win, Spread, Total Goals – Monday, June 22

France enters today’s match as prohibitive favorites, returning a 1.06x payout if they win outright, via PrizePicks Team Picks. A win today would put them at 6 points, potentially setting up a winner-take-all match with Norway.

Meanwhile, Iraq will look to spring one of the biggest upsets of the competition by staying compact and trying to frustrate the French attack and escape with at least a point.

Here are the full payouts for the Netherlands vs. Sweden match on PrizePicks Team Picks — a sports prediction market live in 35 states!

• Winner Payout: France – 1.06x | Tie – 9.09x | Iraq – 22.22x
• Spread: France -2.5 | Yes - 1.66x | No - 2.13x 
• Total Goals: 3.5 Goals | Yes - 1.75x | No - 1.96x
• Both Teams to Score: Yes 2.7x | No 1.42x

Payouts show potential returns on correct Team Picks predictions. A 2x payout returns $200 on a $100 entry. Lower multipliers reflect outcomes users are picking as more likely. Payouts are live as of writing and subject to change.

Make your France vs. Iraq spread or goals on PrizePicks Team Picks —available in 35 states!

France vs. Iraq Prediction on Total Goals for World Cup 2026

Here are the key stats and trends for France vs. Iraq before making your World Cup 2026 predictions on PrizePicks.

• France scored 3 goals in their opener vs. Senegal from 8 shots on target, with their 11 shots in total registering 1.79 xG. Two of the goals were scored inside Senegal’s penalty area, with the third coming from an Mbappé belter from long range.
• The 4 goals in the match marked the sixth time in eight matches for France that at least 4 goals have been scored. They've scored at least 3 goals themselves in five of their last seven fixtures.
• France has conceded at least 1 goal in six consecutive matches as teams continue to take advantage of question marks at their left back position. 
• Iraq’s 4-1 defeat to Norway ended a run of 17 consecutive matches where no more than 3 goals were scored. However, most of those matches came against sides who are not in the World Cup.
• In addition to their four world-class attackers who started against Senegal, France has the likes of Bradley Barcola, Jean-Philippe Mateta, and Rayan Cherki. This could provide them the ability to relentlessly attack the Iraq defense, much as Norway did in their win, well into the dying moments. 

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France vs. Iraq Lineups for World Cup 2026 – Monday, June 22

Here are the projected France vs. Iraq lineups for today's World Cup match. Lineups are not official and are based on historical data.

France Lineup vs. Iraq Today

Projected Formation: 4-2-3-1

• Goalkeeper: Mike Maignan
• Defense: Jules Koundé, William Saliba, Dayot Upamecano, Théo Hernández
• Midfield: Aurélien Tchouaméni, Adrien Rabiot
• Forwards: Ousmane Dembélé, Michael Olise, Désiré Doué, Kylian Mbappé

Iraq Lineup vs. France Today

Projected Formation: 4-4-2

• Goalkeeper: Jalal Hassan
• Defense: Hussein Ali, Zaid Tahseen, Akam Hashim, Merchas Doski
• Midfield: Ibrahim Bayesh, Zaid Ismael, Amir Al-Ammari, Ahmed Qasem
• Forwards: Aymen Hussein, Ali Al-Hamadi

France vs. Iraq Picks, Player Stats for World Cup: 6/22/26

Here are the top France vs. Iraq player picks to target on Monday, June 22. Today’s World Cup 2026 picks for PrizePicks are headlined by Kylian Mbappé and Jalan Hassan.

France ST Kylian Mbappé Pick vs. Iraq: 2.5 Shots on Target

• Mbappé scored a pair of goals from 4 shots on target against Senegal in France’s opener. This is despite not attempting a single shot in the first 56 minutes of the match.
• All of Mbappé’s efforts were on target. This includes the final goal, a screamer from well over 30 yards out that put the match to bed. 
• Nearly all of Norway’s shots vs. Iraq came from close range, as they funneled the majority of their attack through their two tall strikers and via set pieces. France should attack from far more angles and typically will fire from distance whenever given the opportunity.
• The shift of Olise into the playmaking role behind Mbappé paid dividends. Not only did Olise assist one of his goals, but he found the striker five times on the day. 

Combine Kylian Mbappe + France World Cup picks for bigger payouts on PrizePicks.

Iraq GK Jalal Hassan Pick vs. France: 5 Saves 

• Data for some of Iraq’s matches during World Cup qualification isn't available due to the size of the nations Iraq was facing. However, we have save data from 16 matches going back to the start of 2024. 
• In those 16 matches, Hassan has made 5 saves in just three and has never made more than 5 saves in a single match.
• Norway put just 5 shots on target against Hassan in the previous match. He made 1 save and committed an error leading to a goal.
• France put 8 shots on goal vs. Senegal, scoring thrice, and averaged 2.7 goals from 7.7 SOT during UEFA World Cup qualification.

Combine Iraq + Jalal Hassan World Cup picks for bigger payouts on PrizePicks.

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Make Your France vs. Iraq Prediction for World Cup on PrizePicks

France aims to win convincingly against Iraq to set up a massive showdown with Norway to finish out group play. Can Iraq find a way to hold on and steal a shocking point off one of the world’s best sides?

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