World Cup Round of 32 action continues today in the beautiful cities of Inglewood, Toronto, and Vancouver. Spain continues its push to reach the 2026 World Cup Final, while Ronaldo makes an appearance in Portugal’s knockout contest with Croatia early this evening.
PrizePicks Team Picks returns a 1.11x payout on La Roja to advance to the Round of 16, paired with underdog payouts hinting that Croatia and Algeria may each have a puncher’s chance to upset Portugal and Switzerland respectively.
Read this morning’s breakdown as we forecast our top World Cup predictions today in the Round of 32 at PrizePicks.
Make your World Cup predictions for the Round of 32 on PrizePicks today!
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World Cup Predictions, Schedule, Payouts to Advance, Spreads, Over/Unders – Thursday, July 2
Before jumping into today’s World Cup match predictions, let’s glance at the full schedule for the Round of 32 on Thursday, July 2, including payouts and totals for each match via PrizePicks.
Team Picks markets are settled after full-time (90 minutes + stoppage). Extra time and penalties are not included.
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.
Spain vs. Austria: Round of 32
How to Watch Spain vs. Austria: FOX (English) / Telemundo (Spanish)
Kick-off Time: 3 p.m. ET
Venue: SoFi Stadium (Los Angeles Stadium), Inglewood, California
- Winner Payout: Spain 1.11x | Austria 5.88x
- Spread: Spain -1.5 (1.92x)
- Total Goals: Over 2.5 (1.69x) | Under 2.5 (2.08x)
Portugal vs. Croatia: Round of 32
How to Watch Portugal vs. Croatia: FOX (English) / Telemundo (Spanish)
Kick-off Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Venue: BMO Field (Toronto Stadium), Toronto, Ontario, Canada
- Winner Payout: Portugal 1.36x | Croatia 2.94x
- Spread: Portugal -1.5 (2.85x)
- Total Goals: Over 2.5 (1.75x) | Under 2.5 (2x)
Switzerland vs. Algeria: Round of 32
How to Watch Switzerland vs. Algeria: FOX (English) / Telemundo (Spanish)
Kick-off Time: 11 p.m. ET
Venue: BC Place (BC Place Vancouver), Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
- Winner Payout: Switzerland 1.44x | Algeria 2.63x
- Spread: Switzerland -1.5 (3.7x)
- Total Goals: Over 2.5 (2.08x) | Under 2.5 (1.69x)
With kick-offs set for today’s knockout stage action at World Cup 2026, it’s time to highlight our World Cup predictions for Thursday, July 2. Which teams will advance to the Round of 16?
Spain vs. Austria Total Prediction for World Cup Round of 32
La Roja had a great effort in 2026’s group stage, unless you count the embarrassing 0-0 draw with Cape Verde which began Spain’s latest FIFA World Cup. Today’s encounter may take Spain right back to June 15, when a determined foe was focused on keeping them off the board.
SoFi’s underdog Austria is widely expected to change its tactics, not pursuing the free flow that minted a dramatic 3-3 draw with Algeria on Matchday 3. Austria may rely on a low block instead of feeding striker Marko Arnautović, an angle that’s got total-goals speculation in limbo.
History compels the Over/Under prediction for Spain vs. Austria to remain at just 2.5 goals, a potential pittance for a mismatch featuring a favorite as talented as Rodri’s La Roja. Spain’s strikers were wayward in their last World Cup knockout bout, falling to Morocco on a tiebreaker in Qatar 2022’s Round of 16.
Das Team’s manager Ralf Rangnick may know his back line doesn’t have the horses to hold off Spain. The squad ranks 42nd out of 48 World Cup teams with 109 forced turnovers, after all. Austria’s form did improve when it earned its share of possession in Argentina’s 2-0 victory on June 22.
Algeria hogged the ball on Austria more than Messi’s team did. If Spain enjoys 70% possession time, the underdog’s weaknesses could come out. Spain may romp in a high-scoring game if Austria loosens up again, perhaps bringing that over-total pick into focus.
Lock in your Spain vs. Austria prediction on PrizePicks before kick-off.
Portugal vs. Croatia Spread Prediction for World Cup Round of 32
Cristiano Ronaldo appears in Toronto having silenced a few of his naysayers in the group stage. The soccer community is giving CR7 and his team a vote of confidence ahead of the Round of 16.
Portugal and Croatia have way more head-to-head history than many knockout pairs of North America 2026. Portugal’s sunny speculation for today’s match is boosted by the Lusos’ fine record against the Checkered Ones, 7-2-1 per 11v11, the only loss being from a 2024 friendly.
Portugal could be a paper tiger in the 2026 World Cup. Facing weak Uzbekistan, against whom CR7’s tired form worked in concert with younger attackers such as João Félix, Portugal soared 5-0 for its only triumph of the event thus far.
In a subsequent 0-0 draw with Colombia, the Portuguese were outplayed, giving up 1.70 expected goals to the Coffee Growers.
Ronaldo has never scored a goal in a World Cup knockout match.
Croatia remains one of the most sorely underrated teams in FIFA. New faces such as midfielder Petar Sučić are boosting a lineup of grand old veterans such as Ivan Perišić at forward.
There's also plenty of moxie for a side that’s won five World Cup knockouts since 2018.
Who will advance from today’s Portugal vs. Croatia match? Make your World Cup prediction on PrizePicks!
Switzerland vs. Algeria Winner Prediction for World Cup Round of 32
Switzerland isn’t always in the World Cup, but the Swiss make the best of it when they are. The A-Team has reached the Round of 16 in five of its eight bids, playing in the quarterfinals twice.
As Hannibal Smith said, you love it when a plan comes together.
Switzerland is a favorite to further that record and advance to the Round of 16 with a win over Algeria tonight. But the side’s lack of a dominant striker makes many skeptical of the Swiss winning in impressive style. The Swiss were spanked 6-1 by Portugal in Qatar 2022’s trip to the knockout stage.
Algeria is among the many African teams staging a coup for their continent against UEFA and CONMEBOL. Forward Riyad Mahrez’s 2 goals at the 2026 World Cup make the tuned-in veteran an interesting matchup against the A-Team’s left back Ricardo Rodríguez.
The Algerians are also among the five best passing teams of North America 2026, per FIFA. Switzerland’s new rival is leaving space for opponents in midfield, however.
Algeria gave up a majority of possession to Austria in a 3-3 draw that many would argue Austria should've lost. Algeria doesn’t share the great defending of other CAF teams, making Switzerland a potentially more intriguing prospect to beat Algeria than another given African squad.
Make your Switzerland vs. Algeria prediction and picks on PrizePicks!
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Make World Cup Predictions Today for Round of 32 on PrizePicks
Will today’s Round of 32 matches feature another upset or a performance by a favored team’s striker that makes us forget Cinderella?
Don’t wait until lock — make your World Cup Round of 32 predictions on PrizePicks now. With Team Picks, you can make predictions on World Cup match winners, spreads, over/unders, and futures, now available in 35 states.
Plus, you can pick World Cup players, predict More or Less on their stats, and cash in if you’re right with player picks!
Stay locked in on Playbook for daily World Cup 2026 predictions, picks, news, and analysis.
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