World Cup Goal Scoring Picks, Odds, Predictions for Thursday, June 25, 2026
Thursday’s slate of matches includes the United States’ final group stage match, and the good news is that there won’t be a result to hope for or sweat over — no matter what happens, the Yanks are on to the Round of 32. The bad news, though, is that four players have already been hit with yellow cards in the tournament, including leading scorer Folarin Balogun, and another yellow card in the match against Türkiye for any of them means sitting out the first game of the knockout rounds.
So that will impact the goalscorer selections for a busy day of contests, which is highlighted by the much-anticipated Germany-Ecuador match — though Ecuador hasn’t quite held up its end of making this a big showdown with its offense-challenged performances thus far. That group also features Curaçao and Côte d’Ivoire, which have been entertaining throughout the tournament though not prolific in front of goal.
Group F also gets decided on Thursday, with Netherlands getting Tunisia — the only team in this tournament to have had two managers each lose a match, thanks to the switch to Hervé Renard after Tunisia’s 5-1 loss to Sweden, followed by Tunisia’s 4-0 loss to Japan — and Japan playing Sweden in what should be a high-octane showdown.
Look for these players to score on Thursday. Make sure to check out our World Cup match trends page for daily odds, insights, and betting data for each game.
Thursday’s Best 2026 World Cup Goal Scoring Picks
- Deniz Undav, Germany
- Brian Brobbey, Netherlands
- Gio Reyna, United States
Deniz Undav, Germany
Remarkably, Deniz Undav has five goal contributions, including a goal in Germany’s 7-1 opener against Curaçao and a brace against Ivory Coast — including a goal deep in stoppage time — to bring his team back from a surprise deficit to eke out a 2-1. Even more remarkably, Undav’s done this as a sub in both matches.
While Germany has a wealth of attacking talent, Ecuador does have one of the sturdier defenses in the tournament, and goals might be harder to come by here than in any previous match Germany’s played. While Germany’s head coach Julian Nagelsmann has publicly wondered if starting Undav might ruin a good supersub flow he’s been able to maintain with Undav coming into matches off the bench, it might be prudent to get maximum minutes from the one player he’s been able to count on thus far in the tournament.
Brian Brobbey, Netherlands
Against Sweden, Netherlands figured out a formation that worked, putting Brian Brobbey in the middle of a front three with Cody Gakpo on one side and Donyell Malen on the other. Brobbey scored the first two goals in what turned out to be a 5-1 rout of a team that won its first match 5-1.
In facing a Tunisia team that’s let in nine goals between matches one and two, and already eliminated heading into match three, Netherlands could be scoring a lot in this one. Playing Brobbey will open up scoring opportunities for others, but based on what he did against Sweden, look for Brobbey to resume his scoring ways.
Gio Reyna, United States
In the United States’ first match, based on his brace, Folarin Balogun looked like he was going to be a consistent goalscorer in all group stage matches. Against Australia, though, he was held scoreless and picked up a yellow card — though he was also instrumental in engineering the opening own goal and remained a threat in the 2-0 victory.
Gio Reyna has gotten limited minutes in the tournament thus far, but scored one of the best goals of the tournament to affix the icing to the U.S.’ 4-1 win over Paraguay, introducing even seasoned soccer fans to the trivela — in which a player kicks the ball with the outside of the foot to create unusual spin.
With the result of this match against Türkiye inconsequential — as the U.S. only took two matches to win its group outright — look for manager Mauricio Pochettino to rotate or at least mininize minutes for players in danger of being suspended for the Round of 32 if picking up a yellow card in this match. While it’s also a match in which Christian Pulisic should see minutes, he is coming back from a calf injury, so it may be as a sub to minimize the risk of aggravating it ahead of the more consequential matches that lie ahead.
While that’s not good if you’re rooting for Balogun’s Golden Boot chances, this match should give Reyna an opportunity to pick up significant moments and show what he can do. He’s a mercurial player but an unquestioned talent, and he’s the type to make the most of a start and create lineup questions going forward.
Photo Credit: AP/Olivia White
