Welcome to The Athletic’s daily World Cup Predictions.This article gives you the lowdown on all today’s games but with the bonus of some friendly competition…Throughout the tournament, we will have one of two Athletic writers (Andy Jones or Elias Burke — with help from our experts from each of the 48 countries) pitting our soccer knowledge against a different Athletic subscriber each day and ‘Algo’, the shiny new algorithm from The Athletic, which is making its computerised debut during the 2026 World Cup.Oh, and a dog called Stanley and a six-year-old called Wilfred (who some of you may remember from last season’s Premier League predictions).Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app.Our guest subscriber today is Myles, from the U.S., who supports Mexico and Aston Villa. Good luck, Myles!If you would like to apply to be our guest subscriber for a day during this tournament, please follow the instructions in the article here.
Plot each team’s route to the final in our World Cup bracket
Get free access to the most comprehensive World Cup coverage in The Athletic app
What happened on Matchday 26?Spain left it late to book their place in the World Cup quarter-finals as Mikel Merino scored the winner in added time to send Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo — for the last time — home from the World Cup.Spain continues to look like one of the tournament’s main contenders and it’s why all of us predicted they would beat Roberto Martinez’s side.We had a difference of opinion though in the second game of the day as subscriber Myles and Stanley backed the hosts United States while the top three in the table all were hoping Belgium had received a wake-up call after their near-elimination by Senegal.Results from July 6, 2026 TA ExpertsThe AlgoReader PicksWilfred (age 6)Stanley the DogPortugalSpain ESP ESP ESP ESP ESP United StatesBelgium BEL BEL USA BEL USA The build-up to the match was dominated by FIFA’s controversial decision to suspend Folarin Balogun’s one-game ban for the red card he received against Bosnia and Herzegovina, meaning one of the United States’ key players was available. Belgium were not happy, and it appeared to serve as a ‘pin it on the dressing room wall’ motivation as they made an electric start and took the lead through Charles De Ketelaere after nine minutes.Balogun was always going to have some say in the game and it was the free kick he won that led to an equaliser for the United States. Malik Tillman’s effort found the back of the net via a big deflection. But Belgium regained the lead as Leandro Trossard – who is having an excellent World Cup – crossed for De Ketelaere to head in his second.Controversy surrounded the Balogun decision (Carl Recine/Getty Images)Goalkeeper Matt Freese then ventured outside of his box to try and deal with a Belgium attack, but was dispossessed by De Ketelaere and Hans Vanaken capitalised. After another US error, Lukaku confirmed Belgium’s progression into the next round with the fourth goal in added time.The front three of Algo, us (the experts) and Wilfred continue to pull away with Algo still on top by one point. It is still all to play for, especially with rumours swirling that Stanley has contacted FIFA and The Athletic bosses to see if they can change any rules without explanation to facilitate his comeback.OverallaccuracyCorrectpicksBeststreakThe algorithm69%6514TA experts68%6411Wilfred (age 6)66%627Reader picks62%585Stanley the dog39%374How do the predictions work?It’s pretty simple: we will give you some background on each game, players to watch and facts on the two teams. Then we will predict the outcome.
