World Cup Qualifier Tips: Back Belgium to win Wales shootout & 9/5 Nusa to strike for Norway | OneFootball

World Cup 2026

Paul Higham has best bets for all six of Monday's World Cup qualifiers

Paul Higham has his rundown of Monday's World Cup qualifiers with best bets for each game, including goals for Croatia and Italy and Antonio Nusa to shine for Norway.

World Cup Qualifying fixtures - Monday June 9

Kick-off 19:45 BST unless stated

Kazakhstan v North Macedonia

15:00 kick-off

North Macedonia caused something of a shock on Friday night when they bagged a draw against Belgium that not many saw coming (although we did tip them up on the double chance!) and now they're looking to back that up in Astana.

They're actually in decent form, unbeaten in nine with six wins to nil and three 1-1 draws, so I like them at 11/10 to beat a Kazakhstan side ranked 113th who've only beaten Liechtenstein and Curacao in the last 15 games (D1 L12).

Belgium v Wales

That draw with North Macedonia wasn't a great start for Rudi Garcia's side, who have two games in hand to make up the six-point gap on Wales, but would love to beat Craig Bellamy's side to gain that extra advantage.

And Belgium have gone three World Cup qualifying campaigns without suffering a single defeat, so the 15/2 on a Wales win may even be a touch skinny give the sort of record they're up against.

Bellamy, who is unbeaten in nine games as Wales boss, has vowed to attack so expect this game to go the way of ther last five meetings and see both teams score at 21/20. But if Wales come out and try to go toe-to-toe with Belgium then I think there's only one winner.

Croatia v Czech Republic

Croatia kicked-off their campaign by hammering Gibraltar 9-0, and they're 5/6 favourites to make it two wins from two and extended 10-game winning runs both in World Cup qualifiers and in home games in all competitions.

The Czechs have won four on the spin though including a 2-0 success over Montenegro on Friday and with Patrik Schick scoring four in three they'll certainly bring a goal threat with them.

So that bodes well to extend Croatia's recent run of five of their last six World Cup qualifiers containing over 2.5 goals.

Estonia v Norway

Norway are 1/14 favourites to win in Tallinn after their superb 3-0 demolition job against Italy on Friday, which made if five wins on the spin with 21 goals scored by Stale Solbakken's flying squad.

Estonia have let in seven goals in their last three games, and conceded three in the last couple of home games, so Erling Haaland, Alexander Sorloth and friends should have plenty of chances to provide another big goals return.

Most odds around a Norway win are pretty restrictive as a result of their recent form - the visitors to score over 3.5 goals at 6/4 is probably the pick - but instead we'll back in-form Antonio Nusa to score anytime at 9/5.

Haaland and Sorloth are odds-on to find the net but 20-year-old Nusa has bagged four goals in three games so has every chance of scoring here at a decent price.

Faroe Islands v Gibraltar

Two minnows colliding here with these two already combing for five defeats from five games, 17 goals conceded and just two scored - so facing each other gives them both a chance of a rare positive result.

Faroe Islands are big favourites and even they should be able to score against this woeful Gibraltar defence - but scoring issues for both means there won't be too many goals here.

Italy v Moldova

Italy are already under pressure after losing their opener in Norway on Friday, so a home tilt against Moldova is just what Luciano Spalletti needs to calm the nerves, and the question marks being raised over his position.

The Azzurri have been very un-Italy like recently as eight of their last nine games have seen over 2.5 goals, as did four of their five wins over Moldova, and I'd expect a similar outcome here as the hosts hit back in style.

Now read all the rest of our match previews & best bets for the latest round of World Cup qualifiers

Recommended bets

Back North Macedonia to beat Kazakhstan @ 11/10 Back Belgium to beat Wales & both teams to score @ 11/4 Back Croatia to beat Czech Republic & over 2.5 goals @ 15/8 Back Antonio Nusa to score for Norway @ 9/5 Back Faroe Islands win & under 2.5 goals @ 15/8 Back Italy to win & over 3.5 goals @ 5/6