2026 World Cup: 5 best bets for the final group stage games

The final set of World Cup group stage games is here already, which means some teams have everything to play for, some have nothing to play for and many have something in between. Team motivations aren’t always clear. How much do they actually care about a specific Round-of-32 matchup or path to the quarterfinals? How important is resting players? What about protecting them from a potential yellow-card suspension? These questions are somewhat murky, so I tend to stick with games and teams