Tuesday's World Cup Qualifier Tips: Back a slow start in Serbia & goals for Haaland at 7/5 | OneFootball

World Cup 2026

Paul Higham has his best bets for Tuesday's World Cup qualifiers including a 7/5 shot on Erling Haaland

Paul Higham wraps up his World Cup qualifying tips with a full slate on Tuesday, backing Erling Haaland's goals at 7/5, a slow start for England in Serbia and Austria to land a near 3/1 shot.

Armenia v Rep. Ireland

17:00 kick-offLive on Amazon Prime PPV

Ireland rescued a draw against Hungary in the 93rd minute, and also bagged us a winner in Saturday's tips, but they really should be beating the 105th-ranked Armenia on Tuesday night - even though they're not as big a favourites as you might think at 3/4 having lost on their last trip here in 2022.

Armenia lost 5-0 to Portugal last game and have shipped plenty of goals of late while also losing four in a row at home - including against the Faroe Islands! So Ireland should get it done here eventually even if their lack of firepower means it may not be a huge victory. Evan Ferguson may well prove to be the difference after netting his sixth international goal against Hungary.

Azerbaijan v Ukraine

17:00 kick-off

Ukraine played OK in their 2-0 defeat to France and have a great chance to bounce back against an Azerbaijan side spanked 5-0 by Iceland and branded as "cowards" by their own FA boss - with manager Fernandos Santos winless in 11 (D2 L9) and seemingly running out of time.

The hosts have lost 10 of their last 11 defeats by 2+ goals while Ukraine haven't kept a clean sheet in six of eight victories. I'm not convinced they'll keep a clean sheet here but there should be goals either way.

Albania v Latvia

19:45 kick-off

Just a point between these two in Group K thanks to Albania managing to draw with Serbia, but there's nothing between them as their 1-1 in Latvia in June meant they've now drawn all six head-to-head meetings! Do we dare back another stalemate at 18/5?

It's hard to argue against it, as both sides struggle to score goals. Latvia have managed just two in four games in the group while eight of Albania's last 10 had under 2.5 goals - which you can back at 4/6 here. But styles make fights sometimes and despite Albania being big favourites I'll back Latvia to again take a point.

Serbia v England

19:45 kick-offLive on ITVX, STV & ITV 1

England's toughest game of the group by far sees them travel to Belgrade and face a Serbia side unbeaten in 13 home World Cup qualifiers, so this is a genuine test for Thomas Tuchel, who has attracted criticism for his side labouring despite winning all four games without conceding so far.

Serbia haven't conceded either, but a draw with Albania means they're playing catch-up with the Three Lions. I wouldn't expect all-out attack though as they're a defensive side who haven't let a goal in at home in five game, including against the likes of Denmark, Switzerland and Spain, so this looks like an unders game to me.

I think an England win to nil at 17/10 is in play, but the draw - Dave Tindall's selection in our match preview - wouldn't surprise me either as Tuchel will play it safe and look to pinch a goal later on using his depth off the bench - so to that end preference goes for a goalless first half at 7/4 as I can't see either side taking too many risks in the opening 45 minutes.

Bosnia v Austria

19:45 kick-off

The big guns in the group collide with both having 100% records and only conceding one goal each so far, so games between these two will decide who goes direct to the World Cup and who has to chance the play-offs. The bookies believe it'll be Austria as they're 8/11 to win away here.

In head-to-heads it's all square with a win each and three draws, and Ralf Rangnick would probably take a point at a push with the home fixture still to come, but an away win here puts them in the driving seat. I'll back them to do just that but with both teams scoring - as has been the case in eight of Austria's last 14 games.

Cyprus v Romania

19:45 kick-off

Romania won the first fixture at home and have some pretty strong away form to justify being 4/7 here, as they went 11 games unbeaten on the before narrowly losing 2-1 in Austria last time out. They've beaten Cyprus in 13 of 16 meetings including the last six in a row with four clean sheets - including a 3-0 win on their last visit to the island last October.

France v Iceland

19:45 kick-off

Iceland are actually top of the group after thumping Azerbaijan, but they're 28/1 no-hopers here, with even the draw priced at 11/1 so it looks a walkover for the French, so it's just a case of figuring out just how they'll win this one not if they will.

Kylian Mbappe is just 2/5 to score but Michael Olise is still backable at 5/4 to find the back of the net, as he has done five times in his last four games for club and country. He'll be too good for Iceland and at the price looks a bit of a steal with Didier Deschamps having injuries to Dembele and Doue his options on the right are limited.

Hungary v Portugal

19:45 kick-offLive on Amazon Prime PPV

I don't think Hungary are without a chance here even as big 11/2 outsiders as they're at home and do have some good talent in the squad - but blowing a 2-0 lead in Dublin didn't help their chances of qualifying.

Portugal have more often than not needed a play-off to qualify recently but a victory here would put them well on the road to autmatically make it, and they've got an unbeaten 14-game record against Hungary which includes winning seven of the last eight. There's enough talent on show for this to be a really good game, but I think Portugal will go all Portugal on us and just grind out a scrappy one.

Norway v Moldova

19:45 kick-off

Norway will make it five wins out of five here as they charge towards the World Cup having already beaten Italy in the group to put themselves firmly in the driving seat at the top of the standings. And I can't see any slip-ups here as 1/20 favourites who won 5-0 in Moldova in the reverse fixture.

There's every chance that Norway put Moldova to the sword again, and with the run he's on Erling Haaland should be able to bag a brace quite comfortably.

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