World Cup

Four Standout Bets for a Huge Play‑Off Night: Turkey 19/20, Denmark 17/20, 11/2 Draw in Warsaw and Slovakia 21/20

53 minutes ago

| BY Sam McLoughlin

Turkey To Win and three or more goals at 19/20 looks good value, as does a Denmark -1 Handicap at 17/20, Poland and Albania to play out a 1-1 draw at 11/2 looks appealing, along with a Slovakia win at 21/20 all with William Hill.

@Footy_Tipster gives his best predictions ahead of this round of fixtures for the World Cup Qualifiers…

Thursday night will see sixteen teams take place in a knockout-style play-off game as they look to progress into the final play-off fixtures next week and continue their 2026 World Cup dreams.

At 5pm, the Tupras Stadium in Istanbul will be bouncing as Turkey welcome Romania in this World Cup qualifier.

At 7.45pm, Denmark and North Macedonia will battle it out at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, the PGE Narodowy in Warsaw will see Poland take on Albania, whilst Slovakia will go head-to-head with Kosovo in Bratislava.

Elsewhere, Italy will take on Northern Ireland in Bergamo, Wales return to Cardiff to face Bosnia, the Czech Republic and the Republic of Ireland will battle it out in Prague, whilst Ukraine and Sweden meet in Valencia.

Now, let’s take a closer look at some World Cup Qualifier odds and betting angles for Thursday’s fixtures:

Turkey v Romania – Thursday, 5pm

Check the latest odds at William Hill.

Quite remarkably, Turkey haven’t been at a World Cup since their memorable third-place finish at the Korea/Japan FIFA World Cup back in 2002, Vincenzo Montella’s side are now just two games away from ending that long wait, with the winners of Slovakia v Kosovo awaiting the winner of this game.
The Crescent-Stars will be full of confidence given the fact they’ve lost just one of their last ten games on home soil, with recent victories against Bulgaria and Georgia making it seven wins from ten in front of their own fans, William Hill make the home side the big favourites at 4/11 to win this within ninety-minutes.
Turkey come into this huge clash unbeaten in their last four outings, including an impressive 2-2 draw away in Spain back in November, whilst five of their last six games have produced at least four goals.
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Romania will be dreaming of heading to the USA again in the summer as it’s a place where they enjoyed their best ever finish in 1994 having reached the quarter-finals, although they haven’t reached a FIFA World Cup since France back in 1998.
Mircea Lucescu’s side travel to Istanbul in fine form having won three of their last four games in all competitions (L1), although they are winless in their last three away games (D1, L2), William Hill make Romania 5/1 to progress here.
Romania will fancy their chances of getting on the scoresheet at least given they’ve scored in each of their last eight away games but it’s hard to ignore Turkey on home soil and the home side should progress here.

Prediction: Match Result and 3 or More Goals in the Match – Turkey (19/20), Turkey 3-1 Romania (10/1).

Denmark v North Macedonia – Thursday, 7.45pm

Agree with our picks? Check the odds now.

Denmark will be looking to bounce back from their late heartbreak against Scotland in that 4-2 defeat back in November, a defeat which now means the Danes have to go through this play-off route if they are make it to their third consecutive World Cup.
Brian Riemer’s side should be confident of reaching next week’s final given they’ve lost just one of their last twenty home games (W16, D3), with their sole defeat coming against Spain so it’s now surprise to see Denmark at 1/4 with William Hill to win this one.
Denmark have scored first in four of their last six home games, whilst each of their last five home games have seen three or more goals, so a comfortable home victory in this one should be expected.
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North Macedonia finished third in their World Cup Qualification group, behind Wales and Belgium but despite a 7-1 thumping in their last outing in Wales, they have another chance here to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup due to their UEFA Nations League campaign.
The Lions are the underdogs for this one but they’ll be dreaming of reaching their first-ever World Cup finals, the two sides haven’t met since a friendly back in 2013 and North Macedonia will be hoping to replicate that victory, they are a huge 17/2 to win this one on William Hill’s ‘2 up’ market.
Just two of North Macedonia’s last seven away games have seen both teams on the scoresheet, i’m going to back Denmark to win this one to nil and continue their fine form on home soil.

Prediction: Denmark -1 Handicap (17/20), Denmark 2-0 North Macedonia (5/1).

Poland v Albania – Thursday, 7.45pm

Think there’s value? See the current price at William Hill

Poland are on the hunt for a tenth World Cup appearance and their third successive qualification, Jan Urban’s side have lost just one of their last ten games in all competitions (W7, D2).
Poland should be fairly confident ahead of this fixture with Albania, not just because of their recent run of form but the fact they return to home soil where they’ve lost just one of their last six games (W5), William Hill have priced the White-Reds at 4/6 to win this inside ninety-minutes.
Poland have won eight of their last nine meetings against Albania but did actually lose their last meeting 2-0 back in September 2023, this is an intriguing encounter and i don’t think we’ll see much to split the sides.
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Albania managed to qualify for the European Championship finals back in 2016 and most recently 2024 but a FIFA World Cup finals is still missing, they are just two games away from creating a bit of history here for the nation.
Sylvinho’s side have only lost to England in their last ten outings, their two defeats to Thomas Tuchel’s side played it’s part in terms of Albania finishing second albeit ten points behind the Three Lions but confidence should be high as they’ve won five of their last six games.
I’m not expecting too many goals in this one given no more than two goals have been scored in twelve of Albania’s last fifteen competitive international games, the away side are 9/4 to progress into the final next week with William Hill.

Prediction: Under 2.5 Goals (4/7), Poland 1-1 Albania (11/2) – Poland To Win In Extra Time (8/1).

Slovakia v Kosovo – Thursday, 7.45pm

Odds are moving – check the latest here.

Slovakia had the chance to qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup but their 6-0 defeat away in Germany meant Francesco Calzona’s side had to settle for second and will have to go through this play-off route if they are to secure a WC finals spot.
Victories in their next two games would secure a WC finals spot for the first time since 2010 and welcome Kosovo having lost none of their last eight games on home soil (W6, D2), that bodes well and William Hill price the home side at 21/20 to win this within ninety-minutes.
It’s worth noting that only one of Slovakia’s last eleven games have seen both teams find the back of the net, suggesting Thursday’s game could be a low-scoring affair.
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Kosovo are still dreaming of their first FIFA World Cup appearance as an independent nation and travel to Slovakia in fine form having won eight of their last eleven games in all competitions (D2, L1).
Franco Foda’s side won’t be too concerned about playing this one away from home either given they’ve won three of their last four games on foreign soil including wins at Sweden and Slovenia, you can back Kosovo to qualify here at 11/8 with the leading bookmaker.
This is the first meeting between the two nations but both sides tend to be involved in low-scoring affairs and this one shouldn’t be any different, i’m going to back Slovakia just to edge it with a narrow victory.

Prediction: Slovakia To Win (21/20), Slovakia 1-0 Kosovo (9/2).

All odds subject to change – prices correct at the time of writing

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