The ticking time bomb that is greatest tournament in the world is counting down at a frenetic rate, and before a cacophony of football explodes over your television screens this summer there are just a handful of fantasy games that might just attract your attention…
The Sun Dream Team
We start with the offerings from our popular red-top magazine, and for the princely sum of five of the Queen’s pounds fantasy managers have the potential to win money from a prize pool of £250k – the overall winner being the recipient of £100k alone.
With a £250m budget and few restrictions when it comes to selection – only 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 are valid, unlimited selection from any team, and of course this being the sun, each team must have at least one England player – team choice is reasonably simple. The game also offers an ‘interesting’ scoring matrix with extra rewards going to all the little ducks in the row that The Sun like – each game the star man gets as 5 point supplement (equal to that of a goal), as well as another 3 points for any player who reaches 7 out of 10 in The Sun ratings.
If you’re willing to hand over a few sheckels and compete against the tribe of the white van man and the hoardes of multi-entrant managers who are likely to throw big money at this, there is the potential of great financial gain. Bizarrely however the first transfer window is now in place, so if you’ve yet to join, you’ll need to get your initial team selection spot on; the time for tinkering has passed in this one.
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Ultimate Dream Team
If you were one of the real fantasy addicts, looking for a score last summer you will remember these guys – they kept the fantasy game alive as the Confederations Cup ventured to South Africa last year, and they have returned once more with one of the simplest games on offer.
In case those who played have forgotten, the rules here are very generous – no budget, up to 4 players a team (and increasing) and a heavy dose of frequent transfer allowance – generous indeed. Stir in some generous points scoring – midfielders get handsome rewards for a clean sheet, and win/draw bonus to supplement in match returns.
If you want a nice simple game that should be able to attract players down to the mildly interested World Cup fever managers in your office pool, this might just be perfect for you.
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The Guardian World Cup
My daily newspaper set out to offer us a fantasy game that is distinctly lacking in much of anything, let alone fantasy appeal.
The Guardian’s offering is for those of you looking to set up a mini-league (emphasis on mini) and not much else. Once managers have chosen their team (3 players per country maximum) and got themselves acquainted with the familiar point scoring of this game they can either join a public or private league of up to 11 managers, and then that’s it.
On the whole, it’s a perfectly acceptable effort really, but if you want to compete against the world, or just more than 10 other people it’s distinctly lacking in any variety. One for the small time mini-league manager, and not much else.
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Fantasy Stakes
Fantasy Stakes is the gamblers fantasy game, and they have returned with their offerings for this World Cup in tow.
Through five rounds managers can back their fantasy credentials from £2 upwards, with the potential reward of taking every other managers stake as a prize if you have one of the best scores of the round; the manager with the best accumulative score of their best team(s) throughout the tournament will also walk away with a £1000 bonus, and £100 for the five runner ups.
This game will offer you the the regular fantasy hit that you may desire, while also adding in some spice of potential (and frequent) cash returns. However be warned, it’s not as easy as it looks, and managers just like you will be looking to earn a little extra cream on top of their World Cup pie.
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Total FPL
The folks over at Total FPL have created an offering that probably the greatest kindred spirit to the ISM run games we play frequently through the regular season (Fantasy Premier League (FPL), Can You Kick It and Uefa Champions League).
Total FPL seem to have had a conscious understanding of what was popular in the Fantasy Premier League games over recent years and created a game that has taken many of the successful attributes to the game. A reasonable budget is permitted to select a 15 man strong squad with unlimited transfers through multiple rounds in the group stages. The scoring is nigh on identical, with bonus points here calculated from multiple news sources. The contentious emergency captains rule has been left behind with a vice-captain on offer in this game.
A passionately set-up up game for those who want a familiar looking atmosphere this summer, thumbs up.
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Fantasy Cheaters
Last but not least is a game from a different end of the spectrum that is well worth checking out, and could bring a whole new view on how you watch the tournament – everyone around in the pub will be screaming in frustration, while you sit there reveling in your unique fantasy returns.
Goals, assists and clean sheets all mean nothing here – a completely new scoring matrix is on the cards at Fantasy Cheaters as all sorts of contentious actions will reward your fantasy squads. Take a dive? That’s 5 points. Feign an injury? 3 more points. Steal yards on a throw/free-kick? Chalk up another 2 points to your fantasy score. Pick the dirtiest, scummiest, sneakiest players you can find.
Fantasy Cheaters looks to offer an entirely different experience to supplement your World Cup journey, enjoy as your players lie, beg and steal your way to the top of the fantasy tree.
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We have just about covered every World Cup game on offer this summer, so now all that is left is to go away and decide which horse you want to back. If you want to compete against the masses on this site then I suggest you dip your toes in the world of McFantasy, but as represented there are more than a few options that may take your fancy.
McDonalds/Fifa Fantasy World Cup
Metro Fantasy World Cup
Sky Sports Fantasy World Cup
ESPN Fantasy World Cup
Telegraph Fantasy World Cup
For details on joining our official Scout Leagues, check out the middle column on the frontpage for all the codes you need.