Lionel Messi and his Argentina colleagues disappointed large numbers of World Cup Fantasy managers on Thursday night.
However, those invested in Croatia’s differentials reaped the benefits of the surprise result.
We’ve got all the big Fantasy talking points from day eight of the World Cup right here.
ARGENTINA 0-3 CROATIA
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Luka Modric (£9.0m) – 8 points
- Ivan Rakitic (£8.5m) – 8 points
- Danijel Subasic (£5.5m) – 7 points
- Domagoj Vida (£5.5m) – 6 points
- Ivan Strinic (£5.0m) – 6 points
- Dejan Lovren (£5.0m) – 6 points
- Sime Vrsaljko (£5.5m) – 5 points
- Marcelo Brozovic (£8.0m) – 5 points
- Ante Rebic (£5.5m) – 4 points
- Mateo Kovacic (£7.5m) – 4 points
Lionel Messi (£12.0m) was virtually anonymous as Argentina suffered their heaviest World Cup defeat since 1958 on Thursday night.
The Barcelona man had one shot on goal (off target), registered just two touches in the opposition penalty box and lost possession 13 times. In fact, only three of Messi’s team-mates touched the ball fewer times in the match.
Luka Modric (£9.0m) and Ivan Rakitic (£8.5m) were on hand to take full advantage of Argentina’s meltdown, and they were the top-scoring Fantasy pair.
In the first-half it was a fairly even encounter with both sides having chances to score. Maximiliano Meza (£5.5m) is one to keep on the Fantasy radar after he played just behind Sergio Aguero (£10.0m) in a 3-4-2-1 formation and had three shots in Croatia’s box, the joint-highest of any midfielder in Gameround 2 so far.
Ante Rebic (£5.5m) eventually broke the deadlock in fortuitous circumstances when Willy Caballero (£5.0m) fluffed his 53rd minute clearance straight to the forward. All the Fiorentina man had to do was volley the ball into the unguarded top corner to put Croatia in front.
Argentina flooded bodies forward in their attempts to get back into the match but their over-commitment to attack, coupled with a somewhat unbalanced team selection, led to them being opened up in the final moments.
Croatia hit them on the break in the 80th minute and Marcelo Brozovic’s (£8.0m) square pass allowed Modric to smash a wonderful goal past Caballero from distance.
Rakitic rounded off the scoring in stoppage time from another devastating Croatia break, which resulted in him slotting home uncontested from Mateo Kovacic’s (£7.5m) pass.
There were unexpected clean sheets for the Croatia defence and goalkeeper Danijel Subasic (£5.5m) added a save point to his haul too.
ARGENTINA XI (3-4-2-1): Caballero; Tagliafico, Otamendi, Mercado; Acuna, Perez (Dybala 68’), Mascherano, Salvio (Pavon 56’); Meza, Messi; Aguero (Higuain 54’).
CROATIA XI (4-2-3-1): Subasic; Strinic, Vida, Lovren, Vrsaljko; Brozovic, Rakitic; Rebic (Kramaric 57’), Modric, Perisic (Kovacic 82’); Mandzukic (Corluka 92’).
DENMARK 1-1 AUSTRALIA
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Christian Eriksen (£9.0m) – 9 points
- Mile Jedinak (£6.0m) – 7 points
- Nikolai Jorgensen (£8.0m) – 5 points
- Mat Ryan (£4.5m) – 3 points
- Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) – 3 points
It was two England-based players who scored the goals in Denmark’s 1-1 draw with Australia.
Christian Eriksen (£9.0m) and Mile Jedinak (£6.0m) were both on the scoresheet in a game of two-halves.
Eriksen broke the deadlock in wonderful fashion seven minutes in, when he received a knock-down from Nikolai Jorgensen (£8.0m) on the edge of the box. The Tottenham man rifled the ball high into the net past Mat Ryan (£4.5m) to register his 18th goal involvement in his last 17 international matches.
Denmark looked much the better side in the aftermath of that strike but a 38th minute penalty, awarded by VAR for Youssef Poulsen’s (£6.5m) handball, halted their momentum.
For the second time in as many matches, it was Jedinak who stood up to take the spot-kick, comfortably dispatched to Kasper Schmeichel’s (£5.0m) left. The goal was the first the Leicester City goalkeeper had conceded for the national side in nine hours and 32 minutes of football.
The tables turned in the second-half with Australia completely dominating proceedings and Denmark unable to get out of first-gear.
There were chances for Mathew Leckie (£6.0m) and Robbie Kruse (£7.0m) but no breakthrough was found and the game finished level.
Even though neither side kept a clean sheet there were additional points for goalkeepers of both sides. Ryan and Schmeichel most finished the match on three points each.
Australia XI (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Risdon, Sainsbury, Milligan, Behich; Jedinak, Mooy; Leckie, Kruse (Arzani 67’); Rogic (Irvine 81’), Nabbout (Juric 74’).
Denmark XI (4-2-3-1): Schmeichel; Dalsgaard, Kjaer, Christensen, Larsen; Schone, Delaney; Eriksen, Poulsen (Braithwaite 59’), Sisto; Jorgensen (Cornelius 67’).
FRANCE 1-0 PERU
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Kylian Mbappe (£9.0m) – 6 points
- Hugo Lloris (£6.0m) – 6 points
- Raphael Varane (£6.0m) – 6 points
- Samuel Umtiti (£6.0m) – 6 points
- Benjamin Pavard (£4.5m) – 6 points
- Lucas Hernandez (£5.0m) – 6 points
France registered another uninspiring win to confirm passage from Group C into the second round of the World Cup.
This time it was Peru who fell to French, despite more spirited play from the South Americans. Their defeat eliminated them from the competition.
The debate about whether Paulo Guerrero (£7.5m) and Jefferson Farfan (£7.0m) can start a match in the same eleven waged on. This time it was the latter who missed out on a place in the starting line-up after the former was named on the bench against Denmark.
The Peruvians had plenty of possession and looked the more likely to score in the first-half, but then France took the lead, somewhat against the run of play.
Olivier Giroud (£9.0m) was sent into the box by Paul Pogba (£9.0m), his shot across goal was blocked by Ramos to take it away from goalkeeper Pedro Gallese (£4.5m). That made for the simplest of finishes for Kylian Mbappe (£9.0m) who slotted into an empty net. The touch from the defender denied Giroud an assist.
Gareca made two substitutions at half-time, introducing Farfan in the place of deep-lying midfielder Yoshimar Yotun (£5.5m) to play alongside Guerrero and Anderson Santamaria (£4.5m) on for Alberto Rodriguez (£5.0m).
The second-half was more of the same. Peru putting the pressure on to no avail with France failing to sparkle even on the counter.
FRANCE XI (4-3-3): Lloris, Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernández; Pogba, Kanté, Matuidi; Griezmann (Fekir 80’), Mbappé (Dembele 74’), Giroud
PERU XI (4-2-3-1): Gallese; Advincula, Rodriguez (Santamaria 45’), Ramos, Trauco; Aquino, Yotun (Farfan 45’); Flores, Cueva (Ruidiaz 82’), Carrillo; Guerrero.
World Cup Data
We’re delighted to offer World Cup data as an early addition to our regular season offering to help those playing Fantasy games over the summer.
We’ve secured Opta data, not only for the tournament itself, but also from the Qualifying Rounds for Europe and South America and for international friendlies involving the participating nations. This includes all the matches played right up to the tournament kick-off.
Just to stress, this World Cup offering comes packaged with the regular Fantasy Football Scout membership.
Check out this new trailer previewing the World Cup content below…
McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy
Join our McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy league ‘FantasyFootballScout’ using the code: HEWJPVYR
Fantasy iTeam
Fantasy Football Scout is supporting Fantasy iTeam, a free World Cup game available on a number of mobile devices, including iPhone, iPad, iPodTouch and Android. We have an official Fantasy Football Scout League open to UK users only, with a £1000 of Amazon vouchers to give out, split between the top three performers. There’s also the small matter of £10k worth of prizes available in the main competitions: Overall World Championship and Manager of the Gameround.
Click here for details and here to sign up.
Our League name is Fantasy Football Scout and the pin is 1887.
Please note, users must be over 18 and based in the UK to join our league.
