A late flurry brought World Cup Fantasy returns for Brazil’s premium assets on Friday, while those who invested in Iceland after their draw with Argentina were left disappointed.
There were big wins for Nigeria and Switzerland which rewarded a select few Fantasy managers.
We’ve got all the latest updates from another day of World Cup action.
BRAZIL 2-0 COSTA RICA
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Philippe Coutinho (£9.0m) – 7 points
- Marcelo (£6.5m) – 6 points
- Joao Miranda (£5.5m) – 6 points
- Thiago Silva (£6.0m) – 6 points
- Wagner (£5.0m) – 6 points
- Neymar (£12.0m) – 5 points
- Gabriel Jesus (£9.0m) – 5 points
- Douglas Costa (£8.0m) – 5 points
- Keylor Navas (£5.0m) – 4 points
Brazil left it incredibly late to beat Costa Rica in a match they looked destined to draw. Keylor Navas (£5.0m) had been the star of the show, making a total of seven saves, before two stoppage-time goals won it for the Selecao.
Philippe Coutinho (£9.0m) and Neymar (£12.0m) were the goal-scorers that got Brazil over the line after both going close at various stages in the fixture.
For all of Brazil’s possession though, the best chance to open the scoring fell to Costa Rica who looked more dangerous in the early exchanges.
A pull-back from Bryan Ruiz (£7.5m) was well-met by an Celso Borges (£6.5m) advancing into the box, but he could only drag his shot wide.
It was in the second half that Brazil really piled on the pressure. In the 49th minute Wagner’s cross was headed onto the bar by Gabriel Jesus (£9.0m). From the rebound, Paulinho (£8.5m) teed the ball up for Coutinho, whose shot from inside the penalty area was well blocked by Christian Gamboa (£5.0m).
Minutes later another drag-back from Paulinho saw Neymar force an excellent save out of Navas. Shortly after, Neymar’s flick-on was driven towards goal by Coutinho, this time straight at Navas.
In the 79th minute there was serious drama as referee Bjorn Kuipers awarded a penalty for a pull-back on Neymar. However, after reviewing the incident, he overturned his decision. Neymar wasn’t booked for diving but was shown a yellow card minutes later for punching the ball away after a foul on a Costa Rican player.
By this point it was looking as if Navas would emerge as the match’s top-scoring Fantasy player, but Coutinho had other ideas.
A ball played into the box for Gabriel Jesus bounced off the Manchester City striker and fell to Coutinho, who stabbed home from close range between Navas’ legs.
With Costa Rica now chasing the match to try and find an equaliser, space opened up for substitute Douglas Costa (£8.0m) to square for Neymar to score in the 97th minute.
Danilo (£5.5m), who had started the last three matches in a row in the absence of Dani Alves, missed out himself due to a thigh injury. Fagner (£5.0m) took his place against Costa Rica.
BRAZIL XI (4-3-3): Alisson; Marcelo, Joao Miranda, Thiago Silva, Wagner; Paulinho (Roberto Firmino 67’), Casemiro, Coutinho; Neymar, Gabriel Jesus (Fernandinho 92’), Willian (Douglas Costa 45’).
Costa Rica XI (3-4-2-1): Navas; Acosta, Gonzalez, Duarte; Oviedo, Guzman (Tejeda 83’), Borges, Gamboa (Calvo 75’); Venegas, Ruiz; Urena (Bolanos 53’).
NIGERIA 2-0 ICELAND
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Ahmed Musa (7.5m) – 10 points
- Kenneth Omeruo (£4.5m) – 9 points
- Francis Uzoho (£4.0m) – 6 points
- Leon Balogun (£4.5m) – 6 points
- William Troost-Ekong (£4.5m) – 6 points
- Victor Moses (£7.0m) – 5 points
Extreme differential Ahmed Musa (£7.0m) was the star of the show for Nigeria as his brace gave the Super Eagles their first win of the World Cup. The 0.3 percent of Fantasy managers invested in him were delighted to receive a double-figure haul for his efforts.
Meanwhile, those who kept faith in goalkeeper Francis Uzoho (£4.0m) and the Nigerian defence were rewarded with an unexpected clean sheet.
As seems to be the recurring theme at this tournament it was a dull opening period where neither side created many chances.
Nigeria opened the scoring in the second-half hitting Iceland very well on the break. In the aftermath of a long-throw for Iceland, Victor Moses’ ran down the right-wing with blistering pace. His cross into the box was controlled brilliantly by Musa and fired into the net on the volley.
Wilfried Ndidi (£5.0m) nearly made it 2-0 to Nigeria in the 56th minute with a powerful shot from distance. Hannes Halldorsson (£5.0m) did well to parry it over the bar.
Nigeria continued to turn the screw and had another chance to go 2-0 up in the 73rd minute when Musa had a shot from range canon off the bar, Halldorsson beaten.
Minutes later, Musa did make it 2-0 taking in a deep clearance from Kenneth Omeruo (£4.5m) on the left-flank, using his pace to leave Iceland’s defence for dead. Cutting inside he waited until Halldorsson was committed and slammed into an unguarded net.
Gylfi Sigurdsson (£8.0m) had the chance to get Iceland back into the game in the 82nd minute after Alfred Finnbogason (£6.5m) was fouled in the box by Tyronne Ebuehi (£4.0m). However, the Everton man blazed the penalty-kick over the bar.
ICELAND XI (4-4-2): Halldorsson; Magnusson, R Sigurdsson (Ingason 64’), Arnason, Saevarsson; Bjarnason, Gunnarsson (Skulason 86’), G Sigurdsson, Gislason; Bodvarsson (Sigurdarson 70’), Finnbogason.
NIGERIA XI (4-5-1): Uzoho; Idowu (Ebuehi 45′), Troost-Ekong, Balogun, Omeruo; Musa, Mikel, Ndidi, Etebo (Iwobi 89’), Moses; Iheanacho (Ighalo 84’).
SERBIA 1-2 SWITZERLAND
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Granit Xhaka (£7.0m) – 7 points
- Xherdan Shaqiri (£8.5m) – 6 points
- Dusan Tadic (£8.5m) – 5 points
- Aleksandr Mitrovic (£7.5m) – 5 points
- Mario Gavranovic (£7.0m) – 4 points
Xherdan Shaqiri (£8.5m) was the hero for Switzerland as they came from behind to beat Serbia.
The Stoke City man registered his second goal involvement of the tournament on Friday night by netting a stoppage time winner.
Aleksandr Mitrovic (£7.5m) put Serbia in front after just five minutes of play, heading into the net from Dusan Tadic’s (£8.5m) cross.
Serbia continued to dominate proceedings for the rest of the first-half but could not extend their lead.
Switzerland looked revitalised in the second-half and were given a huge boost when Granit Xhaka (£7.0m) scored an incredible 52nd minute equaliser.
After Shaqiri’s shot was blocked the ball came out to Xhaka who hit it first time from 30 yards out and nearly broke the back of the net.
What followed was an end-to-end encounter with both sides pushing for a winner, but with the match stretched, Switzerland soon capitalised on space behind the Serbian defence.
Substitute Mario Gavranovic (£7.0m) sent Shaqiri clear and his powerful run took him all the way round the goalkeeper to net the winner in the 91st minute.
SERBIA XI (4-2-3-1): Stojkovic; Kolarov, Tosic, Milenkovic, Ivanovic; Matic, Milivojevic (Radonjic 81’); Kostic (Ljajic 65’), Milinkovic-Savic, Tadic; Mitrovic.
SWITZERLAND XI (4-2-3-1): Sommer; Rodriguez, Akanji, Schar, Lichsteiner; Xhaka, Behrami; Zuber (Drmic 94)’, Dzemaili (Embolo 73’), Shaqiri; Seferovic (Gavranovic 45’).
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.
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, which begins on June 14 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…
