Australia and Denmark have it all to play for in this afternoon’s World Cup double-header, but it’s France – who have already qualified for the last 16 – who Fantasy managers are invested in.
Five French players have ownerships of 10% or more in McDonald’s FIFA: Hugo Lloris (£6.0m), Raphael Varane (£6.0m), Samuel Umtiti (£6.0m), N’Golo Kante (£6.0m) and Antoine Griezmann (£10.0m). Varane, the only one of these assets who has seen an increase in Fantasy interest since Les Bleus’ 1-0 win over Peru, retains his place alongside Kante and Griezmann (the second-most sold player since Gameround 2 with 58,000 sales) in Didier Deschamps’ starting XI this afternoon.
Benjamin Pavard (£4.5m), the budget route into the French backline for 4.6% of Fantasy bosses, is rested with Lloris and Umtiti.
Though France have already qualified for the knockout stages, a point is still needed in the 3pm encounter with Denmark to ensure they progress as group winners. Deschamps has nevertheless made six changes to the starting XI from that success over Peru, with Paul Pogba, Blaise Matuidi and Kylian Mbappe also missing out.
The Danes’ most-backed Fantasy assets have seen a dip in ownership meanwhile, no doubt due to the fact that this afternoon’s opponents represent their biggest test so far. While the “kneejerk” nature of Fantasy football would perhaps account for Kasper Schmeichel (£5.0m) and Andreas Christensen (£5.0m)’s dwindling ownerships – after the pair failed to keep a clean sheet in their last match with Australia – the real surprise is that some of Christian Eriksen (£9.0m)’s Fantasy backers have deserted him.
The Tottenham Hotspur playmaker bettered his assist in Denmark’s opening World Cup match against Peru with an excellent strike in the 1-1 draw with Australia, but his ownership is now down to 8.8% from 9.5%.
With a record 20 penalties being awarded in this World Cup so far, Fantasy managers have been quick to latch on to those on spot-kick duties. Mile Jedinak (£6.0m) is now the most-owned Australian player having scored in successive matches from the spot: 4.2% of Fantasy bosses have selected the Aston Villa midfielder in their squads.
Carlos Cueva (£6.0m) missed a penalty in Peru’s opening-match defeat to Denmark, but the Incas’ creator-in-chief is still the most-owned Peruvian player on show this afternoon: 1.6% of Fantasy managers have kept faith with the Sao Paolo midfielder.
France XI (4-2-3-1): Mandanda; Sidibe, Varane, Kimpembe, Hernandez; Kante, N’Zonzi; Dembele, Griezmann, Lemar; Giroud
Denmark XI (3-4-3):Â Schmeichel; Kjaer, Christensen, Jorgensen; Dalsgaard, Delaney, Eriksen, Stryger; Braithwaite, Cornelius, Sisto
Australia XI (4-2-3-1):Â Ryan; Risdon, Sainsbury, Milligan, Behich; Jedinak, Mooy; Leckie, Rogic, Kruse; Juric
Peru XI (4-2-3-1):Â Gallese; Advincula, Ramos, Santamaria, Trauco; Tapia, Yotun; Carrillo, Flores, Cueva; 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, 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…
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.
