There is all to play for in Group F this afternoon as all four teams retain hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages. Mexico need only a draw to progress to the last 16, while even South Korea, currently pointless at the foot of the table, could still finish second if results go their way.
Germany and Sweden would seem set to battle for the runners-up spot, but both teams could deprive Mexico of a round of 16 place with wins this afternoon: goal difference and goals scored could play a key role in deciding which nations qualify.
Of the four teams in action this afternoon, the reigning World Cup champions are the most heavily backed by Fantasy managers. However, the ownerships of their premium assets have taken a tumble after unconvincing displays against Mexico and Sweden in their first two group matches.
Joshua Kimmich (£6.5m), Manuel Neuer (£6.0m) and Mats Hummels (£6.0m) are now owned by 22.3%, 21% and 10.9% of McDonald’s FIFA managers respectively, with each losing Fantasy backers after failing to keep clean sheets (or, in Kimmich’s case, turn his impressive underlying attacking stats into points) in their 180 minutes of action so far.
Thomas Muller (£9.0m), who scored five goals in each of his previous two World Cups, has also seen his ownership dip to 11.1% from 13.5% after failing to register attacking returns in his two appearances this summer. Muller, indeed, has been dropped from Joachim Low’s starting XI for this afternoon’s match.
Unsurprisingly, the money splurged on Germany players has been directed towards Toni Kroos (£9.0m) and Marco Reus (£8.0m), whose ownerships are up to 9.5% and 5.4% respectively after their goals in the 2-1 win over Sweden.
Their opponents this afternoon, South Korea, have largely been overlooked by Fantasy managers. Son Heung-min (£8.0m), who scored a superb consolation goal in the 2-1 defeat to Mexico, is owned by just 0.5% of McDonald’s FIFA bosses. All six Korean players with an ownership of 1%+ are budget-enabling £4.0m-rated goalkeepers and defenders.
Mexico are still underrepresented given their impressive displays to date: Guillermo Ochoa (£5.0m) is their only player with serious Fantasy investment (12.5% of managers own the Standard Liege goalkeeper). Miguel Layun (£5.5m) is Mexico’s most-owned outfield player at 3.4%, though Hirving Lozano (£8.0m) is close behind on 3.2% after registering a goal and an assist in the tournament so far.
Andreas Granqvist (£5.0m) remains Sweden’s most attractive Fantasy asset: 2.9% of McDonald’s managers own the penalty-taking defender. Ola Toivonen (£7.0m), the Swedes’ goalscorer in the 2-1 loss to Germany, is owned by a mere 0.2% of Fantasy bosses.
Germany XI (4-2-3-1): Neuer; Kimmich, Sule, Hummels, Hector; Khedira, Kroos; Goretzka, Ozil, Reus; Werner
South Korea XI (4-3-3): Woo Choo; Lee Yong, Yun, Hong, YG Kim; Jang, Jung, Koo; Lee Jae-Sung, Moon, Son
Mexico XI (4-3-3): Ochoa; Alvarez, Salcedo, Moreno, Gallardo; Guardado, Herrera, Layun; Vela, Lozano, Hernandez
Sweden XI (4-4-2): Olsen; Lustig, Lindelof, Granqvist, Augustinsson; Larsson, Ekdal, Claesson, Forsberg; Berg, Toivonen
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.
