World Cup Fantasy managers will now have to choose between backing Brazil or Belgium in the quarter-finals.
That may prove something of a dilemma considering they have both been reliable sources of points at the tournament so far.
We’ve got all the goals, assists and Fantasy talking points from the latest set of last sixteen fixtures.
BRAZIL 2-0 MEXICO
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Neymar (£12.0m) – 6 points
- Willian (£8.4m)- 6 points
- Thiago Silva (£6.1m) – 6 points
- Alisson (£6.0m) – 6 points
- Joao Miranda (£5.6m) – 6 points
- Fagner (£5.1m) – 6 points
- Roberto Firmino (£8.3m) – 5 points
- Filipe Luis (£6.0m) – 5 points
Neymar (£12.0m) got his second of the World Cup as Brazil were able to get past Mexico without reaching their scintillating best.
The Selecao had to be patient after Mexico matched the former champions in the first-half. The central Americans also deployed an interesting tactical ploy for corners, by leaving most of their attacking players on the half-way line to commit Brazil’s centre-backs away from the penalty area.
It was Neymar’s skill that made the difference in the end, though. He had the ball on the edge of the box in the 51st minute and drove across the edge of the ‘D’, committing three defenders before back-heeling to an unmarked Willian (£8.4m).
The Chelsea man pushed on into the penalty area unchallenged and whipped a ball across the box where Neymar had reached the back-post to finish.
Brazil’s second came in the 88th minute after Roberto Firmino (£8.3m) had come on for Philippe Coutinho (£9.1m), whose blank against Mexico was his first of the tournament.
Neymar’s shot from the left forced a decent save out of Guillermo Ochoa (£5.1m), removing a potential assist on McDonald’s FIFA World Cup Fantasy, before Firmino completed a routine finish.
BRAZIL XI (4-4-2): Alisson; Filipe Luis, Joao Miranda, Thiago Silva, Fagner; Coutinho (Roberto Firmino 86’), Casemiro, Paulinho (Fernandinho 80’), Willian (Marquinhos 91’); Neymar, Gabriel Jesus.
MEXICO XI (4-3-3): Ochoa; Gallardo, Salcedo, Ayala, Alvarez (J dos Santos 55’); Guardado, Marquez (Layun 45’), Herrera; Vela, Hernandez (Jimenez 60’), Lozano.
BELGIUM 3-2 JAPAN
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Genki Haraguchi (£5.9m) – 7 points
- Jan Vertonghen (£5.9m) – 7 points
- Takashi Inui (£4.6m) – 7 points
- Marouane Fellaini (£6.9m) – 6 points
- Nacer Chadli (£6.8m) – 6 points
- Eden Hazard (£10.1m) – 5 points
- Shinji Kagawa (£6.4m) – 5 points
- Thomas Meunier (£6.0m) – 4 points
- Gaku Shibasaki (£5.0m) – 4 points
Fantasy managers who had captained Romelu Lukaku (£10.1m) were left a little frustrated as he registered no returns in a match with five goal-scorers.
Japan raced into a 2-0 lead at the start of the second-half with several budget options delivering points. In the 48th minute Gaku Shibasaki (£5.0m) sent Genki Haraguchi (£5.9m) through, whose fierce shot across goal nestled in the bottom left-hand corner of Thibaut Courtois’ (£6.0m) goal.
Four minutes later, Shinji Kagawa (£6.5m) teed up Takashi Inui (£4.6m) on the edge of the box who thumped the ball into the bottom right-hand corner. Belgium were stunned but still managed to fight back as Maroune Fellaini (£6.9m) and Nacer Chadli (£6.9m) came on for Yannick Carrasco (£6.5m) and Dries Mertens (£9.0m).
Those changes were in response to Japan putting high pressure on Belgium’s wing-backs, who could be at risk of rotation in future rounds accordingly.
Jan Vertonghen (£5.9m) got the Red Devils back into the game in the 69th minute with a looping header from the edge of the box which caught Eiji Kawashima (£4.4m) off-guard. Shortly after, Fellaini’s towering header from an Eden Hazard (£10.1m) cross hit the back of the net to make it 2-2.
Belgium’s winner was scored with virtually the last kick of the game. Japan had committed men forward to a corner in the 96th minute and were hit on the counter. Kevin De Bruyne (£9.9m) played the all-important pass out wide to Thomas Meunier (£6.0m), whose square ball across the box was left by Lukaku and turned in by Chadli.
BELGIUM XI (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Vertonghen, Kompany, Alderweireld; Carrasco (Chadli 65’), Witsel, De Bruyne, Meunier; Hazard, Mertens (Fellaini 65’); Lukaku.
JAPAN XI (4-2-3-1): Kawashima; Nagatomo, Shoji, Yoshida, H Sakai; Shibasaki (Yamaguchi 81’), Hasebe; Inui, Kagawa, Haraguchi (Honda 81’); Osako.
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 detailing 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.
