And then there were six. A European nation is guaranteed to win the World Cup this summer after South America’s final two challengers, Uruguay and Brazil, were despatched by France and Belgium in Friday’s quarter-final ties.
The bad news for Fantasy managers who own one or several of Philippe Coutinho, Neymar, Marcelo, Thiago Silva, Diego Godin, Fernando Muslera and Jose Gimenez – and there are many who do – is that their assets’ races are now run.
Coutinho was the most-owned player in the game ahead of Friday’s fixtures, while Godin and Marcelo both had ownerships of over 30%.
There is, at least, the consolation for those playing McDonald’s FIFA of being allotted five free transfers before the semi-final deadline next Tuesday evening. That is an increase of two transactions from the quarter-final limit and will in many cases be much needed to overhaul Fantasy squads that contain an abundance of players from eliminated sides.
We’ve got all the goals, assists, clean sheets and Fantasy talking points from Friday’s two quarter-final matches.
Uruguay 0-2 France
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Raphael Varane (£6.0m) – 12 points
- Antoine Griezmann (£10m) – 9 points
- Hugo Lloris (£5.9m) – 7 points
- Corentin Tolisso (£7.3m) – 6 points
- Samuel Umtiti (£5.9m) – 6 points
- Benjamin Pavard (£4.5m) – 6 points
- Lucas Hernandez (£5.0m) – 5 points
After Kylian Mbappe (£9.1m) hogged the limelight in the 4-3 win over Argentina, it was Antoine Griezmann‘s (£10m) turn to demonstrate his worth to the French national side – and Fantasy managers – with a starring role in the quarter-final win over Uruguay.
The Atletico Madrid forward’s teasing free-kick delivery was flicked in by centre-back Raphael Varane (£6.0m) for France’s opening goal and, while Fernando Muslera (£5.8m) could do little about that header, the Uruguayan goalkeeper was culpable for Les Bleus’ second.
Receiving the ball from Corentin Tolisso (£7.3m) around 25 yards from goal, Griezmann struck a speculative shot that Muslera could only palm up and into his own goal, Packie Bonner-style.
Mbappe, the most-bought Fantasy player ahead of the quarter-final deadline, ended the match with one point after picking up a yellow card.
Hugo Lloris‘ (£5.9m) superb save from a Martin Caceres (£5.8m) header was the closest that Uruguay came to a goal, as the 2010 semi-finalists struggled without injured striker Edinson Cavani (£9.6m).
Uruguay XI (4-4-2):Â Muslera; Caceres, Gimenez, Godin, Laxalt; Nandez, (Urretaviscaya 73′) Torreira, Vecino, Bentancur (Rodriguez 59′); Suarez, Stuani (Gomez 59′)
France XI (4-2-3-1):Â Lloris; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kante, Tolisso (N’Zonzi 80′); Mbappe (Dembele 88′), Griezmann (Fekir 93′), Giroud
Brazil 1-2 Belgium
TOP-SCORING PLAYERS
- Kevin De Bruyne (£9.8m) – 7 points
- Renato Augusto (£7.2m) – 6 points
- Romelu Lukaku (£10.0m) – 5 points
- Thibaut Courtois (£6.0m) – 5 points
- Philippe Coutinho (£9.2m) – 5 points
Having almost failed to get past Japan in the last 16, Belgium produced a fine counter-attacking performance to eliminate Brazil and reach the World Cup semi-finals for the first time in 32 years.
Two first-half goals did for the Selecao. Nacer Chadli‘s (£6.9m) inswinging corner was flicked past his own goalkeeper by Fernandinho (£6.2m) for Belgium’s opener before Kevin De Bruyne (£9.8m) finished off a swift breakaway to double his country’s lead. The excellent Romelu Lukaku (£10.0m) picked up a deserved assist for De Bruyne’s strike, which was reminiscent of the Manchester City midfielder’s arrowed effort in the 5-0 win over Swansea City in April.
Substitute Renato Augusto (£7.2m) nodded home a chipped cross from Philippe Coutinho (£9.2m) to halve the deficit, but a sustained period of late Brazilian pressure came to no avail.
Thibaut Courtois (£6.0m) collected three extra points for his nine saves made, one of which was a fine injury-time stop from Neymar (£12.1m). The Brazil forward cut a frustrated figure all evening as he was thwarted by Courtois and denied a penalty claim by referee Milorad Mazic.
Thiago Silva (£6.2m) should have scored from a Neymar corner when the match was still goalless, but could only turn the ball onto Courtois’ post from point-blank range.
Brazil XI (4-3-3):Â Alisson; Fagner, Silva, Miranda, Marcelo; Paulinho (Augusto 73′), Fernandinho, Coutinho; Willian (Firmino 45′), Jesus (Costa 58′), Neymar
Belgium XI (3-4-3):Â Courtois; Alderweireld, Kompany, Vertonghen; Meunier, Fellaini, Witsel, Chadli (Vermaelen 83′); De Bruyne, Hazard, Lukaku (Tielemans 87′)
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.
