The 2022 UEFA European Women’s Football Championship gets underway on July 6 and official sponsors Starling Bank have launched a Fantasy game for the tournament.
Here is a quick guide on how to play the game.
Our friends at Fantasy Football Community will be covering Euro 2022 in more detail as the tournament goes on, from team reveals to chip strategy.
REGISTER TO PLAY WOMEN’S EURO FANTASY FOOTBALL
THE BASICS
Each manager is handed an £84m budget to spend on a maximum of 16 players (11 starters and five substitutes), with a limit of two goalkeepers, six defenders, six midfielders and five strikers.
The squad can actually be smaller, if you prefer to splash more of the cash on the premium picks.
For the group phase and quarter-finals, you can’t select more than four players from the same nation.
Then, choose a formation (4-4-2, 4-3-3, 3-4-3, 3-5-2, 5-3-2, 5-4-1 or 4-5-1), captain, Supersub (more of which below) and bench order.
Players in your squad can even be switched during the round, providing their match hasn’t kicked off.
‘Participants can modify their teams as long as a player’s match hasn’t started (no transfer limit). The change must be within budget and the authorised player limit per nation.’ – Official rules
Player prices rise and fall based on real-life performances, with points doubled for captains.
HOW TO SCORE POINTS
Here is the scoring system for player points, which doesn’t award any bonuses:
| GOALKEEPER | Goal conceded (penalty): -1 | Goal conceded (non-penalty): -3 | Each save: 2 |
| Goal scored (penalty): 15 | Goal scored (non-penalty): 25 | Assist: 15 | |
| DEFENDER | Goal (penalty): 10 | Goal (non-penalty): 18 | Assist: 10 |
| MIDFIELDER | Goal (penalty): 8 | Goal (non-penalty): 15 | Assist: 8 |
| STRIKER | Goal (penalty): 6 | Goal (non-penalty): 12 | Assist: 6 |
| ALL | Own goal: -5 | Yellow card: -3 | Red card: -5 |
The reason ‘player’ had to be specified is that, unlike in Fantasy Premier League (FPL), each will also score points based on team performance.
| Win: 9 | Draw: 3 | Lose: -2 |
| Points per goal difference: +/- 2 | GK clean sheet: 12 | DEF clean sheet: 6 |
To slight complicate matters, team points are only applied in proportion to the time spent on the pitch.
‘Example: Wendie Renard (French player) is on the bench but comes on at the beginning of the second half. She then plays 45 minutes and France win 3-1.
The team points will then be nine for the win plus four for the goal difference.
Wendie Renard will then score 13 x 0.5 = 6.5 team points’
So if you start midfielder Alexia Putellas, who scores both a penalty and open-play goal to seal a 3-0 win, she will bag 23 points for the goals, nine for the win and six for the margin of victory. A total of 38 points.
Furthermore, with no appearance points handed out, an outfielder that blanks could easily finish on negative points.
OTHER DIFFERENCES FROM FPL
Customised private leagues let managers alter the limits for starting budget, players per nation and contest duration. If tweaked, there will automatically be a second team created for you.
Meanwhile, those named on your bench will still earn points, just at half the rate of those you started.
However, each game day allows managers to label one of their substitutes as a ‘Supersub’. This player will score triple points but only if she also comes on mid-match. If she starts from kick-off, it will remain half points for your total.
For example, a manager benches Midfielder A but assigns her the ‘Supersub’ privilege. It will be a nervous wait for the teamsheets, as a start for Midfielder A means half points but being named on the bench could lead to a cameo and therefore triple points.
