Sky Sports World Cup Fantasy: Day-by-day captaincy picker

Sky Sports’ World Cup Fantasy game is live!

A first prize of £10k is on offer in this free-to-play game, with the manager finishing second netting £1,000 and the bronze medal position worth £500.

We’ve already run through the basics of the game in our ‘how to play’ article, so now we turn our attention to one of the most important aspects of Sky Fantasy: captaincy.

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HOW MANY CAPTAINS CAN I HAVE?

You can have a captain every day in Sky Sports Fantasy Football.

Whenever there is a World Cup match taking place, there is a captain available to score you double points.

The deadlines for transfers and captaincy selections will remain as the first kick-off on each day there is a World Cup fixture.

DAY-BY-DAY OVERVIEW

Here we’ve put together an at-a-glance guide to the group stage calendar so you can see who the best armband candidates are every day.

Click on the image to expand it to a more readable size.

The cells in green are the ones we’ve picked out as fixtures to target, while the matches in bold/italic are the first games of the day (so, for example, you’ll be able to see the teamsheets before the Sky deadline passes).

DAY-BY-DAY CAPTAINCY PICKS: MATCHDAY 1

NOVEMBER 20

There’s only one game taking place on the opening day of the World Cup: Qatar v Ecuador.

Ecuador’s Michael Estrada (£7.1m) averaged more shots on target per 90 minutes than any of his team-mates in qualification and finished as his side’s top scorer, so is a possible shout for the first Sunday captaincy.

Neither of these sides are particularly renowned for their goalscoring exploits, however: Ecuador’s last six friendlies have seen a total of two goals scored!

So a defensive pick might be the way to go on November 20, with Pervis Estupinan (£6.5m) jumping out . The Brighton defender won more tackles than any of his team-mates in qualifying and has license to get forward for his country.

Moises Caicedo (£7.1m) plays in a more advanced, box-to-box role for his nation than he does for the Seagulls but he could also still benefit from tackling bonus. In his last two appearances for his country, no other Ecuador player has attempted more tackles (eight in total, seven of them successful).

Whoever you opt for in this fixture, he’s very likely dispensable with one of your free transfers afterwards as neither Qatar nor Ecuador will enter the captaincy conversation again.

NOVEMBER 21

Players from the Netherlands and England are the standout options here, with the Three Lions having the advantage of playing first – and so we can see the teamsheets before the deadline.

John Stones (£8.5m) averaged over 65 passes per 90 minutes at last year’s Euros so could easily supplement any clean sheet with passing bonus, not to mention offering a bit of goal threat from set plays with Kieran Trippier (£7.8m) potentially in the side – the City stopper scored twice in Russia four years ago.

It’s hard to look past Harry Kane (£10.7m), however, with the England striker not just a goal threat but someone who could prosper from shots on target bonus.

For the Dutch, we all know how good Virgil van Dijk (£9.8m) can be in the Sky game and he has a chance of picking up both tackle and passing bonus to go with any clean sheet.

Question marks over Memphis Depay‘s (£9.2m) fitness probably make him a no-go at the time of writing.

NOVEMBER 22

Argentina’s clash with Saudi Arabia is the headline act here and another game that is first up on the day’s schedule.

It’ll be all about Lionel Messi (£11.0m) for the majority of Sky managers, with his services likely desired for captaincy in Matchday 2 as well. Either top scorer or joint-top scorer for his country in both World Cup qualifying and the Copa America, he also wasn’t beaten by any other team-mate for shots on target in either tournament. A rarity for a Sky forward, he may even threaten to achieve passing bonus when coming up against a minnow who Argentina will dominate in terms of possession.

France v Australia is the other real standout fixture of next Tuesday, with Kylian Mbappe (£10.8m) and Karim Benzema (£10.6m) the obvious pick-outs from Les Bleus. Both will threaten shots on target bonus like Messi so it’s arguably just a case of who you think will haul the most in terms of attacking returns from these two plum-looking matches.

It’s a good juncture to acknowledge that, with this being a short-term tournament format and goals generally aplenty in the group stage, bonus potential is perhaps slightly less of a primary concern than it is during the long hard slog of a Premier League campaign.

NOVEMBER 23

Next Wednesday is perhaps when we’ll see the widest range of captain picks during Matchday 1.

There’s no Messi, Kane, Neymar, Benzema or Mbappe in action here, with Kevin De Bruyne (£10.5m) arguably the most notable premium asset.

There’s also no obvious stand-out fixture, with all four of the games taking place – Germany v Japan, Spain v Costa Rica, Belgium v Canada and Croatia v Morocco – having a claim to that accolade.

Kai Havertz (£9.6m) is listed as a midfielder in the Sky game and potentially playing as the spearhead of the Germany attack but there is a slight degree of uncertainty over the make-up of Die Mannschaft’s front four. Leroy Sane (£9.4m), for £200k cheaper, is therefore probably the safer bet, and is someone who has thrived in tournament football on a domestic level, delivering 37 attacking returns in 44 Champions League appearances – including six in four this season.

For Spain, forward Alvaro Morata (£8.8m) – top scorer for Spain in Euro 2020 – is the securest starter in the front three and the likeliest beneficiary of shots on target bonus but defender Jordi Alba (£9.2m) is worth a shout, with his attacking potential – 10 goals and 19 assists in 86 national team appearances – supplemented by the possibility of passing bonus.

NOVEMBER 24

While Mr Sideshow himself, Cristiano Ronaldo (£10.5m), will have his suitors for the armband next Thursday, there’ll be just as much and perhaps even more interest in Neymar (£10.9m) and co on the same day.

Brazil’s Matchday 1 opponents, Serbia, had one of the worst defensive records in World Cup qualification, conceding in all but one of their games – and that included being breached by Azerbaijan in both fixtures and by Luxembourg at home.

Ghana, Portugal’s opponents, are the lowest-ranked team in the competition and have won just two of their last 13 fixtures ahead of Thursday’s friendly against Switzerland, failing to beat the likes of Central African Republic, Comoros, Qatar and Gabon in that time.

Both Ronaldo and Neymar are on penalties for their national teams and were their countries’ top scorers in qualifying, with Neymar also chipping in with eight assists. The temperamental duo look good for shots on target bonus too although it should be said that Neymar has been redeployed in a slightly more withdrawn central/attacking midfield role.

DAY-BY-DAY CAPTAINCY PICKS: MATCHDAYS 2+3

We go right back around again from the beginning from November 25 onwards, with the commencement of Matchday 2.

The same names will likely crop up again in our discussion, then, so we’ll instead take a briefer look at the most eye-catching fixtures and the players we could hand the armband to from this point.

It’s also worth noting that qualification could be sealed for a number of countries by Matchday 3, so many of the household names featured in this piece could be in line for breathers (these are marked by asterisks below).

NOVEMBER 25

• Senegal v Qatar (Mane – if fit)
• Netherlands v Ecuador (Depay – if fit)
• England v USA (Kane)

NOVEMBER 26

• Argentina v Mexico (Messi)
• Poland v Saudi Arabia (Lewandowski)

NOVEMBER 27

• Croatia v Canada (Modric)
• Belgium v Morocco (De Bruyne)

NOVEMBER 28

• Brazil v Switzerland (Neymar)

NOVEMBER 29

• Netherlands v Qatar (Depay – if fit)*
• England v Wales (Kane)*

NOVEMBER 30

• Argentina v Poland (Messi)*
• Denmark v Australia (Eriksen, Skov Olsen)*
• France v Morocco (Mbappe, Benzema)*

DECEMBER 1

• Germany v Costa Rica (Sane)*
• Spain v Japan (Morata, Alba)*

DECEMBER 2

• Brazil v Cameroon (Neymar)*
• Uruguay v Ghana (Suarez, Darwin)*