Our position-by-position rattle through the best players for FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy concludes with the forwards.
- READ MORE: The best FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy 2025 midfielders
- READ MORE: The best FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy 2025 defenders
- READ MORE: The best FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy 2025 goalkeepers
With players less systematically classified by FIFA than we’ve come to expect in FPL, the forward pool contains central strikers, a significant number of wingers, and a smattering of ’10s’.
Most of the names we’ve picked out, however, are out-and-out targetmen.
We’ve tried to look beyond just Matchday 1 with these selections, although some of the picks are more attractive for the opening round.
Thomas Muller ($7.0m) – Bayern Munich
- Fixtures: Auckland City (June 15), Boca Juniors (June 21), Benfica (June 24)
Talking of more attractive picks for the opening round in isolation, here’s one. He’s only 0.8% owned, too, so qualifies for a Scouting Bonus.
It’s all speculation at this stage but the latest suggestion is that Bayern may have a B team out against Auckland on Sunday. Certainly, that seemed to be the implication from Max Eberl’s quotes in the media.
Muller is very much part of that second string. He’s also retired from international duty, so he’s been in the Stateside training camp while many of his teammates have been on their travels across the globe.
These are his last few appearances for Bayern, with the club legend set to depart after the Club World Cup. Vincent Kompany will surely want to give him some farewell minutes, and the clash with a part-time outfit from New Zealand is surely an opportune time for him to fill his boots.
He’s generally struggled for returns in 2024/25 but two goals and an assist against second-tier SSV Ulm 1846 in the German cup is hopefully a portent for the upcoming clash with more minnows.
Harry Kane ($11.0m) is obviously the longer-term pick for Bayern. He rattled off 38 goals in 46 matches in all competitions last season, also contributing 13 assists. Leaving money in the bank to upgrade Muller to Kane in Matchday 2 is one play, or you may prefer to just swallow the rotation risk in Matchday 1 and get him from the outset.
Keep your eyes peeled for any team leaks on Saturday…
Vangelis Pavlidis ($7.8m) – Benfica
- Fixtures: Boca (June 16), Auckland (June 20), Bayern (June 24)
Pavlidis was one of the standout players of the Portuguese league last season, scoring on 19 occasions. Encouragingly, if we’re looking at assets carrying form into the summer, 15 of those came in Benfica’s final 15 matches.
Those 19 strikes came from 81 shots – unsurprisingly, no Benfica player registered more.
If a goalscoring run in the Portuguese top flight doesn’t convince you, seven goals in 11 Champions League matches might. A hat-trick against Barcelona was a high point, while Juventus and Monaco were also breached.
He’s not just about goals: seven league assists ranked him joint-sixth in Liga Portugal.
Pavlidis is in with a shout of penalties, too, netting all five of the spot-kicks he took last season.
Auckland in Matchday 2 is the big draw but Boca Juniors are not the force they once were, and there are worse opening fixtures out there.
He’s currently at 4.6% ownership, so qualifies for the Scouting Bonus as things stand – but watch that figure carefully before Sunday’s deadline.
Randal Kolo Muani ($8.0m) – Juventus
- Fixtures: Al Ain (June 19), Wydad (June 22), Man City (June 26)
Juventus have secured the services of Kolo Muani until the end of the Club World Cup, extending his loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
While there’s a bit of uncertainty up top, the loanee has more often than not started since he joined in January. Dusan Vlahovic ($7.5m), his main positional rival to this point, appears to be heading towards the exit door.
Kolo Muani hit the ground running with five goals in his first three Serie A games, ending a bit of a drought by bagging a further three in his last five rounds of the season.
For Matchday 3 Wildcarders, you don’t get a much better pairing of Matchday 1-2 games than Ai Ain and Wydad. Those two clubs were not even dominant forces in their native countries in 2024/25 (fifth and third in the UAE and Morocco top flight, respectively), so spankings likely await in the States.
Samu Aghehowa ($4.2m) – Porto
- Fixtures: Palmeiras (June 15), Inter Miami (June 19), Al Ahly (June 24)
We can only assume the FIFA games-makers had been on the local fortified wine when pricing up Porto players.
Bafflingly cheap picks in defence and midfield have been complemented by this strange decision to price Aghehowa up at $4.2m. That’s cheaper than eight Auckland City forwards…
Not heard much about Aghehowa? He’s a 21-year-old Spain international who has been banging the goals in at Porto: there have been 25 in 42 matches in all competitions this season.
It wasn’t just stat-padding in the Portuguese league, either, with six strikes in nine Europa League outings. Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, who went deep into that competition, were among his victims.
And he’s on penalties, too!
The real good fixtures come in Matchdays 2 and 3 but Palmeiras have suffered back-to-back defeats heading into the tournament, so now may be a decent time to face the Brazilians, too.
Serhou Guirassy ($9.0m) – Borussia Dortmund
- Fixtures: Fluminense (June 17), Mamelodi (June 21), Ulsan (June 25)
Guirassy comes into the tournament off the back of a superb campaign in which he scored 34 goals in 45 matches in all competitions.
And he’s on penalties, scoring nine of his 11 attempts from 12 yards in 2024/25.
The fact that 13 of his strikes arrived in the Champions League – no one scored more – proved that he could do the business at the top table, too. Five of his goals came against Barcelona!
While the real attractive fixtures are to come against Mamelodi and Ulsan in Matchdays 2 and 3, the clash with Fluminense isn’t too daunting either, as they sit sixth in the Brazilian Serie A.
Fluminense, who narrowly avoided relegation in 2024, have only kept clean sheets in three of their 11 league matches so far this calendar year.
Marcus Thuram ($8.5m) – Inter
- Fixtures: Monterrey (June 18), Urawa (June 21), River Plate (June 26)
Eight goals in his final eight Champions League matches of 2024/25 showcased exactly what Lautaro Martinez ($9.8m) is all about.
But Thuram outscored him in Serie A this season, from fewer minutes too.
Martinez was also struggling with a thigh issue at the back-end of the campaign, having his minutes managed to ensure his availability in the Champions League final. He didn’t kick a ball for Argentina this week, meanwhile.
It’s not just the price difference that’s in Thuram’s favour.
Selected in just 4% of squads, the 27-year-old is currently eligible for Scouting Bonus. Martinez, in 6.4% of teams, is not.
Again, Inter have two very appealing matches to kick off the Club World Cup. Monterrey and Ulsan have had far-from-convincing campaigns.
Kylian Mbappe ($11.0m) – Real Madrid
Erling Haaland ($11.0m) – Manchester City
- Mbappe’s fixtures: Al-Hilal (June 18), Pachuca (June 22), RB Salzburg (June 27)
- Haaland’s fixtures: Wydad AC (June 18), Al Ain (June 23), Juventus (June 26)
Finally, a word on two strikers who you probably don’t need us to tell you anything about.
Along with Kane and Vinicius Jr ($11.0m), they are the priciest forwards in the game.
Both Manchester City and Real Madrid don’t begin their campaigns till next Wednesday, so there are fewer concerns about Haaland and Mbappe arriving late from international duty than there are over, say, Kane, who plays on Sunday.
The Norwegian’s 22 goals made him the third-highest scorer in the Premier League this season. He also bagged eight goals in nine Champions League appearances.
As for Mbappe, he struck 43 times in all competitions, with 31 of those coming in La Liga. That was enough to win him the Golden Shoe.
We could reel off any number of other stats but you already know what these two free-scoring, penalty-taking hitmen are capable of. The questions are: a) can you afford them and keep a balanced side and b) dare you oppose two of the three most-owned forwards in Club World Cup Fantasy?
READ MORE OF OUR FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP FANTASY 2025 CONTENT
GROUP A: Palmeiras | Porto | Al Ahly | Inter Miami
GROUP B: PSG | Atletico Madrid | Botafogo | Seattle Sounders
GROUP C: Bayern Munich | Auckland City | Boca Juniors | Benfica
GROUP D: Flamengo | ES Tunis | Chelsea | Los Angeles FC
GROUP E: River Plate | Urawa Red Diamonds | Monterrey | Inter Milan
GROUP F: Fluminense | Borussia Dortmund | Ulsan HD | Mamelodi Sundowns
GROUP G: Manchester City | Wydad Casablanca | Al Ain | Juventus
GROUP H: Real Madrid | Al Hilal | Pachuca | Red Bull Salzburg
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