Matchday 2 of the FIFA Club World Cup gets underway this evening, so it’s time to settle on some Scout Picks.
This is for the upcoming Matchday in isolation, so there’s no forward planning to the rest of the group stage.
As with last week (which turned out quite well!), we’ve tried to be a little different and go with a few gambles. It’s not just being contrary for the sake of it, of course – there are Scouting Bonus points to be had.
As things stand, 11 of our 15 players qualify for this.
Remember in FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy, you want to have a squad of 15 playable options, as manual substitutions allow you to sub out any under-performing players and bring on someone else who hasn’t played yet. Bench fodder isn’t recommended in this game!
For lots more content on Matchday 2, check out our complete guide.
Make sure to head on over to Fantasy Football Community for more content, too, including their Matchday 2 predicted line-ups.
CLUB WORLD CUP MATCHDAY 2 SCOUT PICKS
GOALKEEPERS
Ten goalkeepers are owned by 5% or more of Fantasy managers. You wouldn’t be shocked to see Michele Di Gregorio ($5.3m) join them by the time Thursday’s deadline rolls around.
First off, we’ve gone for Benfica’s Anatolii Trubin (£5.3m).
Currently in just 3.4% of squads, he’ll face an Auckland City side that mustered just one shot against Bayern Munich in the opening round. The amateur outfit unsurprisingly have the worst projected goals tally of Matchday 2.
If Bruno Lage decides to rest his regulars against the part-timers and Trubin is part of that rotation, we’ve always got Fábio ($4.6m).
The Fluminense custodian comes into this Matchday off the back of a clean sheet and a 10-point haul against Dortmund.
And the next opposition is a lot more favourable than the German giants: Ulsan HD, who couldn’t even find a way past Mamelodi Sundowns.
DEFENDERS
Both our goalkeepers are currently owned by under 5% of managers – and all of our back five are, too.
We’re particularly excited by Joaquín Piquerez‘s ($5.1m) prospects.
The (potentially) penalty-taking full-back showcased his attacking threat with one shot and three key passes in his opening match. Banking a clean sheet in what was, on paper, his toughest fixture of Group A, he’ll have a decent chance of repeating that feat against Al Ahly.
Also impressing from an offensive perspective was Carlos Augusto ($4.9m).
The wing-back was arguably his side’s stand-out player in Matchday 1, claiming an assist for Inter Milan’s only goal.
It’s a risk, of course: Federico Dimarco ($5.8m) is lurking, and there’s a quick turnaround. But Inter really need three points after slipping up against Monterrey, and Augustus at least had a breather after coming off midway through the second half.
Three decidedly unsexy centre-half picks round off our defensive selection. All of them are included primarily because they are owned by under 5% of bosses, which is not the case for many of the full-backs/wing-backs in their respective sides.
José María Giménez ($5.2m), who should come in for the suspended Clement Lenglet ($5.2m) for Atletico Madrid, joins Niklas Sule ($5.2m) and Lloyd Kelly ($4.7m) in our backline. Seattle Sounders, Mamelodi Sundowns and Wydad SC should offer clean sheet potential, while Sule is fond of a crack from distance – so we might get lucky there.
MIDFIELDERS
Catching the eye in that Dortmund v Fluminense game was Jhon Arias ($6.2m). The winger racked up three efforts against the Germans, while his creativity – helped by being on set pieces – was something we picked out pre-tournamnent.
He’s another player who may be on spot-kick duties.
The stand-out fixture of this round is most definitely Benfica v Auckland. What will Lage do with his line-up, however, given that a clash with Bayern – which Benfica may need something from – follows four days after Matchday 2?
Forward Vangelis Pavlidis ($7.8m) will be most Fantasy managers’ attacking option from Benfica this week but given that he’s a booking away from missing the Bayern game, we’ve looked elsewhere in the shape of Orkun Kökçü ($6.6m) and Kerem Aktürkoglu ($7.2m). Both were surprisingly benched in Matchday 1, so we’re hoping that means their chances of starting against Auckland are heightened. We’d even take 45 minutes apiece, given what the Bayern midfielders did in Matchday 1.
Kökçü is on set-piece duties and assisted off the bench against Boca, while the exciting Aktürkoglu bagged 20 attacking returns in 2024/25.
Aktürkoglu is only just over the Scouting Bonus threshold at 5.2%, so we can always hope that he does a ‘Di Gregorio’ and slides back beneath that mark.
The 24.5%-owned Franco Mastantuono ($4.3m) definitely won’t. The budget-friendly, Madrid-bound winger, who is possibly on penalties as well as being a set-piece whizz, will hope to bounce back from a blank when he faces Monterrey.
Rounding off our midfield, it’s another differential in Arda Güler ($6.5m).
It’s a risky one, this, as a start against Pachuca isn’t guaranteed. But his half-time introduction against Al-Hilal drastically improved Real Madrid, with the young schemer creating three chances and hitting the bar.
We’re hoping Xabi Alonso saw what we saw!
FORWARDS
Finally, two template forwards and a differential.
The selections of Erling Haaland ($11.0m) and Alexander Sørloth ($7.5m) are influenced by the Matchday 1 teamsheets.
You can imagine Pep Guardiola making wholesale alterations for the clash with sorry Al Ain (Haaland was only a substitute on Wednesday), while Sorloth traded starts with Antoine Griezmann ($8.5m) in the La Liga run-in and has a fine recent record of flat-track bullying.
Dortmund likely don’t have the luxury of resting players for rest’s sake after drawing in Matchday 1. If they somehow slip up against Mamelodi, who are already on three points, they’re very likely going home.
Expect free-scoring marksman Serhou Guirassy ($9.0m) to start, then.
