The biggest World Cup in history is about to kick off – and with the official Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 game also up and running, there’s plenty to be excited about.
That includes a new form of bonus points carried over from last year’s Club World Cup Fantasy game: the ‘Scouting Bonus’.
How does ‘Scouting Bonus’ work?
Simply put, it is a two-point bonus for any differential picks that deliver over four points.
And by ‘differential’, in this instance, we mean a player that is in less than 5% of all Fantasy squads.
The official wording of how the Scouting Bonus works is as follows:
There is, therefore, a decent incentive to pick a couple of low-owned picks when you’re finalising your 15-man Fantasy squad, and perhaps also to keep your scouting cards close to your chest!
However, there’s a catch….
Be aware of the ownership cut-off point!
Crucially, the ownership figures that determine whether a player is eligible for the Scouting Bonus do not stop at the deadline for each Round.
Rather, a player’s ownership level at kick-off of their own match is the determining factor – meaning players could rise above or indeed sink below the 5% ownership threshold between those two timepoints. So, consider this your warning – and try not to get caught out!
For instance, James Rodriguez ($6.5m) is expected to start for Colombia, the likely Group K runners-up, who face Uzbekistan first up.
However, that match is not until 18 June, a full week after the Round 1 deadline on 11 June.
Currently in 4.3% of squads, there’s every chance he’ll be above the 5% cut-off point by the time he begins his own campaign. Managers may be buying him for Round 2 in the meantime.
Scouting Bonus Tracker
To help you track the World Cup Fantasy players who are rising close to (or newly dropping beneath) the 5% mark, our very own Reece has added a ‘Scouting Bonus Watch’ widget to our World Cup Fantasy Toolkit page.
Users can filter this by position, as seen below:
