Sponsored by Sport.Fun
Our introductory piece on Sport.Fun explained how to play their completely free FIFA World Cup 2026 game, which combines Fantasy Football and trading for a $30k prize pool.
HOW TO PLAY
Ultimately, it’s about ending on as many Skill Rating (SR) points as possible, which can be earned from moments like goals, assists, clean sheets, saves, shots on target and big chances created. But be careful – some negative actions are also punished.
- Start with 2,800 Gold to buy shares and build an eight-man squad.
- Player values are currently between 1.00 and 6.00 Gold per share, ready to rise and fall depending on tournament popularity. This allows more money to be raised.
- Select five of your squad for each Matchday (provided you own 100+ shares of that individual).
- In emergencies, you can temporarily loan another player, where points have a slight penalty.
TOP PICKS FOR MATCHDAY 1
So, with international squads chosen, replacements called up and friendlies almost finished, Fantasy managers now have an idea of which players could thrive throughout the opening round of matches.
Here are six players to spend Gold on.
Erling Haaland (Norway) – 6.00 per share
This highly anticipated Norway side will face Iraq in their first World Cup match since 1998.
They scored a whopping 37 goals throughout eight qualifiers, allowing star centre-forward Haaland to collect 16 goals and 27 shots on target, both being more than anyone else.
Fantasy Premier League (FPL) managers are very aware of how devastatingly explosive Haaland can be.
Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain) – 3.00 per share
Yet, despite Norway’s form, Spain had Europe’s best expected goals (xG) per game rate (2.85).
Converted winger Oyarzabal is fresh from a career-best 15-goal La Liga season at Real Sociedad, and seems to be a safe route into the La Roja attack versus Cape Verde, as doubts linger over the fitness of Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
On penalties for the European champions, he scored in all but one of their six qualifiers and assisted twice in the other. More recently, Oyarzabal netted twice in March against Serbia, then in a recent 45-minute meeting with Peru.
Florian Wirtz (Germany) – 3.00 per share
Also about to face a World Cup debutant, Curacao, the German playmaker had his country’s most shots and chances created in their four-team group. Taking lots of set-pieces is partly why.
Wirtz subsequently ran the show in March’s friendly versus Switzerland, racking up two goals and two assists, going on to net against Finland on 31 May.
Michael Olise (France) – 4.00 per share
A trickier Matchday 1 prospect awaits France, having to meet Senegal like in 2002’s shock opener.
But that was a long time ago. While some Sport.Fun managers may take the Kylian Mbappe route, it’s worth remembering that Olise was amazing in 2025/26 for Bayern Munich. 22 goals and 31 assists across all competitions.
Not only that, he scored a Monday night hat-trick at home to Northern Ireland.
It’s time for him to set up a French colleague, mind. Despite 22 key passes and 2.71 expected assists (xA, 2.71), this set-piece taker didn’t collect any creativity rewards.
Andrew Robertson (Scotland) – 3.00 per share
Like Norway, there’s been a 28-year wait for Scotland’s return to the biggest stage.
They begin on Sunday against Haiti, fresh from a comfortable 4-0 win over Bolivia, where Tottenham Hotspur’s new left-back put in a cross that Lawrence Shankland converted. In fact, the skipper nearly scored himself.
Furthermore, he was the only Scot to claim more than one assist during qualification.
Gregor Kobel (Switzerland) – 2.00 per share
Finally, Kobel should do well in goal. Switzerland have a nice-looking Group B alongside Qatar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and co-hosts Canada.
By returning from illness to start the Australia friendly, head coach Murat Yakin can continue to field the same backline that started every single qualifier, conceding just twice overall.
Since then, they’ve faced both Wirtz and Haaland in friendlies, with mixed fortunes.
SCOUT PICKS – MATCHDAY 1 SQUAD
