The 2026 World Cup is finally here, which means it’s time to lock in our Round 1 squads. With fixtures, Scouting Bonus ownership, chip strategy and expected line-ups all playing a major role, there are plenty of different ways to approach the opening round.
In this article, serial UCL Fantasy top 1k finisher Louis (aka FPLReaction) breaks down his current draft, the players he’s targeting, his planned chip strategy and some of the key decisions he has to make ahead of the deadline.
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CHIP STRATEGY
I’ve been mentally battling boost strategy for quite some time now, and honestly, I’m still not fully convinced on the best route. I know I’ll use my Wildcard in Round 3, while the Qualification Booster and Mystery Chip will likely come later in the tournament. However, I still have plenty of doubts around Max Captain and 12th Man.
Right now, I think I prefer using 12th Man in Round 2. It would allow me, alongside my two free transfers, to bring in another premium attacker such as Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) if I go without him, Harry Kane ($10.5m), Lamine Yamal ($10.0m) or even a second Brazil attacker.
In general, there are simply more players I want in Round 2 than in Round 1. The issue is that limited transfers make it difficult to reach all of them. Most also come with question marks in the opening round, which makes me less eager to invest immediately. On top of that, they block players with stronger Round 1 fixtures.
Max Captain feels much less straightforward. A lot of high-level managers, especially experienced UCL Fantasy players, currently plan to use the booster early. I completely understand the logic behind it.
There are lots of strong captaincy options in the opening round, but many managers could easily settle early for a 10-12 pointer and miss out on a massive haul later in the matchday. Huge scores also feel more likely during the early stages of the tournament.
The flip side is that the biggest haul could easily come from a highly-owned captain anyway, which would reduce the impact of Max Captain significantly. Massive scores become less common later in the competition, but they can still happen.
Fewer matches later in the tournament also means fewer captaincy opportunities overall. Because of that, securing the best possible captaincy score at the right time could become even more valuable. Of course, that strategy still relies on the highest scorer not being the obvious captaincy pick.
At the moment, I’m leaning towards using Max Captain early, although that could still change close to the deadline. Right now, I’m strongly considering activating it in Round 1.
Several elite players with excellent fixtures play towards the end of the opening round. If managers lock onto an early captaincy score, they could easily miss out on one of those explosive late hauls.
TEAM REVEAL
READ MORE OF OUR FANTASY FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 CONTENT
GROUP A: Mexico | South Africa | Korea Republic | Czechia
GROUP B: Canada | Bosnia & Herzegovina | Qatar | Switzerland
GROUP C: Brazil | Morocco | Haiti | Scotland
GROUP D: USA | Paraguay | Australia | Turkiye
GROUP E: Germany | Curacao | Cote d’Ivoire | Ecuador
GROUP F: Netherlands | Japan | Sweden | Tunisia
GROUP G: Belgium | Egypt | Iran | New Zealand
GROUP H: Spain | Cabo Verde | Saudi Arabia | Uruguay
GROUP I: France | Senegal | Iraq | Norway
GROUP J: Argentina | Algeria | Austria | Jordan
GROUP K: Portugal | DR Congo | Uzbekistan | Colombia
GROUP L: England | Croatia | Ghana | Panama
Round 1 Scout Picks | Round 1 best captains | Round 1 best differentials: | Sleep-friendly XV | Players to avoid | Team reveals | Best players by position + price
Predicted line-ups | Penalty + corner takers | Direct free-kick takers
How to play World Cup 2026 Fantasy | What is ‘Scouting Bonus’? | How to order your starters + subs | Can you captain, transfer or sub 12th Man? | 150 of the best, worst and funniest team names
Join our mini-league + win prizes! | Stats Centre | FREE AI Team Rater | Fixture Ticker | Scouting Bonus tracker | Fixture calendar
