Looking to follow co-hosts Mexico in getting their FIFA 2026 World Cup campaign off to a winning start are Korea Republic and Czechia.
The first of several matches in this tournament for the night owls and dead zone denizens with kick-off at yawn-tastic 03:00 BST.
TEAM NEWS
One of FPL’s greatest-ever players, Son Heung-min ($7.4m) makes his 11th World Cup appearance for Korea Republic. Renowned in FPL for his xG-busting ability, the former Spurs talisman bagged a team-leading 10 goals in qualification as well as supplying four assists.
At the back, Bayern Munich defender Kim Min-jae ($5.0m) carries the hopes of nearly 50,000 managers. He’ll be looking to add to his four clean sheets in his last six international outings.
Meanwhile Wolves forward Hwang Hee-Chan ($6.1m), found in only 0.1 per cent of Fantasy squads and looking to earn his 80th cap for his country, starts on the bench.
Club team-mate Ladislav Krejci ($4.4m) lines up for the opposition while another name familiar to FPL managers, Tomas Soucek ($5.6m), joins him in midfield.
Most of the Fantasy attention will be on former West Ham United full-back Vladimir Coufal, however, who at $3.6m is among the cheapest starting defenders in the game.
LINE-UPS
Korea Republic XI: Kim Seung-Gyu, Lee Han-Beom, Kim Min-Jae, Lee Gi-Hyuk, Seol Young-Woo, Hwang In-Beom, Paik Seung-Ho, Lee Tae-Seok, Lee Kang-In, Lee Jae-Sung, Son Heung-Min.
Subs: Bae Jun-Ho, J. Castrop, Cho Wi-Je, Cho Gue-Sung, Eom Ji-Sung, Hwang Hee-Chan, Jo Hyeon-Woo, Kim Jin-Gyu, Kim Moon-Hwan, Kim Tae-Hyeon, Lee Dong-Gyeong, Oh Hyeon-Gyu, Park Jin-Seob, Song Bum-Keun, Yang Hyun-Jun
Czechia XI: Kovár, Chaloupek, Hranác, Krejcí, Coufal, Soucek, Sojka, Zeleny, Sulc, Provod, Schick.
Subs: Chorý, Chytil, Darida, Douděra, Hložek, Holeš, Horníček, Jurásek, Kuchta, Sadílek, Sochůrek, Staněk, Višinský, Zima, Červ
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
