Once Round 1 of Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 is done and dusted, managers don’t have a lot of time to get their teams, transfers and chips sorted for Round 2.
In fact, with no rest days until Wednesday 8 July (day 28 of the tournament!), there are several back-to-back Rounds.
WHEN IS THE ROUND 2 DEADLINE FOR FANTASY FIFA WORLD CUP?
The first match of Round 2 (aka the second round of group games) is Czechia v South Africa, which kicks off at 17:00 BST on Thursday 18 June.
And that’s exactly when Fantasy managers have to have their teams locked in by.
As was the case in Round 1, it means we can see the teamsheets from Round 2 curtain-raiser – if so desired – before confirming our transfers, activating our boosters, and so on.
Of course, you don’t have to wait that long. It’s perfectly possible to make your transfers and activate your boosters for Round 2 now, although it’s advisable to see as many Round 1 games as you can before doing so.
For example, you might want Luis Diaz in for Colombia’s Round 2 match against DR Congo – but he’s first got to get through his Round 1 fixture against Uzbekistan unscathed. That takes place at 3am BST on Thursday 18 June, just 14 hours before the Round 2 deadline!
Remember, while the Round 2 deadline of 17:00 on Thursday 18 June is the cut-off point for transfers and chips, you can still make manual substitutions and captaincy changes after that time.
WHEN ARE THE DEADLINES FOR THE OTHER FANTASY FIFA WORLD CUP 2026 ROUNDS?
The deadlines for all Fantasy FIFA World Cup rounds are as follows:
Round 1: 20:00 BST on Thursday 11 June- Round 2: 17:00 BST on Thursday 18 June
- Round 3: 20:00 BST on Wednesday 24 June
- Round of 32: 20:00 BST on Sunday 28 June
- Round of 16: 18:00 BST on Saturday 4 July
- Quarter-final: 21:00 BST on Thursday 9 July
- Semi-final: 20:00 BST on Tuesday 14 July
- Final (inc third-place play-off): 22:00 BST on Saturday 18 July
