It’s Round 2 deadline day for Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026, so it’s time to finalise our Scout Picks.
Remember, these Scout Picks are for Round 2 in isolation.
- READ MORE: Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 – Round 2 guide: Best players, tips, team reveals + more
- READ MORE: Introducing our ultimate World Cup 2026 Fantasy toolkit!
GOALKEEPERS
Maxime Crepeau ($4.0m) is our first goalkeeper between the sticks, ahead of co-host Canada’s encounter with Qatar.
Feeble in their tournament opener, Qatar managed only six shots against Switzerland, posing minimal threat throughout the match.
Canada rank fifth on the Round 2 clean sheet odds list.
From our earlier draft, we’ve switched the second goalkeeper, which is mostly due to budget.
Mostafa Shobeir ($3.5m) replaces Hernan Galindez ($4.2m), with Egypt set to face the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, New Zealand.
Crucially, Crepeau and Shobeir both currently qualify for Scouting Bonus points.
DEFENDERS
In defence, we’ve got representation from the top two teams on the Round 2 clean sheet odds list: France and Spain.
Theo Hernandez ($5.0m) is a dynamic option down the left flank for France, and could profit against Iraq, especially as confidence might be low for Graham Arnold’s side, having conceded four times to Norway in their World Cup opener.
Marc Cucurella ($5.1m) also gets forward plenty from left-back: two shots and two chances created in Round 1 was evidence of that. Spain are heavily favoured to beat Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Sergino Dest’s ($4.3m) advanced role for the United States caught the eye in Round 1. Playing as a right winger in Mauricio Pochettino’s 4-2-3-1, the budget defender should pose a threat once more against Australia.
Australia recorded an impressive 2-0 win over Turkey in their World Cup opener, but lost the expected goals (xG) battle by 0.77 to 1.33, having fired off only nine shots.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Coufal ($3.6m) will compete against South Africa on Thursday, a team that recorded the lowest xG in Round 1, with a mere 0.07:
Coufal, supplier of an assist in Czechia’s opener, should get forward plenty to hopefully offer a bit of attacking threat, too.
As for Joel Ordonez ($3.9m), Ecuador are in the top four for clean sheet odds in the table above. Sebastian Beccacece’s defence impressed in qualifying, with only five goals conceded and 13 clean sheets in 18 CONMEBOL matches.
Ordonez currently qualifies for Scouting Bonus, along with Hernandez, Dest and Coufal.
Ritsu Doan ($5.1m) was in our Scout Picks ‘bus team’, but similar to Galindez, budgetary constraints led us to leave him out.
MIDFIELDERS
The reason we needed to include some cheaper options at the back was primarily to facilitate Vinicius Junior ($10.0m), who takes the place of James Rodriguez ($6.5m) in the ‘bus team’.
The Real Madrid man and Raphinha ($8.2m) are the stand-out attackers for Brazil’s encounter with Haiti, with the latter having the benefit of set-pieces and penalties.
Fresh from his Round 1 assist, Michael Olise ($9.5m) joins the Brazilian duo in the Scout Picks.
Getting into some really promising positions against Senegal, particularly after he moved to a ’10’ role in the second half, Olise claimed the ‘key pass’ bonus and nearly scored himself, which bodes well for the Round 2 meeting with Iraq.
Above: Players sorted by big chances created in Round 1
Elsewhere, we’ll persevere with Bruno Fernandes ($8.5m) due to his all-round threat, plus the fact that Portugal encounter debutants Uzbekistan.
In a second midfield alteration from the ‘bus team’, Arda Guler ($7.0m) comes in for Turkey teammate Hakan Calhanoglu ($7.1m).
Guler couldn’t be beaten for shots (eight) by any other player in Round 1. He now faces Paraguay, who conceded four goals to the United States in their World Cup opener.
FORWARDS
Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) and Harry Kane ($10.5m) are no-brainer picks for Round 2.
Both players have already made an impact at the World Cup, with 14- and 13-point hauls respectively in Round 1. They now face Iraq and Ghana, so they carry huge potential once more.
Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m) was strongly considered for the third forward slot, but in the end, we opted for Ecuador’s Enner Valencia ($5.9m).
Opponents Curacao were thrashed 7-1 by Germany in their World Cup opener.
On penalties and direct free-kicks, Valencia also qualifies for the Scouting Bonus, sitting in just 1.5% of squads at present.
ROUND 2 SCOUT PICKS
