Round 3 of FIFA Fantasy World Cup is nearly here, so it’s time to lock in our 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 third round.
In this article, FPL Meerkat (top 1k finishes in both UCL Fantasy and FIFA Club World Cup Fantasy over the last year or so) breaks down his current Wildcard squad, the players he’s targeting, his planned chip strategy and some of the key decisions he has to make ahead of the deadline.
- READ MORE: Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026: Round 3 – best Scouting Bonus XV
- READ MORE: Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026: Best Round 3 fixtures
- READ MORE: Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026: Round 3 Wildcard – pros, cons + best team
As was planned from the start, I am playing my Wildcard booster in Matchday 3. The biggest reason for this was the number of top teams playing each other in this round, and favourable matchups for lower-owned players.
When it comes to selecting players from teams, the main things I am looking at is not only how favourable a fixture they have, but also what is at stake for the team playing. Do they still need points to qualify? The teams that have already topped their groups will likely rotate in order to preserve their top players.
Goalkeepers
Fofana ($4.2m – 1.5%) & Mendy ($4.5m – 1.3%)
Ivory Coast and Senegal are two teams that fit the criteria I’m looking for. Both teams have a high chance for a clean sheet against Iraq and Curacao, respectively, need to win to qualify for the next round, and the ‘keepers themselves qualify for Scouting Bonus, which, as we have already seen this tournament, makes for easy nine-pointers.
Defenders
Dumfries ($5.7m – 15.3%), Mazraoui ($4.4m – 2.3%), Agbadou ($3.9m – 0.4%), Konan ($4.0m – 0.7%), Konsa ($4.8m – 1.1%)
Dumfries, and triple Netherlands, for that matter, is a lock in this team. They are the perfect match of a team desperately needing to win, win big, and with an insanely favourable matchup against a very poor-looking Tunisia side. Dumfries has always been highly advanced for the Netherlands, demonstrated by his two assists against Sweden. A very exciting player to own.
The rest of the defence are players with a high likelihood for those nine-point clean sheet + Scouting Bonus hauls. I’ve favoured Mazraoui over Hakimi for the time being, not for the price, but because he also offers attacking output whilst having that extra two points over Hakimi if Morocco keep a clean sheet vs Haiti.
Agbadou and Konan complete a triple up on the Ivory Coast defence, who boast the highest likelihood for a clean sheet of the round. Ivory Coast have looked solid, they were unlucky to lose against Germany, and I’ve gone with the two defenders who seem the most nailed-on. Doue and Kossounou have each been benched once, and Singo came off with an injury against Germany.
Konsa is a punt on the England defence. After England drew to Ghana, this likely means the team won’t rotate as much, and Konsa has started both fixtures, indicating he looks pretty nailed. The England defence was shaky against Croatia, but I can’t imagine Panama causing them too many problems.
Midfielders
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