Ahead of the World Cup Fantasy Quarter-final round, it’s time to look at some players with Scouting Bonus potential.

As many of you know, differentials can earn you an extra two points in the Fantasy FIFA World Cup game.

With a much smaller pool of players to choose from, it’s becoming much more difficult to identify quality differentials owned by fewer than 5% of managers.

That said, we’ve found a few low-owned names that we think warrant your consideration.

As you’d expect at this latter stage, many carry game-time risks of some variety or are of the decidedly ‘unsexy’ variety of Fantasy pick.

• READ MORE: Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026 – Quarter-final guide: Best players, tips, team reveals + more
• READ MORE: Fantasy FIFA World Cup 2026: Quarter-final Scout Picks

DESIRE DOUE

Underscoring what we said above, Doue is someone we haven’t been able to rely on for minutes so far this tournament. He’s had more substitute appearances (three) than starts (two), with Bradley Barcola ($8.0m) often eating into his game-time.

However, a lively cameo against Paraguay, in which he won the decisive penalty that Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m) scored, looks set to be rewarded with a promotion to the starting XI. L’Equipe, who are usually on the ball with these things, have indeed included Doue in their final predicted line-up.

The good thing is – we don’t need to rely on predicted XIs. We can wait for the France v Morocco teamsheets to drop, as the Fantasy deadline is at kick-off in that match. If Doue makes the cut as predicted, he becomes a plausible option.

The risk, of course, is that he has a subpar game and a) comes off early and b) doesn’t start in the semi-finals (if France progress). But we have to accept some risk with differentials at this stage.

As for the plus points, he’s France’s leading chance creator per 90 minutes (2.96, below):

He’s also third among his teammates for shots per 90 minutes (2.96).

Eight of France’s predicted XI are ineligible for Scouting Bonus, with Doue and the two central midfielders the two exceptions.

RODRI/DANI OLMO

Minutes risks and defensive midfielders tend to be what we’re left with at this stage of the competition, with the Scouting Bonus shelves picked dry.

Rodri belongs to the latter category. So far, he’s delivered no goals and no assists. About what you’d expect of a midfield anchor.

However, he’s only one key pass behind Spain’s leading chance creators:

There’s also a school of thought (and some evidence) that the tougher the opposition gets as the tournament progress, the more defensive work he’ll get through. ‘Easy’ fixtures against Cabo Verde and Saudi Arabia returned no tackle bonus points, but he’s delivered that in three trickier-on-paper tests that followed, against Uruguay, Austria and Portugal.

Belgium, who lead the way for xG (11.76) and shots (107) at the World Cup, should keep him busy.

He’s a 90-minute man, too.

If you’re after a bit more excitement, Dani Olmo is the higher-upside, albeit riskier, pick. He’s started three of the last four Spain games, including both knockout ties.

There is some risk there from the packed La Roja bench but the latest noises from around the Spanish camp suggest that Olmo will keep his place.

Olmo has registered five shots and four key passes across Spain’s two knockout ties. He was unlucky to blank last time out, too.

Just don’t expect 90 minutes…

ENZO FERNANDEZ

It may be a close-run thing if Fernandez stays under 5% ownership, so make sure to keep checking up to the deadline. A haul in the last round hasn’t helped in that regard, and has led to some renewed Fantasy investment.

In truth, everyone outside of Lionel Messi ($10.0m) in this Argentina side has middling numbers.

But at least Enzo is second only to the 39-year-old magician for shots for La Albiceleste this summer (below):

Like Rodri (who carries less goal threat), Fernandez is also a 90-minute man for his country.

Might he even inherit penalty-taking duties from Messi after his latest failure from the spot? Good luck getting the ball off the Golden Boot-chasing veteran…

BUKAYO SAKA

The Scouting Bonus caveat concerning Enzo also applies to Saka, who currently sits at 4.5% ownership.

What may save Saka is his prohibitive price. The cheaper Anthony Gordon ($7.0m), for example, has outpaced him for new owners, and at the time of writing is heading towards 5% at a quicker rate.

Game-time management has dented Saka’s appeal this summer. He didn’t start the first two games, and was rested against DR Congo, too. But almost a week between the round of 16 and the quarter-finals would, you think, give Saka plenty of time to rest up before the encounter with Norway.

Despite his limited minutes, he’s still delivered three assists in the Americas. He averaged 7.5 points per start, too, helped by Scouting Bonus in those appearances.

Opponents Norway haven’t kept a single clean sheet in the World Cup, conceding nine goals in five games.

A potentially explosive differential, then, but you’ll be wanting him to get the job done in the first 60 minutes, as substitutions tend to loom around the hour-mark.

THE OTHERS

Lautaro Martinez ($8.8m) helped turn the game in Argentina’s favour when he was brought off the bench against Egypt. The problem, of course, is that he looked pretty anaemic in his four starts prior to that. Given the desirable premium forwards elsewhere, this may be a risk too far.

Risk is also what we’ve got in the full-back positions of England and Argentina. Will Reece James ($5.2m) or Djed Spence ($4.5m) (or someone else!) start for the Three Lions? Will Nicolás Tagliafico ($4.3m) keep his place over Facundo Medina ($4.0m)? Had these two nations’ game been closer to the deadline, we might have got a better steer, but there’s probably too much uncertainty there at present.

None of the starting Spain or France defenders are set to be under 5%.

So far, we’ve only looked at players from the four quarter-final favourites.

But the four ‘underdogs’, if we are to call them that, are much less popular. Only 10 players from these four nations – including the injured Johan Manzambi ($5.6m) and Ismael Saibari ($6.8m) – have ownerships above 5%:

Of the rest, Charles De Ketelaere ($5.6m) has potential as an ‘out of position’ midfielder playing up front for Belgium. He has to find a way past a Spain side yet to concede this summer, of course.

Teammate Maxim De Cuyper ($4.7m) is the leading defender for shots on target (six) at the World Cup.

0.6%-owned Moroccan forward Soufiane Rahimi ($5.6m) looks set to deputise for Saibari against France, meanwhile. He bagged a double-digit haul last time out.

Gregor Kobel ($4.7m) and Orjan Nyland ($4.2m) will likely be the only two starting goalkeepers who qualify for Scouting Bonus in the quarter-finals.

Switzerland might fancy their chances against an Argentina side that has already conceded four times in two knockout games.

Breel Embolo ($7.5m) and Granit Xhaka ($6.2m) are pretty secure starters, with the former delivering four games in a row before blanking last time out. Xhaka netted a penalty in the group stage, too, although it should be said that spot-kick rival Embolo had just been taken off.