Well, we’re technically underway! As usual, the first round of games has been pretty dull, with a lot of defensive football. The second round is always the best though, with everything still to play for and lots of teams needing to win if they got off to a bad start.
From a Fantasy World Cup perspective, it’s been a disaster. If you haven’t already seen on Twitter, or simply experienced them yourself, there have been problems galore. You can get all our own complaints about them below.
Regardless, we’re soldiering on. After the aforementioned moaning, we’ll review the Fantasy World Cup implications of each and every match so far, before looking ahead to Matchday 2.
Fantasy World Cup Issues
Frankly, the game is terrible… but that’s not a surprise given the general organisation at this World Cup.
The points system doesn’t work properly. No points appear to have been awarded for shots on target or for key passes like we were promised.
They’ve also changed it AFTER THE WORLD CUP STARTED (!) so that midfielders get 7 points for a goal instead of 5. Incredible.
There are also plenty of people on Twitter who have managed to buy players way over budget. Some appear to have transferred out a defender for a midfielder too.
Then, there is the wildcard hack. Basically, if you use your wildcard on Matchday 2, you will be able to change all your players for Matchday 2… and 3.
Instead of actually fixing all this crap, they just put the player pics in. Thanks, Fifa! Now we know what Ronaldo looks like!
Here at Full 90 FPL we are disappointed and frustrated with the game, especially since we took our preparation quite seriously (assuming, y’know, that it would be an actual working game). We will not be using the hacks. It doesn’t feel right, and frankly we can’t be arsed – this is a break from FPL pressure for us, so we are going to try our hardest to just enjoy it.
Matchday 1 – Quick review
Every team has played now. Most of them were pretty rubbish, and are irrelevant to Fantasy World Cup, but some sides piqued our interest.
Here are our quick thoughts on every Matchday 1… matchup.
| Qatar – 0 | 2 – Ecuador |
| They were so bad. Target this team! | We did call Enner Valencia as the one to buy if you wanted an Ecuadorian asset. |
| Senegal – 0 | 2 – Netherlands |
| They really struggled to get into this game without their talisman Mane. Gueye was key to all they did going forward but he is pretty much the only one I would consider right now. Even then, I don’t love it. Mendy has to take responsibility for at least one of the goals and it makes me nervous of the defence, though I am sure they could still beat Qatar. | Not a great performance by any means but they did win. As expected, Depay didn’t start. It was actually surprising to see him come on but they needed to do something to break the deadlock. Gakpo was key to the attack and without Depay he was taking all the set pieces. He capped off a pretty good performance with a goal. Dumfries performance was a little disappointing but his positioning was good, so I would hold the faith. In general they looked solid at the back. |
| England – 6 | 2 – Iran |
| Definitely did not see this coming. Saka was absolutely excellent and could be a great option at that price. We know that Southgate likes to play the same team over and over so I think he keeps his place. I still feel like there are better options for the money than Sterling or Kane. Lack of a clean sheet against such poor opposition was disappointing. | I thought they would be defensively sound and not score any goals… Instead, Taremi scored twice and they were terrible at the back. Makes an interesting decision about whether to target their fixtures. |
| USA – 1 | 1 – Wales |
| Pulisic remains the best attacking option. He was a constant threat here. Personally, I was heartbroken that Turner lost his clean sheet. | Gareth Bale eh? Well, I’m not so sure it was him being good or Tim Ream being an idiot. Bale (and Wales attack as a whole) generally looked better after Kiefer Moore came on. Bale’s a good option for only 8.0, especially with Iran next. |
| Argentina – 1 | 2 – Saudi Arabia |
| If the refs/VAR are gonna give pens as soft as the one against Saudi Arabia, we want all the penalty-takers for all the good teams (e.g. Messi). Defence looks terrible. No protection from midfield. Defenders are off the menu for fantasy. Considering how much talent they have, Argentina looked shockingly bad going forward. Their one goal was a very dodgy pen. Messi drops below Kane in the Premium Forward power-rankings. Regardless, I think Martinez owners can feel unlucky given that if he understood the offside rule he would have had two goals. | Played a super high line in the first half. They got away with it here, but it did make Lewandowski a tempting option for his next game… until we saw Poland play (see below) Looked surprisingly good going forward. Great result, obviously, but still not appealing fantasy targets. |
| Denmark – 0 | 0 – Tunisia |
| Eriksen made 5 key passes in the game and almost won and, presumably, would have scored, a penalty. Maehle was fine. Kept a clean and put in a few crosses but he wasn’t exceptional. Good enough for a cheap defender. Skov Olsen was playing out of position but still wasn’t very good. I’m certainly thinking about dropping him. The team created a few chances and missed a couple | Aymen Dahmen did well in goal. Not much else here. |
| Mexico – 0 | 0 – Poland |
| Played on the front-foot… but didn’t really create anything. No interest in any of their players for now. | Played very, very much on the back-foot. Argentina still to come, which won’t be a clean, but Saudi Arabia could be. Cash got a clean here, and remains a good budget pick. Lewandowski had no service whatsoever. Poland can’t keep the ball. Lewa didn’t score at the last World Cup, and had no real chances here. He is on pens though (and missed one in this game)… and he’s Lewandowski, so he’s an all right gamble against Saudi Arabia. That said, Bale seems a better pick. |
| France – 4 | 1 – Australia |
| After a shaky start, France remembered they were the world champions and dominated. Mbappe was unplayable. He’s expensive, and has Denmark next… but it’s hard not to want him after this game. Griezmann looked great. He’s 3.0 cheaper than Mbappe, and played a free role that ensured he was constantly involved and created 4 big chances. It’s amazing what he can do when he’s allowed to play 90 minutes! Injuries have given us two other cheap ways in. Giroud probably isn’t scoring two goals again, but will be starting up top, and he’s only 7.5. Theo Hernandez replaced his brother who has beeb confirmed as injured for the rest of the season. He’s the same price as Pavard, but more of an attacking threat. Could be a good option going forward. | They looked good for the first half hour or so, then got destroyed. |
| Croatia – 0 | 0 – Morocco |
| Kept the ball well, as you’d expect from their world class midfield. Barely created anything though, and have no pace up top. Don’t look like they’ll be prolific. Defensively they were solid. Sosa started, and remains a great enabler at 3.5, especially with Canada next. | They played really well, in all phases of the game. We don’t want any of them against Belgium, but worth looking at again vs Canada afterwards. Ziyech the main man going forward, but more of a creator than a goal threat. Hakimi is a decent price (5.0), looked good as usual here, and could easily get a clean and a return against Canada. |
| Germany – 1 | 2 – Japan |
| What a mess. Germany were so open at the back it was hard to believe. Wouldn’t go near Neuer or the Germany defenders with a barge pole in Fantasy World Cup. Gundogan is on pens, scoring one here, and took a ton of shots. Not sure he’s worth 7.5, though. Gnabry was the most dangerous attacker, but he’s very expensive (9.0). Musiala played well too, and is better value at 8.0. Havertz was disappointing, and might be benched next game. Muller was peripheral. | Japan were brilliant, and completely deserved the win. They’re not really fantasy relevant (both scorers came off the bench), but this was an amazing team performance. |
| Spain – 7 | 0 – Costa Rica |
| This was a proper shellacking. Since it was against one of the worst teams in the tournament, though, we probably shouldn’t overreact to it. Spain looked great across the pitch. The most interesting Fantasy World Cup option is probably Asensio. Since he doesn’t have any good actual strikers, it looks like Enrique is going to play Asensio up top, Fabregas-style. He’s listed as a midfielder in Fantasy World Cup, and – if Spain keeps playing this way – is a decent price at 8.5. Torres got two goals (one was a pen), but he’s been rubbish for Barca since moving there. Wouldn’t trust him yet, especially with so many other good forward options. Spain play Germany next. That sounds hard, but – based on how the German defence looked – could be a great attacking fixture. | Felt a bit sorry for them. |
| Switzerland – 1 | 0 – Cameroon |
| Sometimes on top, sometimes not. Nobody appeared to excel here. | Choupo-Moting appeared to.get in good positions but I still don’t love him |
| Uruguay – 0 | 0 – South Korea |
| Played super conservative football. Constant passing around the back-line, despite good attacking talent. No interest in their forwards, therefore, but defence looks strong. Godin is only 4.0, and is nailed to start. They do have Portugal next, which isn’t great, but Ghana afterwards is fine. Valverde looked good – he was creating and had three shots (all off target mind). | Just a deep defence and Son looking a bit (but not very) dangerous. Not much in terms of fantasy. |
| Portugal – 3 | 2 – Ghana |
| Penaldo strikes again. He’s 10.0, but gets loads of pens, and usually does well at tournaments. Wasted a couple of good chances in the first half. Not a superb attacking performance in general. Were defensive and boring in first half, but opened up in second. Unfortunately there are so many options it’s hard to know who to back. Bruno is nailed and was creative, but costs 9.5. Felix looked good, and Leao is great and will probably start next game. Both are forwards though (of which there are too many choices), and both cost 8.0. Defence wasn’t tested in the first half, and looked rubbish in the second half when it was tested. | Ghana weren’t as bad as we thought they would be! |
| Brazil – 2 | 0 – Serbia |
| Super-attacking going forward, and really good at the back. Basically perfect for fantasy. Switzerland next, which isn’t great, but Brazil looked so good here. Neymar was the popular pick going in, but underwhelmed. He played deeper than all the other attackers, and didn’t look dangerous. Vini is obviously class, and had several good chances here. He’s the same price as Neymar, but has a much higher ceiling. Richarlison didn’t do anything… except score two goals (including a worldie). He only costs 7.5, which is a bargain with such good service. The only problem is he’ll probably be rotated out for Jesus if they’re already qualified going into Game 3. The defence also looked brilliant here. Sandro is the cheapest way in, at 5.0, and has no competition at left-back. Switzerland and Cameroon could both be cleans. | Very defensive. Couldn’t keep the ball, and couldn’t counter either. Mitro not an option right now. |
Matchday 2 Preview
Matchday 2 kicks off immediately. Is this what it feels like to have too much football?
Best Fixtures
There are no excellent fixtures as far as we can see. An excellent fixture would be a top team against an awful one, but we don’t see many for this round. So, your next best bet is targeting bad defences or good attacks. Like:
- Wales vs Iran
Having just got hit for six, Iran are tempting targets. Wales weren’t exactly electric against the USA, but Bale feels like a solid pick here.
- Senegal v. Qatar
Senegal are a good choice for defenders against one of the worst teams in the tournament. They weren’t great going forward, but you could take a punt there.
- USA v. England
It feels awful to say this as an England fan, but you could target the current second best attack in the tournament. USA are definitely better than Iran. Kane appears to be fit.
- Saudi Arabia v. Poland
I don’t believe the Saudis will continue to overperform. Lewandowski will be great if Saudi defend like they did in the first half.
- Mexico v. Argentina
Argentina NEED to win after the upset against Saudi Arabia. Likely their first team will also play in Matchday 3 as well, so good to have and hold.
Go for the attack, the defence is a bit bad. Rodrigo de Paul at 5mn is a good enabler if you have a problem in midfield.
- Canada v. Croatia
Croatia should win this and Sosa is a great defensive pick at 3.5.
Final Thoughts
Right, that’s your lot for Matchday 1.
Hopefully we weren’t too negative. If we were, you can blame Fifa for messing up something so easy as an incredibly straightforward fantasy game, which they’ve had four years to get ready. The 2018 Fantasy World Cup game was completely fine – they could’ve just copied and pasted that and changed the names, and we’d have been happy.
Regardless, hopefully Fifa sorts everything out in Matchday 2 (probably not though), and hopefully we have some more exciting football (much more likely). Follow us on Twitter @Full90FPL to get our complaints as soon as they happen… and, to a lesser extent, for more Fantasy World Cup analysis.