2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 1

RotoWire's 2026 World Cup Fantasy rankings for Matchday 1. Captains, sleepers and value picks built on projected lineups, set-piece roles and fixtures.

Updated on June 11, 2026 12:30PM EST

2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 1

By:

Adam Zdroik

Updated on June 11, 2026 12:30PM EST

World Cup

2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 1

Welcome to RotoWire's 2026 FIFA World Cup fantasy rankings for Matchday 1. These rankings highlight the best World Cup fantasy players based on projected lineups, form, set-piece roles and fixture quality heading into the tournament.

Whether you're building a season-long World Cup fantasy team, preparing for a draft or searching for captaincy options, these rankings provide the top overall picks and sleepers for the opening slate of matches.

These rankings will be updated ahead of the opener as lineups, injuries and team news change.

For player rankings across the entire group stage, we ran those numbers for the top 100 players in the first three Matchdays.

Join the RotoWire Soccer FIFA World Cup Fantasy group!

More 2026 World Cup Content
World Cup Predicted & Confirmed Starting XIs
World Cup Set Pieces: Penalties, Corners & Free Kicks by Team
Group Previews A to L
RotoWire World Cup Hub: Links to News, Stats, Depth Charts & More

How These Rankings Are Built

With no in-tournament data yet, our Matchday 1 World Cup Fantasy rankings combine four inputs: projected starting XIs, international stats across the last year, specifically during qualifying, set-piece responsibility (penalties, corners and direct free kicks) and fixture quality based on historical team and World Cup stats. Rankings update as final squads, injuries and pre-match lineups are confirmed.

Top Captain Picks for Matchday 1

Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m, Spain v Cabo Verde)

The highest projected point-scorer on Matchday 1. Spain are clear favorites against Cabo Verde, Oyarzabal handles penalties for La Roja and projects for a high attacking output at sub-premium money. The best mix of upside and price on the slate.

Kai Havertz ($7.8m, Germany v Curacao)

Curacao are arguably the weakest opponent of the opening matchday and Germany's central striker stands to benefit. The main question with Havertz will be if he starts after the Champions League final with Arsenal.

Erling Haaland ($10.5m, Norway v Iraq)

The chalk play and the highest-owned premium for a reason. Iraq are a heavy underdog and Haaland anchors every situation Norway create in the box. The safest captain but eats the largest chunk of your budget.

World Cup Fantasy Round 1 Player Rankings

Below are the full Round 1 World Cup Fantasy player rankings based on projected lineups, form and fixtures.

These rankings can be used to guide transfers, captaincy decisions and overall squad planning ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Overall	FW	MID	DEF	GK	Player	Matchup	Tact Pos	FIFA Pos	Price	Own%	Pts
1	1				Mikel Oyarzabal	Spain v Cabo Verde	FW	FWD	$8.1m	16.5%	9.16
2		1			Florian Wirtz	Germany v Curaçao	AML	MID	$7.5m	22.3%	8.78
3		2			James Rodriguez	Colombia v Uzbekistan	AMC	MID	$6.5m	4.3%	8.36
4		3			Hakan Calhanoglu	Turkey v Australia	DMC	MID	$7.1m	3.2%	8.34
5	2				Kai Havertz	Germany v Curaçao	FW	FWD	$7.8m	8.3%	8.14
6	3				Erling Haaland	Norway v Iraq	FW	FWD	$10.5m	33.2%	8.05
7	4				Raul Jimenez	Mexico v South Africa	FW	FWD	$7.0m	2.2%	8.04
8		4			Marcel Sabitzer	Austria v Jordan	AML	MID	$6.8m	2.9%	7.86
9			1		Joshua Kimmich	Germany v Curaçao	DR	DEF	$5.5m	27.8%	7.73
10		5			Alex Baena	Spain v Cabo Verde	FWL	MID	$6.0m	0.2%	7.59
11		6			Antonio Nusa	Norway v Iraq	FWL	MID	$6.1m	3.1%	7.52
12		7			Bruno Fernandes	Portugal v DR Congo	AMC	MID	$8.5m	48.8%	7.50
13			2		Nico Schlotterbeck	Germany v Curaçao	DC	DEF	$5.3m	3.8%	7.50
14		8			Leroy Sane	Germany v Curaçao	AMR	MID	$7.4m	0.9%	7.48
15		9			Ruben Vargas	Switzerland v Qatar	AMC	MID	$6.8m	0.5%	7.45
16		10			John McGinn	Scotland v Haiti	AML	MID	$6.0m	2.3%	7.38
17			3		Jonathan Tah	Germany v Curaçao	DC	DEF	$5.3m	4.7%	7.37
18		11			Jamal Musiala	Germany v Curaçao	AMC	MID	$8.0m	12.2%	7.36
19			4		Silvan Widmer	Switzerland v Qatar	DR	DEF	$4.2m	0.8%	7.25
20			5		David Moller Wolfe	Norway v Iraq	DL	DEF	$4.0m	0.6%	7.25
21		12			Martin Odegaard	Norway v Iraq	MC	MID	$7.7m	4.3%	7.17
22		13			Felix Nmecha	Germany v Curaçao	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	7.16
23			6		Nathaniel Brown	Germany v Curaçao	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.3%	7.13
24	5				Marko Arnautovic	Austria v Jordan	FW	FWD	$6.0m	0.6%	7.12
25		14			Thiago Almada	Argentina v Algeria	FWL	MID	$6.5m	0.2%	7.08
26	6				Alexander Sorloth	Norway v Iraq	FWR	FWD	$6.8m	1.5%	7.07
27	7				Memphis Depay	Netherlands v Japan	FW	FWD	$7.4m	1.1%	7.02
28			7		Sergino Dest	USA v Paraguay	MR	DEF	$4.3m	1.5%	7.01
29			8		Daniel Svensson	Sweden v Tunisia	MR	DEF	$4.5m	0.5%	7.00
30		15			Jhon Arias	Colombia v Uzbekistan	AMR	MID	$6.3m	0.2%	6.97
31	8				Luis Suarez	Colombia v Uzbekistan	FW	FWD	$5.7m	2.6%	6.96
32			9		Ferdi Kadioglu	Turkey v Australia	AML	DEF	$4.3m	1.7%	6.95
33			10		Israel Reyes	Mexico v South Africa	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.5%	6.91
34			11		Pedro Porro	Spain v Cabo Verde	DR	DEF	$5.5m	8.5%	6.87
35		16			Aleksandar Pavlovic	Germany v Curaçao	DMC	MID	$5.5m	0.5%	6.83
36			12		Antonee Robinson	USA v Paraguay	ML	DEF	$5.0m	2.8%	6.81
37			14		Manuel Akanji	Switzerland v Qatar	DC	DEF	$5.0m	4.8%	6.79
38			15		Nico Elvedi	Switzerland v Qatar	DC	DEF	$4.3m	2.1%	6.79
39			13		Ricardo Rodriguez	Switzerland v Qatar	DL	DEF	$4.5m	2.1%	6.78
40		17			Romano Schmid	Austria v Jordan	AMR	MID	$6.0m	0.2%	6.77
41		18			Maxi Araujo	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	ML	MID	$6.4m	0.2%	6.77
42		19			Charles De Ketelaere	Belgium v Egypt	FW	MID	$5.6m	0.5%	6.76
43		21			Bernardo Silva	Portugal v DR Congo	AMR	MID	$7.8m	2.3%	6.70
44	9				Mehdi Taremi	Iran v New Zealand	FW	FWD	$6.1m	0.5%	6.68
45		22			Remo Freuler	Switzerland v Qatar	DMC	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	6.67
46			16		Marc Cucurella	Spain v Cabo Verde	DL	DEF	$5.1m	22.4%	6.64
47	10				Breel Embolo	Switzerland v Qatar	FW	FWD	$7.5m	2.2%	6.64
48		23			Ben Gannon Doak	Scotland v Haiti	AMR	MID	$4.9m	0.2%	6.61
49		24			Kevin De Bruyne	Belgium v Egypt	AMC	MID	$7.5m	5.3%	6.61
50				1	Orjan Nyland	Norway v Iraq	GK	GK	$4.2m	2.8%	6.60
51				2	Alexander Schlager	Austria v Jordan	GK	GK	$4.6m	0.4%	6.54
52	11				Kylian Mbappe	France v Senegal	FW	FWD	$10.5m	50.9%	6.53
53			17		Kristoffer Ajer	Norway v Iraq	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.8%	6.53
54			18		Joao Cancelo	Portugal v DR Congo	DR	DEF	$5.3m	7.1%	6.50
55		25			Mehdi Ghayedi	Iran v New Zealand	FWR	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	6.50
56			19		Guillermo Varela	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DR	DEF	$4.2m	0.3%	6.45
57		26			Michael Olise	France v Senegal	FWR	MID	$9.5m	23.8%	6.45
58		27			Desire Doue	France v Senegal	FWL	MID	$7.5m	3.3%	6.44
59			20		Jesus Gallardo	Mexico v South Africa	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.6%	6.43
60			21		Torbjorn Heggem	Norway v Iraq	DC	DEF	$3.7m	0.2%	6.42
61				3	Camilo Vargas	Colombia v Uzbekistan	GK	GK	$4.3m	4.4%	6.42
62	12				Lionel Messi	Argentina v Algeria	FWR	FWD	$10.0m	18.4%	6.41
63		28			Lucas Paqueta	Brazil v Morocco	AMR	MID	$6.5m	0.5%	6.40
64		29			Pedro Neto	Portugal v DR Congo	AML	MID	$6.4m	0.5%	6.36
65				4	Fernando Muslera	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.5%	6.34
66	13				Ferran Torres	Spain v Cabo Verde	FWR	FWD	$7.8m	3.0%	6.34
67			22		Gideon Mensah	Ghana v Panama	ML	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	6.33
68			23		Nahuel Molina	Argentina v Algeria	DR	DEF	$4.4m	3.7%	6.27
69			24		Phillipp Mwene	Austria v Jordan	DL	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	6.23
70	14				Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal v DR Congo	FW	FWD	$10.0m	13.2%	6.22
71			25		Danilo	Brazil v Morocco	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.5%	6.21
72		30			Ryan Christie	Scotland v Haiti	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	6.17
73			26		Aaron Hickey	Scotland v Haiti	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	6.16
74				5	Angus Gunn	Scotland v Haiti	GK	GK	$3.6m	1.3%	6.15
75			27		Mathias Olivera	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DL	DEF	$4.3m	0.3%	6.15
76			28		Goncalo Inacio	Portugal v DR Congo	DC	DEF	$4.6m	1.1%	6.15
77			29		Johan Mojica	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DL	DEF	$3.9m	3.3%	6.13
78		20			Michel Aebischer	Switzerland v Qatar	AMC	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	6.12
79			30		Philipp Lienhart	Austria v Jordan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	6.12
80			31		Nicolas Otamendi	Argentina v Algeria	DC	DEF	$4.4m	2.0%	6.11
81		31			Malik Tillman	USA v Paraguay	AMC	MID	$6.1m	0.3%	6.11
82			32		Julian Ryerson	Norway v Iraq	DR	DEF	$4.2m	7.5%	6.10
83			33		Nicolas Tagliafico	Argentina v Algeria	DL	DEF	$4.3m	1.0%	6.09
84			34		Cesar Montes	Mexico v South Africa	DC	DEF	$4.7m	0.6%	6.09
85			35		Johan Vasquez	Mexico v South Africa	DC	DEF	$4.7m	1.4%	6.09
86		32			Raphinha	Brazil v Morocco	AMC	MID	$8.2m	21.4%	6.08
87		33			Pedri	Spain v Cabo Verde	MC	MID	$8.1m	9.9%	6.08
88			36		Thomas Meunier	Belgium v Egypt	DR	DEF	$4.8m	0.7%	6.08
89		34			Joao Neves	Portugal v DR Congo	DMC	MID	$6.5m	3.8%	6.07
90			37		David Alaba	Austria v Jordan	DC	DEF	$4.6m	2.1%	6.07
91	15				Federico Vinas	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	FW	FWD	$5.9m	0.1%	6.06
92		35			Rodri	Spain v Cabo Verde	MC	MID	$7.5m	1.7%	6.04
93			38		Aymeric Laporte	Spain v Cabo Verde	DC	DEF	$5.5m	5.0%	6.03
94			39		Pau Cubarsi	Spain v Cabo Verde	DC	DEF	$5.0m	5.9%	6.01
95		36			Luis Diaz	Colombia v Uzbekistan	AML	MID	$8.1m	18.8%	6.01
96		40			Granit Xhaka	Switzerland v Qatar	DMC	MID	$6.2m	5.3%	5.97
97	16				Harry Kane	England v Croatia	FW	FWD	$10.5m	37.9%	5.96
98			40		Andrew Robertson	Scotland v Haiti	DL	DEF	$5.0m	4.9%	5.95
99		37			Arda Guler	Turkey v Australia	AMC	MID	$7.0m	8.6%	5.94
100	17				Darwin Nunez	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	FW	FWD	$7.5m	1.6%	5.94
101			41		Jhon Lucumi	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	5.93
102			42		Gabriel Gudmundsson	Sweden v Tunisia	ML	DEF	$4.2m	0.7%	5.93
103		38			Lewis Ferguson	Scotland v Haiti	DMC	MID	$4.8m	0.1%	5.93
104			43		Lee Tae-Seok	South Korea v Czech Republic	ML	DEF	$3.7m	0.0%	5.93
105		39			Federico Valverde	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	MR	MID	$7.5m	6.1%	5.93
106			44		Zeki Celik	Turkey v Australia	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.1%	5.92
107		41			Jeremy Doku	Belgium v Egypt	AML	MID	$7.5m	11.6%	5.89
108		42			Nilson Angulo	Ecuador v Ivory Coast	ML	MID	$6.0m	0.2%	5.87
109			45		Jose Maria Gimenez	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DC	DEF	$4.4m	2.3%	5.86
110			46		Alex Sandro	Brazil v Morocco	DL	DEF	$4.5m	0.7%	5.86
111			47		Seol Young-Woo	South Korea v Czech Republic	MR	DEF	$4.2m	0.1%	5.85
112		43			Marcus Rashford	England v Croatia	AML	MID	$7.5m	2.0%	5.85
113		44			Youri Tielemans	Belgium v Egypt	DMC	MID	$6.1m	1.1%	5.84
114				6	Manuel Neuer	Germany v Curaçao	GK	GK	$5.0m	13.3%	5.84
115	18				Jonathan David	Canada v Bosnia	FW	FWD	$7.0m	1.3%	5.83
116	19				Dan Ndoye	Switzerland v Qatar	AMR	FWD	$6.8m	0.6%	5.82
117				7	Unai Simon	Spain v Cabo Verde	GK	GK	$5.0m	6.9%	5.82
118			48		Lisandro Martinez	Argentina v Algeria	DC	DEF	$4.6m	2.2%	5.81
119		45			Gustavo Puerta	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DMC	MID	$5.3m	0.0%	5.80
120			49		Davinson Sanchez	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.8%	5.80
121				8	Kim Seung-gyu	South Korea v Czech Republic	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.1%	5.80
122		46			Xaver Schlager	Austria v Jordan	DMC	MID	$5.5m	0.0%	5.80
123				9	Maxime Crepeau	Canada v Bosnia	GK	GK	$4.0m	0.5%	5.79
124		47			Leandro Trossard	Belgium v Egypt	AMR	MID	$6.6m	2.0%	5.78
125		48			Christian Pulisic	USA v Paraguay	AMC	MID	$7.0m	5.2%	5.77
126			50		Theo Hernandez	France v Senegal	DL	DEF	$5.0m	3.3%	5.75
127		49			Ousmane Dembele	France v Senegal	FWR	MID	$10.0m	20.3%	5.75
128		50			Caleb Yirenkyi	Ghana v Panama	MR	MID	$4.7m	0.0%	5.68
129			51		Merih Demiral	Turkey v Australia	DC	DEF	$4.0m	0.7%	5.68
130				10	Alireza Beiranvand	Iran v New Zealand	GK	GK	$4.2m	0.2%	5.68
131				11	Ugurcan Cakir	Turkey v Australia	GK	GK	$4.2m	1.1%	5.67
132		51			Aurelien Tchouameni	France v Senegal	DMC	MID	$6.5m	0.9%	5.65
133				12	Kristoffer Nordfeldt	Sweden v Tunisia	GK	GK	$3.9m	0.4%	5.63
134			52		Nuno Mendes	Portugal v DR Congo	DL	DEF	$5.8m	43.5%	5.60
135		52			Scott McTominay	Scotland v Haiti	AMC	MID	$6.5m	10.9%	5.58
136			53		Aria Yousefi	Iran v New Zealand	DR	DEF	$3.5m	0.1%	5.58
137				13	Hernan Ismael Galindez	Ecuador v Ivory Coast	GK	GK	$4.2m	2.0%	5.58
138	20				Folarin Balogun	USA v Paraguay	FW	FWD	$6.0m	1.0%	5.58
139			54		Scott McKenna	Scotland v Haiti	DC	DEF	$3.8m	0.2%	5.58
140		53			Adrien Rabiot	France v Senegal	DMC	MID	$6.4m	0.2%	5.55
141		54			Erik Lira	Mexico v South Africa	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	5.54
142				14	Gregor Kobel	Switzerland v Qatar	GK	GK	$4.7m	6.7%	5.53
143	21				Che Adams	Scotland v Haiti	FW	FWD	$5.4m	0.2%	5.51
144		55			Fabian Ruiz	Spain v Cabo Verde	MC	MID	$6.8m	1.0%	5.51
145				15	Emiliano Martinez	Argentina v Algeria	GK	GK	$5.0m	22.3%	5.50
146				16	Guillermo Ochoa	Mexico v South Africa	GK	GK	$4.2m	5.1%	5.48
147			55		Daniel Munoz	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DR	DEF	$4.6m	9.9%	5.47
148			56		Reece James	England v Croatia	DR	DEF	$5.2m	4.2%	5.45
149			57		Eren Elmali	Turkey v Australia	DL	DEF	$4.0m	0.3%	5.44
150				17	Diogo Costa	Portugal v DR Congo	GK	GK	$4.9m	9.7%	5.43
151		56			Konrad Laimer	Austria v Jordan	DR	MID	$5.8m	0.4%	5.41
152				18	Mike Maignan	France v Senegal	GK	GK	$5.0m	10.4%	5.41
153		57			Lee Kang-in	South Korea v Czech Republic	AMC	MID	$6.1m	0.5%	5.39
154			58		John Souttar	Scotland v Haiti	DC	DEF	$3.8m	0.1%	5.39
155	22				Jordan Ayew	Ghana v Panama	AMC	FWD	$5.3m	0.1%	5.38
156		58			Declan Rice	England v Croatia	DMC	MID	$7.0m	6.7%	5.34
157	23				Matheus Cunha	Brazil v Morocco	FW	FWD	$7.3m	3.6%	5.31
158			59		Timothy Castagne	Belgium v Egypt	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.3%	5.29
159	24				Alexander Isak	Sweden v Tunisia	FW	FWD	$8.0m	3.1%	5.27
160	25				Cyle Larin	Canada v Bosnia	FW	FWD	$6.2m	0.1%	5.27
161			60		Alistair Johnston	Canada v Bosnia	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.6%	5.26
162				19	Yahia Fofana	Ivory Coast v Ecuador	GK	GK	$4.2m	0.2%	5.25
163		59			Nicolas Seiwald	Austria v Jordan	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.0%	5.24
164			61		Richie Laryea	Canada v Bosnia	DL	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	5.24
165		60			Jefferson Lerma	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DMC	MID	$4.9m	0.2%	5.23
166			62		Jules Kounde	France v Senegal	DR	DEF	$5.4m	7.4%	5.22
167				20	Matt Freese	USA v Paraguay	GK	GK	$4.2m	0.5%	5.21
168				21	Benjamin Asare	Ghana v Panama	GK	GK	$3.8m	0.1%	5.20
169		61			Bukayo Saka	England v Croatia	AMR	MID	$9.5m	6.3%	5.20
170			63		Ruben Dias	Portugal v DR Congo	DC	DEF	$5.0m	5.4%	5.19
171		62			Bruno Guimaraes	Brazil v Morocco	DMC	MID	$6.8m	1.7%	5.19
172		63			Tijjani Reijnders	Netherlands v Japan	AMC	MID	$6.5m	1.7%	5.18
173				22	Alisson	Brazil v Morocco	GK	GK	$5.0m	5.6%	5.17
174		64			Diego Gomez	Paraguay v USA	MR	MID	$6.8m	0.2%	5.16
175		65			Casemiro	Brazil v Morocco	DMC	MID	$6.3m	2.3%	5.16
176			64		Milad Mohammadi	Iran v New Zealand	DL	DEF	$3.8m	0.0%	5.15
177		66			Orkun Kokcu	Turkey v Australia	DMC	MID			5.15
178	26				Chris Wood	New Zealand v Iran	FW	FWD	$6.5m	0.7%	5.13
179		67			Fredrik Aursnes	Norway v Iraq	MC	MID	$6.5m	0.2%	5.11
180			65		Sebastian Caceres	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DC	DEF			5.11
181			66		Abdulkerim Bardakci	Turkey v Australia	DC	DEF	$4.0m	0.4%	5.10
182			67		Gustaf Lagerbielke	Sweden v Tunisia	DC	DEF	$3.7m	0.2%	5.10
183				23	Bart Verbruggen	Netherlands v Japan	GK	GK	$4.7m	3.6%	5.07
184	27				Kerem Akturkoglu	Turkey v Australia	FW	FWD	$6.2m	0.3%	5.07
185		68			Kerim-Sam Alajbegovic	Bosnia v Canada	MR	MID			5.06
186	28				Cody Gakpo	Netherlands v Japan	AML	FWD	$7.7m	3.2%	5.06
187		69			Sander Berge	Norway v Iraq	MC	MID	$4.7m	0.3%	5.06
188		70			Thomas Partey	Ghana v Panama	MC	MID	$6.2m	0.1%	5.04
189	29				Julian Alvarez	Argentina v Algeria	FW	FWD	$8.6m	16.2%	5.04
190			68		Brandon Mechele	Belgium v Egypt	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	5.03
191			69		Vladimir Coufal	Czech Republic v South Korea	MR	DEF	$3.6m	3.9%	5.02
192			70		David Jurasek	Czech Republic v South Korea	ML	DEF	$3.9m	0.0%	5.02
193		71			Sadio Mane	Senegal v France	FWL	MID	$7.6m	2.0%	5.00
194				24	Matej Kovar	Czech Republic v South Korea	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.4%	4.99
195			71		Ali Nemati	Iran v New Zealand	DC	DEF	$3.5m	0.1%	4.97
196		72			Jose Luis Rodriguez	Panama v Ghana	AMC	MID	$5.6m	0.0%	4.97
197				25	Jordan Pickford	England v Croatia	GK	GK	$4.8m	14.4%	4.97
198		73			Vinicius Junior	Brazil v Morocco	AML	MID	$10.0m	14.3%	4.96
199		74			Elliot Anderson	England v Croatia	DMC	MID	$6.5m	1.0%	4.96
200			72		John Stones	England v Croatia	DC	DEF	$4.6m	1.0%	4.96

Final Thoughts on Matchday 1

Matchday 1 sets the tone for your entire World Cup Fantasy campaign. With no historical tournament data to lean on, projected lineups, set-piece roles and fixture quality are your best guides, exactly what these rankings are built on.

If you're locking things in now: anchor your squad with a Spain or Germany attacking core, stack two to three cheap Mexico, Norway or Switzerland defenders to free budget for two premiums, and captain Oyarzabal if you want the ceiling or Haaland if you want the floor. Avoid going three-deep on France or Argentina at full price since both have tougher openers than the public ownership suggests.