2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 2

RotoWire's 2026 World Cup Fantasy rankings for Matchday 2. Captains, sleepers and value picks built on form, projected lineups, set-piece roles and fixture quality.

Updated on June 18, 2026 10:48AM EST

2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 2

By:

Adam Zdroik

Updated on June 18, 2026 10:48AM EST

World Cup

2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 2

Whether you're chasing rank, planning your next transfer or just locking a captain, these rankings give you the top overall picks and sleepers for Matchday 2.

These rankings will be updated ahead of kickoff as lineups, injuries and rotation news change.

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Group Previews A to L
RotoWire World Cup Hub: Links to News, Stats, Depth Charts & More

How These Rankings Are Built

With one round of group games complete, our Matchday 2 World Cup Fantasy rankings build on four inputs: projected starting XIs, opening-matchday output and international form, set-piece responsibility (penalties, corners and direct free kicks) and fixture quality based on opponent strength. Rankings update as confirmed lineups, injuries and rotation news are released ahead of kickoff.

Top Captain Picks for Matchday 2

Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m, Spain v Saudi Arabia)

The highest projected point-scorer on Matchday 2, and it isn't close. Spain are overwhelming favorites against Saudi Arabia, and even with Lamine Yamal on the pitch, Oyarzabal still has the leg up on Spain's penalties. After the letdown against Cabo Verde, it's assumed Spain will play a bit hungrier in their second game and that starts with Oyarzabal.

Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m, France v Iraq)

France against Iraq is about as soft a matchup as the captaincy board offers, and Mbappe is the first name on France's penalty list. He's owned by better than half the field for a reason. The catch hasn't changed since Matchday 1: his price tag forces you to compromise somewhere else in your XI.

Raphinha ($8.2m, Brazil v Haiti)

Brazil v Haiti is a mismatch, and Raphinha sits at the center of everything Brazil create. He takes their penalties, their corners and most of their direct free kicks, which is exactly the profile you want when a heavy favorite is camped in the opponent's half all night. There is some worry about him starting, so Vinicius Junior could be the pivot if you don't trust Raphinha's minutes.

Overall	FW	MID	DEF	GK	Player	Team	Matchup	Tact Pos	FIFA Pos	Price	Own%	Pts
1	1				Mikel Oyarzabal	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	FW	FWD	$8.1m	16.5%	9.42
2	2				Kylian Mbappe	France	France v Iraq	FW	FWD	$10.5m	50.9%	8.92
3		1			Lamine Yamal	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	FWR	MID	$10.0m	44.3%	8.30
4		2			Michael Olise	France	France v Iraq	AMR	MID	$9.5m	23.8%	8.15
5		3			Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	AMC	MID	$8.5m	48.8%	8.04
6		4			Ruben Vargas	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	FWL	MID	$6.8m	0.5%	7.73
7	3				Ayase Ueda	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	FW	FWD	$7.0m	0.7%	7.69
8		5			Nico Williams	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	FWL	MID	$7.8m	3.9%	7.67
9	4				Breel Embolo	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	FW	FWD	$7.5m	2.2%	7.58
10		6			Ismael Saibari	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	FW	MID	$6.8m	0.4%	7.57
11		7			Vinicius Junior	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	AML	MID	$10.0m	14.3%	7.56
12	5				Enner Valencia	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	FW	FWD	$5.9m	0.6%	7.41
13	6				Matheus Cunha	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	FW	FWD	$7.3m	3.6%	7.32
14		8			Kevin De Bruyne	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	AMC	MID	$7.5m	5.3%	7.31
15			1		Vladimir Coufal	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	MR	DEF	$3.6m	3.9%	7.27
16		9			Malik Tillman	USA	USA v Australia	AML	MID	$6.1m	0.3%	7.27
17	7				Luis Suarez	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	FW	FWD	$5.7m	2.6%	7.25
18		10			Raphinha	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	AMC	MID	$8.2m	21.4%	7.19
19	8				Harry Kane	England	England v Ghana	FW	FWD	$10.5m	37.9%	7.13
20			2		Sergino Dest	USA	USA v Australia	AMR	DEF	$4.3m	1.5%	7.08
21	9				Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	FW	FWD	$10.0m	13.2%	7.05
22			3		Thomas Meunier	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	DR	DEF	$4.8m	0.7%	7.00
23	10				Jonathan David	Canada	Canada v Qatar	FW	FWD	$7.0m	1.3%	6.98
24		11			Emam Ashour	Egypt	Egypt v New Zealand	AML	MID	$4.6m	0.6%	6.98
25		12			Crysencio Summerville	Netherlands	Netherlands v Sweden	FWR	MID	$5.3m	0.3%	6.96
26		13			Brahim Diaz	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	AMR	MID	$6.4m	1.5%	6.95
27			4		Danilo	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.5%	6.90
28			5		Joel Ordonez	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.6%	6.90
29			6		Rayan Ait-Nouri	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	DL	DEF	$4.9m	1.2%	6.90
30		14			Marcus Rashford	England	England v Ghana	AML	MID	$7.5m	2.0%	6.88
31		15			Moises Caicedo	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	DMC	MID	$6.8m	1.7%	6.85
32			7		Ritsu Doan	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	MR	DEF	$5.1m	0.7%	6.82
33			8		Piero Hincapie	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	DL	DEF	$4.7m	2.0%	6.81
34		16			Azzedine Ounahi	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	AMC	MID	$6.2m	0.1%	6.67
35			10		Rafik Belghali	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	DR	DEF	$3.5m	1.2%	6.66
36		17			Maxi Araujo	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	ML	MID	$6.4m	0.2%	6.64
37		18			Hakan Calhanoglu	Turkey	Turkey v Paraguay	DMC	MID	$7.1m	3.2%	6.62
38			11		Joao Cancelo	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	DR	DEF	$5.3m	7.1%	6.58
39			12		Reece James	England	England v Ghana	DR	DEF	$5.2m	4.2%	6.57
40			13		Renato Veiga	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.1%	6.57
41		19			Fares Chaibi	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	FWL	MID	$6.2m	0.0%	6.57
42			14		Josip Stanisic	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.5%	6.57
43		20			Keito Nakamura	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	ML	MID	$5.5m	0.2%	6.53
44	11				Folarin Balogun	USA	USA v Australia	FW	FWD	$6.0m	1.0%	6.53
45		21			Bilal El Khannouss	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	AML	MID	$6.2m	0.1%	6.52
46			15		Theo Hernandez	France	France v Iraq	DL	DEF	$5.0m	3.3%	6.52
47			16		Willian Pacho	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	DC	DEF	$4.4m	2.7%	6.50
48		22			James Rodriguez	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	FWR	MID	$6.5m	4.3%	6.50
49		23			Pedri	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	MC	MID	$8.1m	9.9%	6.49
50		24			Youri Tielemans	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	DMC	MID	$6.1m	1.1%	6.45
51				1	Fernando Muslera	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.5%	6.44
52			17		Marcos Llorente	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	DR	DEF	$5.5m	5.6%	6.43
53			18		Silvan Widmer	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	DR	DEF	$4.2m	0.8%	6.42
54			19		Alex Sandro	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	DL	DEF	$4.5m	0.7%	6.42
55		25			Daizen Maeda	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	AMC	MID	$5.0m	1.2%	6.41
56				2	Dominik Livakovic	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	GK	GK	$4.5m	1.5%	6.41
57		26			Aurelien Tchouameni	France	France v Iraq	DMC	MID	$6.5m	0.9%	6.40
58			20		Guillermo Varela	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	DR	DEF	$4.2m	0.3%	6.40
59				3	Luca Zidane	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	GK	GK	$3.8m	0.7%	6.40
60			21		Alistair Johnston	Canada	Canada v Qatar	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.6%	6.40
61		27			Bruno Guimaraes	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	DMC	MID	$6.8m	1.7%	6.39
62			22		Marc Cucurella	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	DL	DEF	$5.1m	22.4%	6.39
63			23		Richie Laryea	Canada	Canada v Qatar	DL	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	6.36
64			24		Matias Vina	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	DL	DEF	$4.3m	0.1%	6.35
65		28			John Yeboah	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	AMR	MID	$5.1m	0.1%	6.35
66			25		Antonee Robinson	USA	USA v Australia	DL	DEF	$5.0m	2.8%	6.33
67		29			Joao Neves	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	DMC	MID	$6.5m	3.8%	6.33
68				4	Zion Suzuki	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	GK	GK	$4.3m	1.8%	6.32
69				5	Hernan Galindez	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	GK	GK	$4.2m	2.0%	6.29
70				6	Camilo Vargas	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	GK	GK	$4.3m	4.4%	6.25
71		30			Weston McKennie	USA	USA v Australia	AMC	MID	$6.1m	0.5%	6.24
72		31			Pedro Vite	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	DMC	MID	$5.2m	0.0%	6.23
73			26		Alex Freeman	USA	USA v Australia	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.4%	6.23
74		32			Fabian Ruiz	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	MC	MID	$6.8m	1.0%	6.21
75		33			Junya Ito	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	AMC	MID	$5.0m	1.3%	6.21
76		34			Mohamed Salah	Egypt	Egypt v New Zealand	AMC	MID	$10.0m	6.4%	6.21
77	12				Lionel Messi	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	FWR	FWD	$10.0m	18.4%	6.20
78		35			Leandro Trossard	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	AMR	MID	$6.6m	2.0%	6.20
79			27		Aissa Mandi	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	6.20
80				7	Matt Freese	USA	USA v Australia	GK	GK	$4.2m	0.5%	6.19
81		36			Sebastian Berhalter	USA	USA v Australia	DMC	MID	$4.7m	0.0%	6.17
82		37			Leroy Sane	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	AMR	MID	$7.4m	0.9%	6.16
83			28		Timothy Castagne	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.3%	6.16
84			9		Michal Sadilek	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	ML	MID	$5.6m	0.0%	6.15
85			29		Luka Vuskovic	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	DC	DEF	$3.7m	1.3%	6.15
86		38			Jeremy Doku	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	AML	MID	$7.5m	11.6%	6.13
87			30		Ahmed El Fotouh	Egypt	Egypt v New Zealand	DL	DEF	$3.9m	0.2%	6.12
88		39			Kenan Yildiz	Turkey	Turkey v Paraguay	AML	MID	$7.0m	3.8%	6.05
89		40			Florian Wirtz	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	AML	MID	$7.5m	22.3%	6.05
90		41			Declan Rice	England	England v Ghana	DMC	MID	$7.0m	6.7%	6.03
91		42			Luka Modric	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	DMC	MID	$6.2m	2.5%	6.03
92		43			Rodri	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	MC	MID	$7.5m	1.7%	6.02
93	13				Cody Gakpo	Netherlands	Netherlands v Sweden	FWL	FWD	$7.7m	3.2%	6.02
94			31		Ricardo Rodriguez	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	DL	DEF	$4.5m	2.1%	6.01
95		44			Bukayo Saka	England	England v Ghana	AMR	MID	$9.5m	6.3%	6.00
96			32		Nathaniel Brown	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.3%	5.99
97				8	Maxime Crepeau	Canada	Canada v Qatar	GK	GK	$4.0m	0.5%	5.98
98			33		Ezri Konsa	England	England v Ghana	DC	DEF	$4.8m	1.1%	5.98
99			34		John Stones	England	England v Ghana	DC	DEF	$4.6m	1.0%	5.98
100	14				Anis Hadj Moussa	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	FWR	FWD	$5.3m	0.1%	5.97
101		45			Ousmane Dembele	France	France v Iraq	AMC	MID	$10.0m	20.3%	5.96
102			35		Sebastian Caceres	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	DC	DEF	$4.2m	0.1%	5.95
103			36		Manuel Akanji	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	DC	DEF	$5.0m	4.8%	5.93
104			37		Nico Elvedi	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	DC	DEF	$4.3m	2.1%	5.93
105			38		Johan Mojica	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	DL	DEF	$3.9m	3.3%	5.92
106	15				Raul Jimenez	Mexico	Mexico v South Korea	FW	FWD	$7.0m	2.2%	5.92
107		46			Thiago Almada	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	FWL	MID	$6.5m	0.2%	5.91
108			39		Jules Kounde	France	France v Iraq	DR	DEF	$5.4m	7.4%	5.90
109			40		Josip Sutalo	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.0%	5.89
110			41		Nahuel Molina	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	DR	DEF	$4.4m	3.7%	5.87
111			42		Facundo Medina	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	DL	DEF	$4.0m	0.5%	5.86
112			43		Chris Richards	USA	USA v Australia	DC	DEF	$4.1m	0.7%	5.86
113	17				Ivan Perisic	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	AML	FWD	$5.4m	0.5%	5.86
114			44		Ramy Bensebaini	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	DC	DEF	$4.4m	0.2%	5.85
115	18				Luiz Henrique	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	AMR	FWD	$6.1m	0.2%	5.84
116			45		Brandon Mechele	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	5.84
117			46		Mathias Olivera	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.3%	5.82
118		47			Petar Sucic	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	AMR	MID	$4.2m	0.6%	5.82
119		48			Luis Diaz	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	FWL	MID	$8.1m	18.8%	5.82
120		49			Pedro Neto	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	AML	MID	$6.4m	0.5%	5.78
121				9	Mostafa Shobeir	Egypt	Egypt v New Zealand	GK	GK	$3.5m	1.5%	5.78
122			47		Jorge Eduardo Sanchez	Mexico	Mexico v South Korea	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.8%	5.74
123	16				Patrik Schick	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	FW	FWD	$7.3m	0.8%	5.74
124			48		Luc De Fougerolles	Canada	Canada v Qatar	DC	DEF	$3.5m	0.2%	5.73
125		50			Ali Ahmed	Canada	Canada v Qatar	ML	MID	$4.9m	0.1%	5.72
126				10	Matej Kovar	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.4%	5.72
127			49		Derek Cornelius	Canada	Canada v Qatar	DC	DEF	$4.0m	0.4%	5.72
128		51			Adrien Rabiot	France	France v Iraq	DMC	MID	$6.4m	0.2%	5.72
129			50		Zeki Celik	Turkey	Turkey v Paraguay	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.1%	5.71
130		52			Remo Freuler	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	MC	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	5.71
131			51		Jhon Lucumi	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	5.71
132				11	Ugurcan Cakir	Turkey	Turkey v Paraguay	GK	GK	$4.2m	1.1%	5.70
133				12	Jose Rangel	Mexico	Mexico v South Korea	GK	GK	$3.9m	3.8%	5.69
134				13	Bart Verbruggen	Netherlands	Netherlands v Sweden	GK	GK	$4.7m	3.6%	5.68
135		53			Federico Valverde	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	MR	MID	$7.5m	6.1%	5.67
136			52		Nathan Ngoy	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	DC	DEF	$3.7m	0.1%	5.67
137	19				Amine Gouiri	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	FW	FWD	$6.2m	0.1%	5.67
138		67			Alexandr Sojka	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	AMC	MID	$4.5m	0.0%	5.67
139			53		Nuno Mendes	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	DL	DEF	$5.8m	43.5%	5.67
140		54			Jamal Musiala	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	AMC	MID	$8.0m	12.2%	5.66
141			54		Joshua Kimmich	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	DR	DEF	$5.5m	27.8%	5.66
142			55		Aymeric Laporte	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	DC	DEF	$5.5m	5.0%	5.66
143	20				Alan Minda	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	AML	FWD	$4.9m	0.1%	5.65
144	21				Kai Havertz	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	FW	FWD	$7.8m	8.3%	5.65
145				14	Bono	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	GK	GK	$4.7m	3.0%	5.64
146			56		Pau Cubarsi	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	DC	DEF	$5.0m	5.9%	5.64
147			57		Tsuyoshi Watanabe	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.1%	5.64
148			58		Hiroki Ito	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.4%	5.62
149			59		Tim Ream	USA	USA v Australia	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.2%	5.62
150			60		Gabriel	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	DC	DEF	$5.5m	25.1%	5.61
151		55			Elliot Anderson	England	England v Ghana	DMC	MID	$6.5m	1.0%	5.58
152			61		Davinson Sanchez	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.8%	5.57
153			62		Josko Gvardiol	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	DL	DEF	$5.0m	5.1%	5.56
154	22				Cyle Larin	Canada	Canada v Qatar	FW	FWD	$6.2m	0.1%	5.54
155			63		Nico Schlotterbeck	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	DC	DEF	$5.3m	3.8%	5.54
156	23				Donyell Malen	Netherlands	Netherlands v Sweden	FW	FWD	$6.1m	1.5%	5.54
157			64		Marquinhos	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	DC	DEF	$5.2m	6.7%	5.53
158			65		Shogo Taniguchi	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.0%	5.53
159		57			Nabil Bentaleb	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	MC	MID	$5.5m	0.0%	5.52
160		58			Ayyoub Bouaddi	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	DMC	MID	$5.5m	0.1%	5.48
161			75		Robin Hranac	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.0%	5.48
162	24				Ante Budimir	Croatia	Croatia v Panama	FW	FWD	$6.8m	0.3%	5.47
163	25				Federico Vinas	Uruguay	Uruguay v Cabo Verde	FW	FWD	$5.9m	0.1%	5.47
164			67		Jonathan Tah	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	DC	DEF	$5.3m	4.7%	5.46
165		59			Felix Nmecha	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	5.45
166		60			Alan Franco	Ecuador	Ecuador v Curaçao	DR	MID	$5.6m	0.0%	5.45
167			68		Lisandro Martinez	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	DC	DEF	$4.6m	2.2%	5.44
168		61			Desire Doue	France	France v Iraq	AMC	MID	$7.5m	3.3%	5.43
169				15	Thibaut Courtois	Belgium	Belgium v Iran	GK	GK	$4.9m	11.9%	5.42
170			69		Noussair Mazraoui	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	DL	DEF	$4.4m	1.0%	5.42
171			70		Merih Demiral	Turkey	Turkey v Paraguay	DC	DEF	$4.0m	0.7%	5.41
172		62			Neil El Aynaoui	Morocco	Morocco v Scotland	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	5.41
173			71		Micky van de Ven	Netherlands	Netherlands v Sweden	DL	DEF	$5.1m	4.7%	5.40
174				16	Orjan Nyland	Norway	Norway v Senegal	GK	GK	$4.2m	2.8%	5.40
175				17	Unai Simon	Spain	Spain v Saudi Arabia	GK	GK	$5.0m	6.9%	5.40
176				18	Jordan Pickford	England	England v Ghana	GK	GK	$4.8m	14.4%	5.39
177			72		William Saliba	France	France v Iraq	DC	DEF	$5.3m	15.8%	5.39
178		63			Jude Bellingham	England	England v Ghana	AMC	MID	$8.3m	9.6%	5.39
179				19	Alisson	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	GK	GK	$5.0m	5.6%	5.38
180		64			Hicham Boudaoui	Algeria	Algeria v Jordan	MC	MID	$5.5m	0.0%	5.37
181		65			Aleksandar Pavlovic	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	DMC	MID	$5.5m	0.5%	5.36
182				20	Diogo Costa	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	GK	GK	$4.9m	9.7%	5.35
183			73		Daniel Munoz	Colombia	Colombia v DR Congo	DR	DEF	$4.6m	9.9%	5.35
184		66			Sadio Mane	Senegal	Senegal v Norway	AML	MID	$7.6m	2.0%	5.35
185		68			Mostafa Ziko	Egypt	Egypt v New Zealand	AMR	MID	$4.2m	0.2%	5.31
186				21	Manuel Neuer	Germany	Germany v Ivory Coast	GK	GK	$5.0m	13.3%	5.30
187				22	Gregor Kobel	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	GK	GK	$4.7m	6.7%	5.29
188			74		Nico O'Reilly	England	England v Ghana	DL	DEF	$4.7m	13.3%	5.27
189		69			Martin Odegaard	Norway	Norway v Senegal	MC	MID	$7.7m	4.3%	5.27
190	26				Dan Ndoye	Switzerland	Switzerland v Bosnia	FWR	FWD	$6.8m	0.6%	5.27
191		70			Tijjani Reijnders	Netherlands	Netherlands v Sweden	MC	MID	$6.5m	1.7%	5.27
192		71			Daichi Kamada	Japan	Japan v Tunisia	MC	MID	$5.8m	0.3%	5.26
193			76		Jesus Gallardo	Mexico	Mexico v South Korea	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.6%	5.25
194			77		Dayot Upamecano	France	France v Iraq	DC	DEF	$5.3m	5.0%	5.24
195			66		Tomas Holes	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Africa	DC	DEF	$3.9m	0.0%	5.24
196			78		Cristian Romero	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	DC	DEF	$4.9m	4.9%	5.24
197				23	Mike Maignan	France	France v Iraq	GK	GK	$5.0m	10.4%	5.24
198		72			Fabinho	Brazil	Brazil v Haiti	DMC	MID	$5.2m	0.2%	5.24
199				24	Emiliano Martinez	Argentina	Argentina v Austria	GK	GK	$5.0m	22.3%	5.23
200			79		Ruben Dias	Portugal	Portugal v Uzbekistan	DC	DEF	$5.0m	5.4%	5.23

Final Thoughts on Matchday 2

Matchday 2 is where managers separate themselves. Points are live, ownership has hardened around the opening-day chalk, and the value now lives a tier or two below the obvious names. The fixtures do a lot of the work this round: Spain v Saudi Arabia, France v Iraq and Brazil v Haiti are three of the most lopsided games on the board, and the projections reflect it.

If you're setting your team, build around a Spain or Brazil attacking core in those plus matchups, anchor the premium spot with Mbappe or Bruno Fernandes, and use the savings from a Vladimir Coufal type at the back to afford a real differential like Ayase Ueda or Ruben Vargas. Captain Oyarzabal if you want the ceiling, Mbappe if you want the floor.

Best Premium Picks ($8m+)

Oyarzabal and Raphinha lead the tier on a points-per-dollar basis. Bruno Fernandes ($8.5m) is the highest-owned premium midfielder on the slate at 48.8 percent and takes Portugal's penalties against Uzbekistan. Kylian Mbappe ($10.5m, 50.9% owned) is the must-consider play given France v Iraq, but the price forces compromises. Vinicius Junior ($10.0m) and Cristiano Ronaldo ($10.0m) round out the bracket in friendly matchups, though both carry rotation and finishing volatility at full price.

Best Mid-Price Picks ($6-8m)

This is the deepest value tier on Matchday 2. Ayase Ueda ($7.0m) is the standout, projecting like a premium at a fraction of the cost and barely owned. Ruben Vargas ($6.8m), Kevin De Bruyne ($7.5m), Ismael Saibari ($6.8m) and Dani Olmo ($7.7m) all project top-20 overall at mid-price money. Desire Doue ($7.5m) and Matheus Cunha ($7.3m) give you cheaper exposure to the France and Brazil routs, and Luka Modric ($6.2m) is a tidy fixture play with Croatia favored against Panama.

Best Budget Picks (under $5m)

Vladimir Coufal ($3.6m) is the headline enabler. He's the cheapest projected starter near the top of the board, he's on Czechia's corners, and a defender at that price freeing up budget for two premiums is close to mandatory roster construction. Fill the rest of your cheap slots from the deeper defenders in the table below in the friendliest clean-sheet matchups.

Top Sleepers & Differentials (under 5% owned)

Ayase Ueda ($7.0m, 0.7% owned) ranks near the top of the entire board and is owned by almost nobody. He takes Japan's penalties, and Japan v Tunisia is a winnable spot. The single best differential on Matchday 2.
Ruben Vargas ($6.8m, 0.5% owned) is one of Switzerland's set-piece takers against Bosnia and Herzegovina, a clean source of attacking returns at near-zero ownership.
Ismael Saibari ($6.8m, 0.4% owned) projects top-10 for the round in Morocco v Scotland and is a true leverage play.
Riyad Mahrez ($6.5m, 0.7% owned) is on Algeria's penalties and corners against Jordan, a low-owned route into a favorable matchup.