FanDuel Fantasy Soccer: World Cup Picks for Thursday, June 11: Mexico Headline a Two-Game Group A Slate
Raul Jimenez and a heavy Mexico lean headline a two-game FanDuel World Cup slate Thursday, with cheap set-piece takers making the studs easy to fit.
The World Cup is finally here, and FanDuel opens with a two-game slate to kick off Group A. Mexico host South Africa at altitude in Mexico City at 3:00 PM ET, then South Korea and Czechia close the night at 10:00 PM ET. The Full Roster build is seven players for a $100 cap, four forward/midfielders, two defenders and a goalkeeper, with a three-team minimum and a max of four from any one side. So even if you want to pile into Mexico, you have to branch out.
And you'll want plenty of Mexico. They opened around -230 at home against South Africa, which puts the home side's attackers, full-backs and clean sheet at the center of most builds. The good news is the cheap pieces are everywhere on FanDuel, so funding a stud or two is easy.
If you want the cash-based DraftKings build, I broke that down in a separate writeup. Come talk lineups in the RotoWire Discord before lock. Here's how I'm attacking the FanDuel side.
WORLD CUP MATCHES (ET)
- 3:00 pm: Mexico vs. South Africa
- 10:00 pm: South Korea vs. Czech Republic
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
Brian Gutierrez, MEX vs. RSA ($6)
Some players will be mis-priced during the World Cup and Gutierrez fits the bill. Gutierrez is on Mexico's set pieces, and despite being a subsitution risk, it's hard to fade him for minimum price. In a game this lopsided, the volume off corners and free kicks is what you want, and at $6 he buys you the top players on the slate. If Mexico shuffle their midfield and Gutierrez moves off sets, that hurts, but he's still cheap for a projected starter.
Roberto Alvarado, MEX vs. RSA ($16)
If the lineup is right, Alvarado will be on a split of sets and he's four dollars cheaper than Raul Jimenez. Again, minutes are a concern with him, but his price isn't overwhelming and the added set-piece boost makes a nice floor. If you want better odds to score, Jimenez is the play and he'll rightly be popular on this slate, if not the most popular midfielder/forward. Julian Quinones ($18) is the next Mexico starter up top and a fine way off Jimenez. Erik Lira ($11) is the play on defensive stats if that's your thing.
Son Heung-Min, KOR vs. CZE ($19)
If you want the best floor on the slate, Son might just be that. He takes South Korea's penalties and he's on their set pieces, so the shot and chance volume that FanDuel rewards is baked in. Even in a tight match, Son will be around a lot of what South Korea do in the attack. The best thing about Son is that he's more likely to go closer to 90 than a lot of the Mexico guys.
Michal Sadilek ($8) is another viable punt if he starts since he'll likely split sets on the left side
Patrik Schick ($18) will be less popular than Jimenez and Son, but I don't think he should be that far behind. South Korea aren't an elite defense and Schick can score on the big stage.
Oswin Appollis ($14) is South Africa's penalty and set-piece guy and about the only one on that side I'd touch in a tournament.
DEFENDERS
David Jurasek, CZE at KOR ($8)
If you can find players who rack up defensive stats for cheaper than 10 bucks, that's the way to go at FanDuel. Jurasek could be on a random set piece and should be plenty involved defensively. Lee Gi-Hyuk ($5) is also projected to start and if that happens, he may be the better play given his price. At $5 for a center-back, there's little reason not to use him.
Jorge Sanchez, MEX vs. RSA ($9)
The Mexico full-back is the safer version of the same idea. Sanchez's floor rides Mexico's roughly 70 percent clean-sheet odds rather than a coin-flip game, and the defender clean sheet is worth five on FanDuel, so you get the shutout equity.
Vladimir Coufal ($12) is the spend-up route, the highest defender floor on the slate on Czechia's set pieces, a midfielder's number from the back. Young-Woo Seol ($9) and Lee Tae-Seok ($10) give you South Korea defender floors in double digits, padded by the FanDuel defensive multiplier, if you want the cheaper side of that game.
GOALKEEPER
Raul Rangel, MEX vs. RSA ($13)
The Mexico clean sheet is where the goalkeeper points live. Around 70 percent to win, an opponent implied total for well under a goal, and on FanDuel the clean sheet is worth eight with another six for the win, so the ceiling is real even before saves. There's little reason not to play Rangel or Guillermo Ochoa if he starts. The win and clean sheet boost for Mexico is too hard to pass up for $13.
