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The World Cup is finally here...and we know there will be plenty of you who are desperate to get your fantasy football fix throughout the tournament.
Assembling a side requires a lot more precision and willingness to take a punt than over a 38-game season, though - so where should you be using your budget during the World Cup?
Here's a few players we think might prove to be among the best returns on your fantasy investment.
Which World Cup 2026 fantasy football games are the best?
Fantasy World Cup 2026 - What's out there
Your best bet is probably the irritatingly-named FIFA World Cup Fantasy, which eschews all notions of English syntax in deference to protecting the 'FIFA World Cup' trademark.
It's free to play, and will feel familiar to anyone who plays Fantasy Premier League: 15-player squad, $100m budget. But naturally, being a knockout tournament, it is a bit more high-maintenance than simply playing over a league season.
You might prefer Fantasy Playoffs if you want something a bit more straightforward with your mates. It works off a draft system, so there's more setup, but a better chance of pulling together a full team that can go deep into the competition.
Which player should be your World Cup 2026 captain?
Captain-hopping is a viable option in Fantasy World Cup 2026
For starters, you can change your captain not just round-by-round, but also during a live round. That means that you can take the captain's armband off a player who was already played, as long as it goes to somebody who has not yet played.
The most sensible approach would be to go round-by-round, and initially select a player who will have a game early on in that round. You can change captain as many times as you like during the round as long as you get there in time.
So for instance, you might go for Florian Wirtz to begin with, because Germany are playing Curacao in the early kick-off on on Sunday, June 14.
If Wirtz was a write-off, you could then switch it to Lamine Yamal as long as you get there before Spain kick off against Cape Verde on Monday, June 15.
Still unsatisfied? Then switch it to Kylian Mbappe or Lionel Messi the next day for France vs Senegal and Argentina vs Algeria. And if that's all a bust, you could shift it on again to Harry Kane ahead of England vs Croatia or on the Wednesday.
Who should I consider for the captain's armband, then?
As ever, you're looking for the best possible likelihood of goals and assists above all else.
The groups don't all pair different seeds off against each other in the same order, so you may be best advised to study the upcoming fixtures and choose accordingly.
That all said, if you can't be bothered logging in every day just to change your captain, because you're a normal person with a life and friends and things, then the Golden Boot odds are a decent enough guide. Top contenders include:
- Kylian Mbappe (France)
- Harry Kane (England)
- Lionel Messi (Argentina)
- Mikel Oyarzabal (Spain)
- Erling Haaland (Norway)
- Lamine Yamal (Spain)
- Ousmane Dembele (France)
Who are the must-have players in every position?
Goalkeepers
England were the only team not to concede at all during qualifying and have been solid to a fault at recent tournaments, so Jordan Pickford is a perfectly reasonable selection.
France's Mike Maignan and Dutchman Bart Verbruggen are decent shouts too.
Or you could go all in on the mercurial Emiliano Martinez, who shone at the last World Cup for Argentina. They don't have the easiest group, but are still expected to top their group and potentially win the whole thing.
Defenders
The standout, and the most expensive, is Morocco's Achraf Hakimi. If he can get anywhere near the form he has shown for PSG, he loves to get forward and attack, and is likely to get opportunities to do so against Haiti and Scotland, if not Brazil.
Marc Guehi looks like a surprisingly good option too - and we say 'surprising' purely because he was in fact England's assists leader during qualifying, with three. Add in that defensive record, and he looks a very solid pick.
The Netherlands' Denzel Dumfries could be a savvy pick-up owing to Jurrien Timber's recent injury problems and Jeremie Frimpong's omission from the squad.
Midfielders
In common with FPL, the wingers are found in this section rather than among the forwards - so this is where you'll find yourself choosing between Vinicius, Dembele, Yamal, Mohamed Salah, Bukayo Saka and Michael Olise.
Lamine Yamal feels like a no-brainer, but we would actually be sceptical of Vinicius (who is a bit of a Phil Foden figure for Brazil) and Salah, who has had a very poor year.
Our first choice would be Bruno Fernandes, though. He is as central to everything for Portugal as he is for Manchester United, has just enjoyed a brilliant season, and is priced cheaper than his brethren on the flanks.
Luis Diaz is even cheaper still, and Colombia will kick off their campaign against Uzbekistan. We would also be tempted by Belgium's Jeremy Doku.
Forwards
How to choose? You've got Kane, Mbappe, Haaland, Messi and Ronaldo all vying for a place in your side here - and you're probably not going to be able to pick more than one or, at a real push, two of them.
It's a toss-up between Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe for us, even if they come at a premium.
Argentina striker Julian Alvarez and Spain's Mikel Oyarzabal are both a bit more affordable but should be among the goals regularly.
Beyond that, we'd be tempted to pay attention to form and rotate round by round.
World Cup 2026 fantasy football bargains
It depends a bit on your definition of 'bargain', really.
The $100m budget is actually reasonably generous given how the players are priced, so unless you lean really hard into the heavy-hitters, you're probably not going to have to make as many compromises as you do in FPL.
Declan Rice seems absurdly priced at $7m, given his set piece and long shot threat, while Alexis Mac Allister has similar strengths and is only priced at $6.6m.
Up front, we rather like the look of Nick Woltemade at $7.2m or Senegal's young buck Nicolas Jackson at $6.7m.
But if you want to go really cheap...Qatar's Almoez Ali scored 12 goals in qualifying and will face Canada, Switzerland and Bosnia & Herzegovina in the group stage. Or there's Iran's Medhi Taremi...especially for their opener against New Zealand.
