Here’s our fantasy World Cup knockout phase article on Friday 29 June which is based on our FFGeek team updates for the McDonalds FIFA format, Sun Dream Team and Telegraph Fantasy Football World Cup. There’s also the probable lineups and injuries for the round of 16.
Fantasy World Cup knockout phase – the FFGeek team changes
Days and times in UK time for the round of 16:
3.00 PM Saturday, June 30 France v Argentina
7.00 PM Saturday, June 30 Uruguay v Portugal
3.00 PM Sunday, July 1 Spain v Russia
7.00 PM Sunday, July 1 Croatia v Denmark
3.00 PM Monday, July 2 Brazil v Mexico
7.00 PM Monday, July 2 Belgium v Japan
3.00 PM Tuesday, July 3 Sweden v Switzerland
7.00 PM Tuesday, July 3 Colombia v England
Here’s a table to show how the phases will lead to the final
McDonalds
Total points 142. Overall rank 139k no Wildcard or Chips used
3 players not playing in Lukaku, Trippier and Kane didn’t help the score and I went backwards by 12k.
Knockout phase changes
You can make as many transfers as you want before the first kick off of 3pm UK time Saturday 30 June
I will be using my bench boost this round and my wildcard before the quarters so I can just concentrate on the round of 16 and not worry about further on.
Rob you did an article prior to round 3 should do an article for the round of 16
That’s a reasonable advantage as who knows who will win some of those games and with 3 transfers for the quarters it’s not much.
Obviously with the bench boost I want to have 15 players who play but the values are quite tricky so that’s easier said than done.
I’ve tried to concentrate on the players who are keys to their team with the best fixtures. So that’s Brazil, Belgium, Spain and Croatia. I’ve also had 1 eye on the captain situation and although the first set of games are a disaster I then have Isco, Neymar/Lukaku and then Kane.
I’m contemplating Suarez or Ronaldo instead of Neymar to give me a captain option in the first days games. Also it seems pointless having Neymar if I’m going to give the captaincy to Lukaku in that matchday. Ronaldo would meaning swapping someone else as I would be £0.1m short. Suarez would give me some extra cash. So the Neymar decision and it’s knock on will be the thinking over night.
The rest of the players outside those games were just trying to make the best of the money left. I’m hoping everyone starts. Varela makes me the most nervous but I may just switch to France’s Pavard (at £4.5m gives me the Ronaldo cash) if he starts. After that maybe Carvajal makes me nervous?
Here’s the team as it is now. I will at least tweet any changes probably around 2pm
If you’re looking for stats on potential players for their clubs for today here are my key articles. Remember though they were done prior to the tournament so you need to see at least how much they played in the Group stages before you pick anyone and also look at the probable lineups below
Sun Dream Team
Total points 206 Overall Rank 63k transfers used 12 out of 20
So a loss on the day of 5k overall rank with no Kane or Sterling playing
In retrospect you can transfer a player for a game after the first 1 in a match day as long as the player out’s team hasn’t played on the matchday and the player in’s team hasn’t played on the match day. Here’s the rules which I think I interpreted incorrectly at first. The Sun Live chat have verified it as did some other managers who have used it so it seems safe
An eligible transfer will take immediate effect and will occur if you transfer a Player out for another Player where neither the outgoing Player’s Country nor the incoming Player’s Country have played during that Match Day.
If you’re looking for stats on potential players for today here are my key articles. Remember though they were done prior to the tournament so you need to see at the very least that they played in the Group stages and appear in the probable lineups below although at the moment whoscored have only done 5 matches
Transfers
So the Sun Dream Team continues as it was with the knockout phases meaning little in the way of change. I’ve only lost 2 of my team and that was the unexpected loss of the Germans.
At the moment my changes are only to the 2 eliminated players. Muller will either become Coutinho or Hazard and Kimmich will become Meunier or Alderweireld.
Giminez’s injury could be a concern so I may just replace him even if not eliminated with a Croatian defender. Vrsaljko would be my choice although Vida is pretty cheap as well
If I make any transfers over the round of 16 that I haven’t previously confirmed I will tweet them probably around 2pm or 6pm UK time
Here’s the team as of today with yesterdays points (or lack of them).
Telegraph fantasy football
The standard team: Total points 233 Overall Rank 13.8k transfers used 0 out of 20 in for the remainder of the tournament
The Def Block team: Total points 234 Overall Rank 13.6k transfers used 0 out of 20 in for the remainder of the tournament
In the telegraph you definitely can make transfers between matches.
the standard team
So 20 transfers is a decent number but I’ve tried to concentrate on teams with a decent chance of staying in the tournament but also looking to spread risk rather than just focus on a couple of teams
I will at least tweet that transfer probably around 2pm UK time with my final team
I am contemplating changing Costa for Isco and going 4-4-2 and investing more in the GK department as I don’t have that much faith in the England defence. No Ronaldo also makes me nervous after being burned v Spain but that will be harder to change.
the defensive block team
I’m not sure if a defensive block works out at this stage of the competition but since I’ve named it I’ve stuck with it. I was thinking of using Brazil but the situation with the fullbacks has made it impossible so I’ve gone for Spain
That has made it very difficult to put a team out so I’ve gone for some weird 4-5-1 team. It will be interesting if nothing else
Here’s the team:
If you’re looking for stats on potential players for today here are my key articles. Remember though they were done prior to the tournament so you need to see at the very least that they played in the Group stages and appear in the probable lineups below
Stephen Troop strategy article
Probable lineups
I will put probable lineups from whoscored before each match day. At the moment they have only done the first 5 matches so here they are
That’s it good luck
Geek World Cup Leagues
It’s too late to join the telegraph league btw. I’m not sure what the rules are in joining the other leagues now but here’s the details anyway
McDonalds FIFA Official
or League code:
ZKD1IBZR
Sun Dream Team
Fantasy Football Geek
League PIN: WCW6UFM9
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