Here’s my view on the teams that will perform best and have the best fixtures in the Group stages in World Cup fantasy football 2014 . They are therefore the most likely to progress to the knockout stages. These are also the sides you will want to base your team on especially if you’re playing a format with limited transfers across the tournament. I’ll also identify the players to look for within each team and some of the selection dilemmas. At this stage it’s an overview to get you started and detailed stats and rationale will come in later posts covering each format and position.
World Cup fantasy football 2014 – analysis of the 9 best group stage teams
By the way I’ve used FIFA rankings to illustrate the strength of teams opponents within their Group although they have not been the basis of calculation. I realise that they sometimes don’t relect the reality of a teams strength but they do give a basic illustration of the difference between teams.
Brazil
Probably the tournament favourite, the 4th ranked FIFA side are in a kind group against Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon who are ranked 20th, 19th and 50th respectively by FIFA. Brazil should top the group comfortably. Mexico and Croatia should fight it out for 2nd place.
Brazil notionally play 4-2-3-1. The theory is that Neymar and Hulk flank Fred with Oscar the CAM of the 3. It personally looks more like a 4-3-3 to me with Oscar playing deeper at times than you would expect at Chelsea
Neymar is the obvious place to start. It’s true that his domestic season with Barcelona wasn’t exactly an overwhelming sucess but he has shone for Brazil. Not only is his goal record superior to everyone else in the forward department but he should monopolise set pieces and penalties. A must have as his ownership will kill you if you don’t if nothing else. Was outstanding in the friendly just gone against Panama.
Oscar is the obvious midfield choice as a goal scoring midfielder with an excellent international record. He has played alot of games in the last 2 years although he was left out of the team in the latter part of the season by Mourinho which should assist some freshness.
Paulino is the box to box midfield choice. He has been a regular for Brazil and has a reasonable goal record. He does face competition from Ramires though.
Fred and Hulk should hold their place in the forward line at a cheaper price than Neymar. It’s a brave man who would leave Neymar out though
Of the defence I personally like Alves and Marcelo rather than the CBs for their marauding forward runs. Both have reasonably good goal record. Marcelo’s left foot means he has some set piece involvement.
Argentina
7th ranked side in the World by FIFA but a strong favourite for the world cup due to draw, their Group and the South American location. Bosnia, Iran and Nigeria are the Group opponents who are ranked 25th, 37th and 44th respectively. Despite the ranking differential it’s likely Nigeria and Bosnia will fight out 2nd place.
The team line up is fairly settled in 4-3-3. Aguero, Messi and Higuain should play up front. Di Maria will be the most attacking of the 3 midfielders and had a fantastic season for Real Madrid. The defence is fairly settled at Zabaleta, Fernandez, Garay and Rojo but hasn’t performed all that well. They only kept 4 clean sheets in qualifying in 16 games and look particularly vulnerable at set pieces which is why a CB in Rojo plays at LB
Much as I am a big fan of Higuain and Aguero it’s hard to look past Messi for similar reasons to Neymar. He will have pen duties. Although he was criticised for his Barcelona season his goal output was phenomenal.
Di Maria is the only realistic midfield option. His goal scoring record is fairly good and certainly far superior to Gago (injury doubt anyway) and Mascherano who is a CDM.
In defence there’s no standout attacking option with none of the defence having a strong scoring record for Argentina. Garay has a good record for Benfica and Zabaleta gets forward for City but it may just come down to price in your format.
Germany
2nd ranked side by FIFA. They should qualify comfortably with Portugal who are ranked 3rd. Of the other 2 sides USA are ranked rather flatteringly at 15th and Ghana 38th.
Germany tend to play 4-2-3-1 and have a myriad of attacking talent. However they differ from Brazil and Argentina in that they don’t have a dominant attacking star.
The striking position is unfortunately a difficult one. The choice seems to be between Gotze as a false 9 and Klose as a traditional centre forward. Any choice of those 2 comes with risk.
In the midfield there are a number of options in Muller, Reus and Ozil who make up the attacking 3 midfielders. They all have good goal scoring records for Germany. Ozil appears to be the assigned penalty taker although I have to confess to not knowing whether he has taken since his Arsenal Bayern miss. I personally think Muller is the best choice. Ozil has recently come in for criticism and Reus tends to play a little wider. Muller on what I have seen gets into the best attacking positions.
The defence had a good record in qualifying with 5 clean sheets in 10 games although they bizzarely conceded 7 goals in 2 qualifying games against Sweden. Mertesacker has the best goal scoring record. Lahm at RB could also provide assists.
Spain
FIFAs number 1 ranked team have a tricky group with Holland, Chile and Australia. They are ranked 15th, 13th and 59th respectively. Spains basic class and tournament experience should get them through the group even with Barca and Madrid game fatigue. They also haven’t exactly been free scoring only once in qualifying scoring more than 2 and only scoring a single goal in games against Georgia and Finland.
The main problem will be picking who will make the starting line up consistently of the attacking players.
Of the midfielders only Iniesta and maybe Xavi look safe selections. However neither have great scoring records for their country. Fabregas and Pedro do but neither are nailed on selection wise.
Up front Costa looks a fairly safe selection after a stunning year with Athletico Madrid. However he is suffering from injury and has to be a concern for starting.
Unfortunately any selection of Spain looks a risk due to selection uncertainty. You maybe able to mitigate thios with a format which allows you to see a team sheet but ratation in group stages could aslo make this a risk.
In defence, in qualifying, Spain had 5 clean sheets in 8 games and didn’t concede more than 1 goal. Ramos is the best attacking threat although Alba also offers this threat.
France
France had a difficult time qualifying and are therefore are only ranked 16th by FIFA. However they have a kind qualifying group with Switzerland, Ecuador and Honuras the group opponents. Interestingly Switzerland are ranked higher at 8th although Ecuador 28th and Honduras 30th.
France’s main issues relate to the 2 players you would probably look to pick. Of the midfielders Ribery has an excellent scoring record for France and is the standout pick. He is battling a back injury which Deschamps is making light of but it will be interesting to se if he plays any part in the last friendly.
The other standout pick is Benzema up front. However he is also battling an injury and has seen Giroud show great form in the warm up and this must put some risk over Benzemas position.
Picking these 2 carries risk and fantasy football formats where you can see the lineup will assist
Alternative midfield options are box to box players Matuidi and Pogba. Both should start but neither have great records for their country. Pogba is probably the best pick in my eyes. Valbuena has taken up the set piece mantel and offers another alternative although he can’t be certain of his place if Ribery returns and with Griezmann showing form
Of the defence Koscielny would be the best pick from a certainty point of view
Belgium
Belgium are rated 12th by FIFA. Their opponents Algeria, Russia and South Korea are ranked 25th, 18th and 55th respectively.
In attack the choice is simplicity itself. Lukaku has the position to himself with the injury to Benteke. His recent qualifying and overall record is reasonable and he’s been in great form in the friendlies.
Of the midfield there’s no doubt that Hazard is the star player who has a reasonably good record for his country after an excellent season with Chelsea. Hazard is also the likely penalty taker. De Bruyne offers a cheaper more central alternative and he himself had a good appearnce and goal scoring record for his country in qualifying. Mertens offers another cheaper alternative. His goal record is ordinary to say the least and he has potential problems for his position with Mirallas. What he does have though is reasonable set piece responsibility
As far as the defence is concerned, it was 6 clean sheets in 10 qualifying games and they never conceded more than 1 goal. The standout option is Kompany. He has good attacking instincts and has the best goal scoring record of the defence. Vermaelen and Vertonghen should line up as well and both have good attacking potential even if they are subject to Van Buyten staking a claim. RB Alderweireld should provide a cheap if unspectacular option with good gametime security
Colombia
Colmbia are ranked 5th by FIFA. Their group opponents Greece, Ivory Coast and Japan are ranked 10th, 21st and 47th respectively.
The major issue with Colombia is the loss of Falcao. Ironically fitting strikers into the system makes the striking partnership harder to predict with 2 coming from 3 out of Gutierrez Martinez and Bacca. Again one for when the line ups come out.
The midfield is dominated by Falcao’s Monaco team mate James Rodriguez who is the creative force in the Colombian side and should have penalties in Falcaos absence.
The defence is a difficult one. 7 clean sheets came in 16 games in qualifying although they have provided some shaky performances. 38 year old CB Yepes has the best goal scoring record and seems certain to start.
Portugal
Should qualify with Germany from their Group with Ghana and USA as the other 2 teams in the Group.
The world player of the year Ronaldo is the obvious striking option. He has a fantastic record with Portugal and Real Madrid and will be desperate to add the last strand to greatness of a good World Cup. However it appears he has some muscle injury problems and this needs monitoring. Unless he’s injured he will be a dangerous person not to have in your
Postiga will lead the line as a striker and has a reasonable goal scoring record for Portugal as a cheaper option to Ronaldo.
There arent any standout midfield options. Maybe Moutinho at a push for set piece involvement other than direct free kicks that Ronaldo takes
5 clean sheets in 12 for the defence in qualifying. Bruno Alves has the best scoring record. The defence though is fairly settled as Patrico – Pereira, Pepe, Alves and Coentrao.
Russia
Russia should qualify from their Group with Belgium given the given the other teams are Algeria and South Korea.
Forward Kokorin is the best choice as striker and had a good scoring record in qualifying. Shirokov and Faizulin are the best bets in midfield. Shirokov in particular has a good scoring record and should take pens. He does though have an injury concern and needs monitoring.
4 clean sheets in 10 qualifying games. The CBs Ignashevich and Berezutski are the best attacking options in defence
Hope you found that useful. Next will be detailed stats of options for GK, Defence, Midfield and striker covering the 3 formats
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world cup fantasy football 2014
world cup fantasy football 2014
