Here’s our World Cup Fantasy Guide with Rob’s first Group preview article as he previews Groups A-F. He looks at the teams within each Group, their prospects and key players for your World Cup Fantasy Team 2026
Rob Reid’s World Cup Fantasy Guide – Groups A-F
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Introduction
Hi folks – I’m not going to manage a full team by team analysis this year with there being 48 teams, instead I’m going to give a brief overview of each group in general. I feel this could be interesting from a few perspectives. It will give us some ideas of Captain options as the game Rounds progress – remember we have unlimited Captain changes until you hopefully haul so in theory you could I guess have 15 different Captains. I’m also looking at fixture pairings which could be helpful with regards to deciding how you use your chips. I’m starting with Groups A to F, then I’ll aim to do the other 6 at the weekend.
Group A
There isn’t a standout ‘big’ nation in this group, but Mexico are rightly favourites as the home nation. Of the other three, I think it will be tight between South Korea and Czechia for 2nd spot and while I wouldn’t completely write off South Africa, they look to be the most likely team to finish bottom. The other standout looking at the form of these other 3 teams is how the South Korean defence has struggled recently in friendlies conceding 9 goals in 2 games in March – a more unlikely team to target maybe?
In terms of the fixtures, Mexico’s opening fixture vs South Africa is the standout, we will also have the team news before the deadline. I like Mexican defensive picks – Rangel in goals, or Montes or Vazquez in defence. It will be interesting to see if any of these stay below 5% ownership and therefore eligible for the low ownership bonus. If you fancy something different, then Quinones looks their most in-form attacking option, though it’s Raul Jimenez who takes their pens. From the other countries, there’s not much that stands out. Perhaps Schick from Czechia, who has previous from in major tournaments (top scorer at Euro 2020.) Appolis from South Africa could be another differential option in midfield – he’s on set piece duties.
Conclusion – Mexico assets for opening game, possibly for all 3 rounds.
Group B
Hosts Canada are the seeded team here, but Switzerland look the standout team. They scored 14 goals and conceded on 2 in a qualifying group that was reasonably strong (Sweden finished bottom for reference.) Bosnia will be strong physically as they showed by battling through the play-offs so will be no pushovers. Qatar could be a team to target – they’ve only won once since securing World Cup qualification this time last year.
For Switzerland, there’s lots of decent options. Their keeper Kobel, or any of their defenders are good picks – I like their full-backs Rodriguez and Widmer especially. Widmer at 4.2m is well priced. Embolo is the standout attacker for me – he was their top scorer in qualifying and has 8 goals in the last 12 months. He may be on penalties – he took one in their recent friendly over Jordan, though Xhaka did also take one too so this isn’t completely clear. The Swiss also have on paper their toughest fixture vs Canada in Round 3 so could be good options if you’re playing your Wildcard in 3.
Elsewhere, it would be picking players to target in the games against Qatar. For Canada, it would be the obvious 3 of either Davies in defence (he’s very attacking averaging nearly a goal every 4 games) or the attacking pair of Larin or David. For Bosnia, I guess it’s Dzeko or no-one – he has 73 international goals…the next best in the Bosnia squad is Tabakovic or Demirovic both with 4!
Conclusion – Switzerland good for R1 and possibly all 3 rounds. Canada for R2 vs Qatar the other standout.
Group C
2 strong high ranked nations and 2 lower ranked nations so potential for mismatches here. Brazil and Morocco play each other first, so their better attacking games come in rounds 2 and 3. Scotland had a strong qualifying campaign but notoriously tend to flunk at major tournaments and Haiti are a great unknown. Could be some potential for hauls here then.
Brazil will be popular with high ownership, though they laboured through qualifying and have had some odd results in friendlies recently; losing to Japan and being held by Tunisia at the back of end of last year. Ancelotti was only brought in mid-qualifying and he’s only starting to impose his system so they could blow hot and cold. They do have an abundance of attacking talent though – Vini Junior will probably be their most popular pick, but I favour Raphinha as he’s likely on pens (if Neymar isn’t on the pitch) and free-kicks. They look good value for clean sheets in R2 and R3 too – Marquinhos or Gabriel probably the safer options, though any of the defenders I guess could be rotated.
Speaking of defence, I like Morocco for R2 and R3 too. The reigning African Champions (albeit by default) conceded only 2 goals in qualifying and base their game around being robust and difficult to break down. Hakimi has the bonus of boasting significant attack threat too, but is pricey at 6.0m for a defender. If you’re punting on a Moroccan attacker for R2 or R3 consider either Brahim Diaz or El-Kaabi. For Scotland, I guess you’re really chasing the R1 game here vs Haiti then probably moving assets on for R2 and R3 when the games are on paper trickier. Scott McTominay would be my pick if you wanted a R1 punt, Shankland is their in-form striker but I suspect Clarke may opt to start with the more experienced Che Adams who goal record is more modest. For Haiti, Duckens Nazon has a fantastic international record of 44 goals in 76 games and looks their best pick.
Conclusion – Brazil and possibly Morocco assets for R2 and R3, though can argue the case for Brazil for all 3.
Group D
Another tough, fairly evenly matched group. USA will start favourites being at home, but Australia and Turkiye are separated by only 1 place in the world rankings at 25 and 26 and although Paraguay are the lowest ranked, they kept 10 clean sheets in the highly competitive South American qualifying section. USA interestingly have beaten both Australia and Paraguay in friendlies last year prior to the draw being made though they don’t keep many clean sheets and have a bad habit of conceding first as well. I’d therefore probably swerve their defence and their standout asset is definitely midfielder Pulisic at 7.0m who is on pens and some set pieces too.
From the other 3 sides, Turkiye have an abundance of talent plying their trade in Europe’s top leagues. Arda Guler is another 7.0m and was a breakout star at Euro 24, while Inter Milan’s Calhanoglu is just 0.1m more in the midfield and has pens and set pieces. Paraguay are not especially prolific, so if you’re going to punt then go in defence and try for a scouting bonus I guess – Velazquez at 3.8m could be a good cheap filler for example. Australia stumbled through the early stages of qualifying losing at home to Bahrain and being held by Indonesia before finding form later on. Jackson Irivne in midfield at 5.6m is perhaps their best asset.
Conclusion – difficult to see a case for picks over other groups – possibly Turkiye for the first 2 Rounds?
Group E
This is a group with some interesting mismatch potential. Germany are the highest ranked and are heavy favourites with a great opening fixture against the smallest nation ever to qualify in Curacao. I would not write off Ecuador and Ivory Coast however – both were very strong in qualifying with excellent defensive records. Ecuador conceded just 5, finishing 2nd in South American qualifying and Ivory Coast dominated CAF Group F, scoring 25 and conceding 0!
That R1 Germany vs Curacao fixture will be heavily targeted by fantasy managers and you can take your pick which 3 assets you go for. I like Kimmich (5.5) in defence for his many routes to returns; in midfield Musiala (8.0) and Wirtz (7.5) are both excellent options and Havertz (7.8) is their first choice striker and probably has pens. I guess the question may be if Germany rotate or manage their minutes in this first game for the trickier two matches of the section. For Ecuador and Ivory Coast then we’re probably targeting defence, though I’d favour starting out with Ecuador assets as they have Curacao in R2 while Ivory Coast face them in R3. For Ecuador, Estupinan at 4.8 or Pacho at 4.4 are good options in defence. For Ivory Coast I like Doue at 3.9 and you’ll probably eligible for scouting bonus too, while Diomande and Diallo (both 5.9) could be nice attacking options for R3. I don’t see a standout Curacao asset, but they will be well set up by experienced coach Dick Advocaat. Maybe they can spring a surprise?
Conclusion – Germany triple-up for R1 looks a must but could then lose at least one after? Ecuador good picks for R1 and 2 and Ivory Coast for R3.
Group F
Another group that perhaps may end up tighter than it looks on paper. Netherlands are top seed and qualified unbeaten, but Japan are also ranked in the top 20, conceded just 3 goals in their qualifying campaign and often over-perform at major tournaments. Sweden are the first nation to ever qualify without winning a single game in their qualifying group – they got a play-off spot through The Nations League and then promptly saw off Ukraine and Poland. Tunisia meanwhile are another African team who didn’t concede in qualifying though their draw was very kind in that none of the other 5 teams in their group were ranked inside the top 100 in the world.
Forwards Gakpo (7.7) and Depay (7.4) look the key attacking assets for Netherlands – Gakpo most likely has pens and Depay has free-kicks. In defence, Dumfries always tends to be a good all-round pick a 5.7 defender with goal and assist threat on top. For Japan, midfielder Kubo (7.0) had a fine season at club level while forward Ueda (also 7.0) will lead the line and is the probable penalty taker. In defence Bayern Munich’s Ito at 3.9 could be a good budget filler if he starts. I’d probably look to pick up Dutch and Japanese assets from R2 onwards after they’ve faced each other. For Sweden, they have an enviable forward line of Isak (8.0) and Gyokeres (7.8) though with so many great forwards in the game, do you use a spot on them? I can’t say I’m sold on any Graham Potter defence either so that’s probably an avoid for me. For Tunisia, I guess you’re looking more at the defence – maybe keeper Dahmen or defender Valery at 3.9m?
Conlcusion – tough to make a strong argument for picks here, but maybe Netherlands and Japan from R2 onwards?
