2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 1

RotoWire's 2026 World Cup Fantasy rankings for Matchday 1. Captains, sleepers and value picks built on projected lineups, set-piece roles and fixtures.

Updated on June 5, 2026 9:26AM EST

2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 1

By:

Adam Zdroik

Updated on June 5, 2026 9:26AM EST

World Cup

2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Rankings: Best Picks for Matchday 1

Welcome to RotoWire's 2026 FIFA World Cup fantasy rankings for Matchday 1. These rankings highlight the best World Cup fantasy players based on projected lineups, form, set-piece roles and fixture quality heading into the tournament.

Whether you're building a season-long World Cup fantasy team, preparing for a draft or searching for captaincy options, these rankings provide the top overall picks and sleepers for the opening slate of matches.

These rankings will be updated ahead of the opener as lineups, injuries and team news change.

For player rankings across the entire group stage, we ran those numbers for the top 100 players in the first three Matchdays.

Join the RotoWire Soccer FIFA World Cup Fantasy group!

More 2026 World Cup Content
World Cup Predicted & Confirmed Starting XIs
World Cup Set Pieces: Penalties, Corners & Free Kicks by Team
Group Previews A to L
RotoWire World Cup Hub: Links to News, Stats, Depth Charts & More

How These Rankings Are Built

With no in-tournament data yet, our Matchday 1 World Cup Fantasy rankings combine four inputs: projected starting XIs, international stats across the last year, specifically during qualifying, set-piece responsibility (penalties, corners and direct free kicks) and fixture quality based on historical team and World Cup stats. Rankings update as final squads, injuries and pre-match lineups are confirmed.

Top Captain Picks for Matchday 1

Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m, Spain v Cabo Verde)

The highest projected point-scorer on Matchday 1. Spain are clear favorites against Cabo Verde, Oyarzabal handles penalties for La Roja and projects for a high attacking output at sub-premium money. The best mix of upside and price on the slate.

Kai Havertz ($7.8m, Germany v Curacao)

Curacao are arguably the weakest opponent of the opening matchday and Germany's central striker stands to benefit. The main question with Havertz will be if he starts after the Champions League final with Arsenal.

Erling Haaland ($10.5m, Norway v Iraq)

The chalk play and the highest-owned premium for a reason. Iraq are a heavy underdog and Haaland anchors every situation Norway create in the box. The safest captain but eats the largest chunk of your budget.

World Cup Fantasy Round 1 Player Rankings

Below are the full Round 1 World Cup Fantasy player rankings based on projected lineups, form and fixtures.

These rankings can be used to guide transfers, captaincy decisions and overall squad planning ahead of the 2026 World Cup.

Overall	FW	MID	DEF	GK	Player	Team	Matchup	Tact Pos	FIFA Pos	Price	Own%	Pts
1		1			Lamine Yamal	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	FWR	MID	$10.0m	44.3%	9.32
2			1		David Raum	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	DL	DEF	$4.9m	4.8%	9.17
3	1				Mikel Oyarzabal	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	FW	FWD	$8.1m	16.5%	8.80
4		2			Florian Wirtz	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	AML	MID	$7.5m	22.3%	8.79
5		3			Dani Olmo	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	FWL	MID	$7.7m	2.9%	8.64
6		4			Hakan Calhanoglu	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	DMC	MID	$7.1m	3.2%	8.36
7		5			James Rodriguez	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	AMC	MID	$6.5m	4.3%	8.31
8	2				Kai Havertz	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	FW	FWD	$7.8m	8.3%	8.21
9	3				Raul Jimenez	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	FW	FWD	$7.0m	2.2%	7.92
10			2		Joshua Kimmich	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	DR	DEF	$5.5m	27.8%	7.79
11	4				Erling Haaland	Norway	Norway v Iraq	FW	FWD	$10.5m	33.2%	7.74
12		6			Ruben Vargas	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	AMR	MID	$6.8m	0.5%	7.65
13		7			Marcel Sabitzer	Austria	Austria v Jordan	AML	MID	$6.8m	2.9%	7.58
14			3		Nico Schlotterbeck	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	DC	DEF	$5.3m	3.8%	7.51
15	5				Breel Embolo	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	FW	FWD	$7.5m	2.2%	7.46
16		8			John McGinn	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	AML	MID	$6.0m	2.3%	7.45
17		9			Bruno Fernandes	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	AMC	MID	$8.5m	48.8%	7.44
18		10			Jamal Musiala	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	AMC	MID	$8.0m	12.2%	7.39
19			4		Jonathan Tah	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	DC	DEF	$5.3m	4.7%	7.38
20	6				Luis Suarez	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	FW	FWD	$5.7m	2.6%	7.29
21		11			Antonio Nusa	Norway	Norway v Iraq	FWL	MID	$6.1m	3.1%	7.23
22		12			Fabian Rieder	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	AMC	MID	$6.2m	0.1%	7.19
23			5		Daniel Svensson	Sweden	Sweden v Tunisia	MR	DEF	$4.5m	0.5%	7.13
24		13			Lennart Karl	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	AMR	MID	$4.8m	1.6%	7.09
25	7				Kylian Mbappe	France	France v Senegal	FW	FWD	$10.5m	50.9%	7.05
26		14			Maxi Araujo	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	ML	MID	$6.4m	0.2%	7.00
27	8				Memphis Depay	Netherlands	Netherlands v Japan	FW	FWD	$7.4m	1.1%	6.99
28	9				Mehdi Taremi	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	FW	FWD	$6.1m	0.5%	6.96
29			6		Jorge Eduardo Sanchez	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.8%	6.91
30		15			Charles De Ketelaere	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	FW	MID	$5.6m	0.5%	6.90
31		16			Lucas Paqueta	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	AMC	MID	$6.5m	0.5%	6.87
32			7		David Moller Wolfe	Norway	Norway v Iraq	DL	DEF	$4.0m	0.6%	6.87
33		17			Brian Gutierrez	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	MR	MID	$5.0m	1.2%	6.87
34		18			Kenan Yildiz	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	AML	MID	$7.0m	3.8%	6.85
35	10				Cristiano Ronaldo	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	FW	FWD	$10.0m	13.2%	6.84
36		19			Aleksandar Pavlovic	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	DMC	MID	$5.5m	0.5%	6.81
37			8		Silvan Widmer	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	DR	DEF	$4.2m	0.8%	6.79
38	11				Alexander Sorloth	Norway	Norway v Iraq	FWR	FWD	$6.8m	1.5%	6.79
39		20			Jhon Arias	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	AMR	MID	$6.3m	0.2%	6.75
40	12				Marko Arnautovic	Austria	Austria v Jordan	FW	FWD	$6.0m	0.6%	6.74
41			9		Pedro Porro	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	DR	DEF	$5.5m	8.5%	6.73
42		21			Martin Odegaard	Norway	Norway v Iraq	MC	MID	$7.7m	4.3%	6.72
43		22			Leon Goretzka	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	DMC	MID	$6.1m	0.4%	6.72
44				1	Orjan Nyland	Norway	Norway v Iraq	GK	GK	$4.2m	2.8%	6.71
45		23			Mehdi Ghayedi	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	FWR	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	6.70
46		24			Desire Doue	France	France v Senegal	AML	MID	$7.5m	3.3%	6.70
47		25			Kevin De Bruyne	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	AMC	MID	$7.5m	5.3%	6.68
48		26			Ben Gannon Doak	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	AMR	MID	$4.9m	0.2%	6.66
49			10		Marc Cucurella	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	DL	DEF	$5.1m	22.4%	6.65
50		27			Bernardo Silva	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	AMR	MID	$7.8m	2.3%	6.60
51		28			Romano Schmid	Austria	Austria v Jordan	AMR	MID	$6.0m	0.2%	6.55
52	13				Lionel Messi	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	FWR	FWD	$10.0m	18.4%	6.51
53				2	Alexander Schlager	Austria	Austria v Jordan	GK	GK	$4.6m	0.4%	6.47
54		29			Rafael Leao	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	AML	MID	$7.8m	2.1%	6.47
55	14				Darwin Nunez	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	FW	FWD	$7.5m	1.6%	6.45
56			11		Guillermo Varela	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DR	DEF	$4.2m	0.3%	6.43
57		30			Nicolas Gonzalez	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	FWL	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	6.39
58			12		Ricardo Rodriguez	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	DL	DEF	$4.5m	2.1%	6.37
59				3	Jose Rangel	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	GK	GK	$3.9m	3.8%	6.37
60			13		Joao Cancelo	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	DR	DEF	$5.3m	7.1%	6.37
61		31			Michel Aebischer	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	AML	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	6.34
62				4	Angus Gunn	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	GK	GK	$3.6m	1.3%	6.34
63			14		Antonee Robinson	USA	USA v Paraguay	ML	DEF	$5.0m	2.8%	6.34
64				5	Camilo Vargas	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	GK	GK	$4.3m	4.4%	6.34
65			15		Manuel Akanji	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	DC	DEF	$5.0m	4.8%	6.33
66			16		Nico Elvedi	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	DC	DEF	$4.3m	2.1%	6.33
67			17		Gideon Mensah	Ghana	Ghana v Panama	ML	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	6.32
68			18		Jesus Gallardo	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	DL	DEF	$4.7m	0.6%	6.32
69		32			Facundo Pellistri	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	FW	MID	$5.2m	0.1%	6.31
70		33			Raphinha	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	AMR	MID	$8.2m	21.4%	6.31
71			19		Aaron Hickey	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	6.28
72			20		Nahuel Molina	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	DR	DEF	$4.4m	3.7%	6.27
73		34			Remo Freuler	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	DMC	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	6.25
74		35			Ryan Christie	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	6.20
75		36			Youri Tielemans	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	DMC	MID	$6.1m	1.1%	6.17
76				6	Fernando Muslera	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.5%	6.17
77			21		Kristoffer Ajer	Norway	Norway v Iraq	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.8%	6.16
78			22		Mathias Olivera	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DL	DEF	$4.3m	0.3%	6.12
79			23		Nicolas Otamendi	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	DC	DEF	$4.4m	2.0%	6.12
80		37			Kenny McLean	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	DMC	MID	$4.8m	0.1%	6.12
81			24		Thomas Meunier	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	DR	DEF	$4.8m	0.7%	6.11
82		38			Michael Olise	France	France v Senegal	AMR	MID	$9.5m	23.8%	6.10
83			25		Andrew Robertson	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	DL	DEF	$5.0m	4.9%	6.09
84			26		Wesley	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	DR	DEF	$4.5m	2.0%	6.09
85		39			Federico Valverde	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	MR	MID	$7.5m	6.1%	6.09
86			27		Nicolas Tagliafico	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	DL	DEF	$4.3m	1.0%	6.08
87		40			Nilson Angulo	Ecuador	Ecuador v Ivory Coast	ML	MID	$6.0m	0.2%	6.07
88			28		Johan Mojica	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DL	DEF	$3.9m	3.3%	6.05
89			29		Torbjorn Heggem	Norway	Norway v Iraq	DC	DEF	$3.7m	0.2%	6.05
90		41			Luis Diaz	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	AML	MID	$8.1m	18.8%	5.99
91			30		Goncalo Inacio	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	DC	DEF	$4.6m	1.1%	5.99
92			31		Gabriel Gudmundsson	Sweden	Sweden v Tunisia	ML	DEF	$4.2m	0.7%	5.99
93			32		Cesar Montes	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	DC	DEF	$4.7m	0.6%	5.98
94			33		Johan Vasquez	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	DC	DEF	$4.7m	1.4%	5.98
95		42			Joao Neves	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	DMC	MID	$6.5m	3.8%	5.97
96			34		Aymeric Laporte	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	DC	DEF	$5.5m	5.0%	5.95
97	15				Matheus Cunha	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	FW	FWD	$7.3m	3.6%	5.94
98			35		Pau Cubarsi	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	DC	DEF	$5.0m	5.9%	5.93
99	16				Harry Kane	England	England v Croatia	FW	FWD	$10.5m	37.9%	5.92
100		43			Arda Guler	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	AMC	MID	$7.0m	8.6%	5.91
101			36		Phillipp Mwene	Austria	Austria v Jordan	DL	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	5.90
102			37		Alex Sandro	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	DL	DEF	$4.5m	0.7%	5.89
103				7	Manuel Neuer	Germany	Germany v Curaçao	GK	GK	$5.0m	13.3%	5.86
104			38		Philipp Lienhart	Austria	Austria v Jordan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	5.86
105			39		Jhon Lucumi	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.2%	5.85
106			40		Ronald Araujo	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DC	DEF	$5.0m	3.5%	5.84
107			41		Julian Ryerson	Norway	Norway v Iraq	DR	DEF	$4.2m	7.5%	5.84
108		44			Jeremy Doku	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	AML	MID	$7.5m	11.6%	5.83
109	17				Jonathan David	Canada	Canada v Bosnia	FW	FWD	$7.0m	1.3%	5.82
110		45			Rodri	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	MC	MID	$7.5m	1.7%	5.81
111			42		Lisandro Martinez	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	DC	DEF	$4.6m	2.2%	5.81
112		46			Fabian Ruiz	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	MC	MID	$6.8m	1.0%	5.81
113			43		Jose Maria Gimenez	Uruguay	Uruguay v Saudi Arabia	DC	DEF	$4.4m	2.3%	5.80
114				8	Unai Simon	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	GK	GK	$5.0m	6.9%	5.79
115			44		Seol Young-Woo	South Korea	South Korea v Czech Republic	MR	DEF	$4.2m	0.1%	5.79
116			45		Zeki Celik	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	DR	DEF	$4.3m	0.1%	5.79
117		47			Marcus Rashford	England	England v Croatia	AML	MID	$7.5m	2.0%	5.78
118				9	Maxime Crepeau	Canada	Canada v Bosnia	GK	GK	$4.0m	0.5%	5.77
119		48			Pedri	Spain	Spain v Cabo Verde	MC	MID	$8.1m	9.9%	5.77
120			46		Tae-Seok Lee	South Korea	South Korea v Czech Republic	ML	DEF	$3.7m	0.0%	5.76
121				10	Alireza Beiranvand	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	GK	GK	$4.2m	0.2%	5.75
122		49			Timothy Weah	USA	USA v Paraguay	MR	MID	$5.8m	0.3%	5.75
123			47		Aria Yousefi	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	DR	DEF	$3.5m	0.1%	5.74
124				11	Kim Seung-gyu	South Korea	South Korea v Czech Republic	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.1%	5.74
125			48		Theo Hernandez	France	France v Senegal	DL	DEF	$5.0m	3.3%	5.73
126		50			Malik Tillman	USA	USA v Paraguay	AMC	MID	$6.1m	0.3%	5.71
127			49		David Alaba	Austria	Austria v Jordan	DC	DEF	$4.6m	2.1%	5.71
128		51			Caleb Yirenkyi	Ghana	Ghana v Panama	MR	MID	$4.7m	0.0%	5.70
129			50		Scott McKenna	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	DC	DEF	$3.8m	0.2%	5.70
130		52			Xaver Schlager	Austria	Austria v Jordan	DMC	MID	$5.5m	0.0%	5.69
131			51		Maxim De Cuyper	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	DL	DEF	$4.7m	3.6%	5.69
132			52		Davinson Sanchez	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DC	DEF	$4.3m	0.8%	5.68
133				12	Diogo Costa	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	GK	GK	$4.9m	9.7%	5.63
134		53			Scott McTominay	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	AMC	MID	$6.5m	10.9%	5.62
135				13	Hernan Ismael Galindez	Ecuador	Ecuador v Ivory Coast	GK	GK	$4.2m	2.0%	5.61
136				14	Ugurcan Cakir	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	GK	GK	$4.2m	1.1%	5.59
137				15	Kristoffer Nordfeldt	Sweden	Sweden v Tunisia	GK	GK	$3.9m	0.4%	5.59
138		54			Granit Xhaka	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	DMC	MID	$6.2m	5.3%	5.58
139				16	Gregor Kobel	Switzerland	Switzerland v Qatar	GK	GK	$4.7m	6.7%	5.56
140			53		Merih Demiral	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	DC	DEF	$4.0m	0.7%	5.54
141		55			Christian Pulisic	USA	USA v Paraguay	AMC	MID	$7.0m	5.2%	5.53
142		56			Aurelien Tchouameni	France	France v Senegal	DMC	MID	$6.5m	0.9%	5.52
143			54		John Souttar	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	DC	DEF	$3.8m	0.1%	5.51
144		57			Erik Lira	Mexico	Mexico v South Africa	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.1%	5.49
145				17	Emiliano Martinez	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	GK	GK	$5.0m	22.3%	5.48
146			55		Nuno Mendes	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	DL	DEF	$5.8m	43.5%	5.48
147	18				Che Adams	Scotland	Scotland v Haiti	FW	FWD	$5.4m	0.2%	5.46
148			56		Daniel Munoz	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DR	DEF	$4.6m	9.9%	5.43
149		58			Adrien Rabiot	France	France v Senegal	DMC	MID	$6.4m	0.2%	5.43
150			57		Reece James	England	England v Croatia	DR	DEF	$5.2m	4.2%	5.42
151				18	Mike Maignan	France	France v Senegal	GK	GK	$5.0m	10.4%	5.41
152		59			Ousmane Dembele	France	France v Senegal	AMC	MID	$10.0m	20.3%	5.38
153		60			Richard Rios Montoya	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DMC	MID	$4.7m	0.6%	5.36
154		61			Declan Rice	England	England v Croatia	DMC	MID	$7.0m	6.7%	5.35
155	19				Jordan Ayew	Ghana	Ghana v Panama	AMC	FWD	$5.3m	0.1%	5.33
156		62			Konrad Laimer	Austria	Austria v Jordan	DR	MID	$5.8m	0.4%	5.31
157			58		Milad Mohammadi	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	DL	DEF	$3.8m	0.0%	5.29
158				19	Matt Turner	USA	USA v Paraguay	GK	GK	$4.0m	1.0%	5.27
159	20				Cyle Larin	Canada	Canada v Bosnia	FW	FWD	$6.2m	0.1%	5.26
160			59		Alistair Johnston	Canada	Canada v Bosnia	DR	DEF	$4.0m	0.6%	5.24
161			60		Richie Laryea	Canada	Canada v Bosnia	DL	DEF	$3.9m	0.1%	5.22
162			61		Ferdi Kadioglu	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	DL	DEF	$4.3m	1.7%	5.22
163				20	Alisson	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	GK	GK	$5.0m	5.6%	5.21
164				21	Yahia Fofana	Ivory Coast	Ivory Coast v Ecuador	GK	GK	$4.2m	0.2%	5.21
165			62		Jules Kounde	France	France v Senegal	DR	DEF	$5.4m	7.4%	5.19
166				22	Benjamin Asare	Ghana	Ghana v Panama	GK	GK	$3.8m	0.1%	5.19
167		63			Bruno Guimaraes	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	DMC	MID	$6.8m	1.7%	5.16
168		64			Casemiro	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	DMC	MID	$6.3m	2.3%	5.15
169		65			Bukayo Saka	England	England v Croatia	AMR	MID	$9.5m	6.3%	5.15
170		66			Tijjani Reijnders	Netherlands	Netherlands v Japan	AMC	MID	$6.5m	1.7%	5.14
171			63		Ali Nemati	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	DC	DEF	$3.5m	0.1%	5.13
172	21				Julian Alvarez	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	FW	FWD	$8.6m	16.2%	5.13
173			64		Vladimir Coufal	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Korea	MR	DEF	$3.6m	3.9%	5.13
174			65		David Jurasek	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Korea	ML	DEF	$3.9m	0.0%	5.13
175		67			Ismail Yuksek	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	DMC	MID	$4.6m	0.1%	5.11
176	22				Folarin Balogun	USA	USA v Paraguay	FW	FWD	$6.0m	1.0%	5.11
177		68			Nicolas Seiwald	Austria	Austria v Jordan	DMC	MID	$5.6m	0.0%	5.10
178			66		Gustaf Lagerbielke	Sweden	Sweden v Tunisia	DC	DEF	$3.7m	0.2%	5.09
179			67		Ruben Dias	Portugal	Portugal v DR Congo	DC	DEF	$5.0m	5.4%	5.08
180		69			Lee Kang-in	South Korea	South Korea v Czech Republic	AMC	MID	$6.1m	0.5%	5.07
181		70			Lukas Provod	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Korea	AMC	MID	$5.9m	0.0%	5.07
182				23	Matej Kovar	Czech Republic	Czech Republic v South Korea	GK	GK	$4.1m	0.4%	5.07
183		71			Thomas Partey	Ghana	Ghana v Panama	MC	MID	$6.2m	0.1%	5.07
184	23				Viktor Gyokeres	Sweden	Sweden v Tunisia	FW	FWD	$7.8m	6.4%	5.05
185	24				Chris Wood	New Zealand	New Zealand v Iran	FW	FWD	$6.5m	0.7%	5.05
186		72			Sadio Mane	Senegal	Senegal v France	FWL	MID	$7.6m	2.0%	5.05
187	25				Cody Gakpo	Netherlands	Netherlands v Japan	AML	FWD	$7.7m	3.2%	5.04
188		73			Alan Franco	Ecuador	Ecuador v Ivory Coast	MR	MID	$5.6m	0.0%	5.02
189			68		Abdulkerim Bardakci	Turkey	Turkey v Australia	DC	DEF	$4.0m	0.4%	5.02
190				24	Bart Verbruggen	Netherlands	Netherlands v Japan	GK	GK	$4.7m	3.6%	5.01
191			69		Shoja Khalilzadeh	Iran	Iran v New Zealand	DC	DEF	$3.8m	0.0%	5.00
192		74			Amar Memic	Bosnia	Bosnia v Canada	ML	MID	$4.7m	0.1%	4.99
193		75			Elliot Anderson	England	England v Croatia	DMC	MID	$6.5m	1.0%	4.98
194			70		Joel Ordonez	Ecuador	Ecuador v Ivory Coast	DR	DEF	$3.9m	0.6%	4.97
195		76			Luka Modric	Croatia	Croatia v England	DMC	MID	$6.2m	2.5%	4.97
196			71		Arthur Theate	Belgium	Belgium v Egypt	DC	DEF	$4.5m	0.3%	4.96
197		77			Jefferson Lerma	Colombia	Colombia v Uzbekistan	DMC	MID	$4.9m	0.2%	4.95
198				25	Jordan Pickford	England	England v Croatia	GK	GK	$4.8m	14.4%	4.94
199		78			Alexis Mac Allister	Argentina	Argentina v Algeria	MC	MID	$6.6m	3.2%	4.94
200		79			Vinicius Junior	Brazil	Brazil v Morocco	AML	MID	$10.0m	14.3%	4.93

Final Thoughts on Matchday 1

Matchday 1 sets the tone for your entire World Cup Fantasy campaign. With no historical tournament data to lean on, projected lineups, set-piece roles and fixture quality are your best guides, exactly what these rankings are built on.

If you're locking things in now: anchor your squad with a Spain or Germany attacking core, stack two to three cheap Mexico, Norway or Switzerland defenders to free budget for two premiums, and captain Oyarzabal if you want the ceiling or Haaland if you want the floor. Avoid going three-deep on France or Argentina at full price since both have tougher openers than the public ownership suggests.