The stuff you should know.
â° The World Cup Fantasy Semi-final deadline is Tuesday 14th July, 20:00 BST. The Final deadline is Saturday 18th July, 22:00 BST, ahead of the third-place playoff.
đ You can now select up to 6 players per country and make 5 free transfers. For the Final, this increases to 8 players per country and 6 free transfers.
đ¨ All yellow card tallies have now been reset. Assuming no political interventions, a player can only miss the final/third-place playoff through suspension if theyâre sent off in the semi-final.
đ¤ Newcastle sign box-to-box midfielder Sean Steur from Ajax for ÂŁ23m.
đ Brentford sign Jaidon Anthony from Burnley for ÂŁ18m and Callum Wilson from Newcastle.
đ´ Man United âcloseâ to signing Youri Tielemans from Aston Villa for ÂŁ35m [David Ornstein].
đ You can now view your FPL career average on the official site. Go to Points > Gameweek History > Previous Seasons, and youâll see it at the bottom.
Alright?
This will be our last World Cup newsletter. Weâre consolidating the final two rounds - the semi-finals and the final/third-place playoff - into one email, because separating them would be more repetitive and inane than a debate about the pros and cons of VAR.
Regardless of the semi-final results, all four teams will play twice between now and the end of the tournament - either in the final or the third-place playoff. So, whilst we donât yet know exactly how the fixtures will fall, we can be sure of the teams that will be involved.
And for the first time in World Cup history, itâs the four highest-ranked teams in the competition: Spain, France, Argentina and England.
One last dance? Go on then.
World Cup Semi-final fixtures.
The final four.
Summary for the Lazy: Plenty of free transfers, with the third-place playoff offering a potential opportunity to target differentials.
According to the ever-trustworthy bookies, this is the probability of each team lifting the trophy on Sunday:
đŤđˇ France: 40.0%
đŞđ¸ Spain: 23.1%
đ´ó §ó ˘ó Ľó Žó §ó ż England: 23.1%
đŚđˇ Argentina: 22.2%
France are the standouts for reasons you probably already understand, but even their hopes sit on the wrong side of a dodgy coin toss.
The clichĂŠ words that always get repeated in tournament football - anything can happen - apply here, too. Anything really can happen. Thatâs a fun outlook for anyone watching the football for footballâs sake, but a challenge for fantasy managers trying to build a team.
Itâs made easier by the third-place playoff, mind you.
The third-place playoff.
Hereâs your reminder that while two teams will miss out on the Final, they won't be eliminated from the tournament just yet. Instead, theyâll play one another in the Sad Battle of the Losers, or to use its unofficial name, the third-place playoff. Graciously, FIFA includes this game in World Cup Fantasy.
Footballing-wise, the third-place playoff gets about as much attention as a bottle of hair dye in Gianni Infantinoâs bathroom cabinet. But for fantasy managers, it may actually be a more interesting opportunity than the final.
Looking at the last three World Cups, the teams that lost in the semi-finals made an average of 4.7 changes for the third-place playoff, but for once, rotation isnât a bad thing for us. Thatâs because weâll know the lineups for this game before the fantasy deadline, which gives the diligent amongst us a golden opportunity to target the Scouting Bonus with less-popular players.
Transfers galore.
With all four favourites progressing to the semi-finals, there's a good chance your squad already contains plenty of players who are still involved. That means 5 free transfers for the next round should be more than enough for most of you. Then, with no teams eliminated before the Finals, you'll receive another 6 free transfers. In short, there's plenty of flexibility.
You can punt on players your mini-league rivals don't own, block the ones they do if you're protecting a lead, or even stack an entire defence if you fancy a clean sheet.
Scouting for bonus.
Using the confirmed lineups prior to the deadline will be key if you want one final taste of that sweet, sweet Scouting Bonus nectar.
To avoid a frantic hour before the deadline, keep these players on your radar for France vs Spain if they make the starting XI:
đŤđˇ DĂŠsirĂŠ DouĂŠ, Rayan Cherki
đŞđ¸ Mikel Merino, Dani Olmo, Nico Williams
Itâs riskier to target England vs Argentina, as we wonât have the starting lineups before the deadline. If youâre willing to gamble, these are the names weâd consider:
đ´ó §ó ˘ó Ľó Žó §ó ż Bukayo Saka, Reece James, Djed Spence
đŚđˇ NicolĂĄs Tagliafico
The third-place playoff is where things could get really interesting.
Keep an eye out for backup attackers being handed a start. Players like Ollie Watkins, Morgan Rogers, Rayan Cherki, Nico Williams and Lautaro MartĂnez could all come into contention. Thereâs plenty of quality waiting in the wings, and, as mentioned, the third-place playoff is the most likely place to find it.
The best captain(s).
The semi-finals and Finals both offer two captaincy opportunities.
Use your Max Captain in whichever round you feel the least confident choosing your captain yourself.
Weâre still leaning towards using it in the Finals, as the third-place playoff feels more likely to produce a differential captaincy haul.
The template rotation this round is likely to be:
MbappĂŠ vs ESP
Messi vs ENG
Both players are tied on eight goals and competing for the Golden Boot.
Second-guessing either is risky, although there are no easy fixtures at this stage of the tournament.
MbappĂŠ faces a Spain side that has conceded just once in six matches at this World Cup. Messi faces England, who are still the bookiesâ favourites to keep a clean sheet this round.
Beyond those two, there are plenty of alternatives.
Alternative Options
Lamine Yamal, arguably the tournamentâs most disappointing premium fantasy asset so far, scored against France when the sides met in the Euro 2024 semi-finals.
Franceâs other attackers also offer plenty of upside. Olise is the tournamentâs leading assister, DembĂŠlĂŠ is currently the fourth-highest scorer in the game, while whoever starts between Barcola and DouĂŠ could also come with the Scouting Bonus.
Meanwhile, in the second semi-final, the main alternatives to Messi are England's talismanic duo, Kane and Bellingham.
The pair have six goals apiece, with Bellingham recently becoming the first player to score braces in consecutive World Cup knockout matches since PelĂŠ in 1958 and Maradona in 1986. Not bad company.
The World Cup Fantasy checklist.
Ensure your goalkeepers play on different days, and that you have at least three outfield players spread across different days, too. This allows for both substitutions and captaincy rotation.
Take advantage of team news. Youâll have the confirmed lineups for France vs Spain and the third-place playoff before making your transfers.
Donât forget to activate any remaining chips. Youâve got two rounds left.
Right, players are reporting to their clubs for preseason, and you know what that means.
Weâll be back in your inbox next week to talk about the key stuff thatâs happened in the Premier League since the World Cup started, with the 26/27 FPL game likely to launch later in July. Donât say we havenât warned you.
Stay lazy,
The LazyFPL Team.