You can play McDonald’s FIFA World Cup™ Fantasy at FIFA.com, or you can download the app on iOS and Android . McDonald’s FIFA World Cup™ Fantasy allows you to emulate Didier Deschamps, Joachim Low and Tite and be a Russia 2018 coach from the comfort of your mobile phone or desktop. It’s FREE and you will compete for some sensational prizes including a brand new Kia Sportage, a Hisense television and signed captains’ armbands from teams competing in the Russia. Prizes The Grand Prize Winner will receive a brand new Kia Sportage*, a signed captain’s armband from the Russia 2018 winners - A copy of EA SPORTS FIFA 18 for PS4. Runner-up: - A Hisense television - A signed captain’s armband from the second-placed team at Russia 2018 - A copy of EA Sports FIFA 18 for PS4. There are also prizes for the 3rd to 5th-place finishers and the top three coaches from each round! See full list of prizes. How it works You get a budget of €100 million (rising to €105 million for the knockout phase). You buy a squad of 15 players. You select 11 of them to play in each of the seven rounds. They score you points for assists, goals, saves, clean sheets and so on. You make substitutions. You make transfers. And there are a few little twists to make the McDonald’s FIFA World Cup™ Fantasy even more enthralling. Highest-priced players: Goalkeepers: De Gea (6.5m), Alisson, Courtois, Ederson, Lloris, Patricio (6m) Defenders: Alba, Hector, Kimmich, Marcelo, Ramos (6.5m) Midfielders: De Bruyne (10m), Muller (9.5m) Forwards: Messi, Neymar, Ronaldo (12m) Selecting your squad You must pick 2 goalkeepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards. You must choose one of 8 formations for each round. You can choose up to 3 players from one of the 32 teams during the group stage, 4 from each team for the Round of 16, five for the quarter-finals, six for the semi-finals and eight for the final two matches. Transfers Before… The opening match: Unlimited transfers Rounds 1-3: One transfer per round Round of 16: Unlimited transfers Quarter-finals: Three transfers Semi-finals: Five transfers Final two matches: Five transfers Any additional transfers will cost you 4 points. Substitutions After all matches on a single day have finished and before the next Round of matches start, you can: - Replace any player (unless they were sent off) with one from your bench whose team is yet to play. - Change your captain (if he was not sent off) with a player from your squad whose team is yet to play. Wildcard You can make unlimited transfers for one round. Use this in Round 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 or 7 because in Round 4 you already have unlimited transfers. Captain Your captain, which you can change each round, scores double points. So if, for example, you select James Rodriguez as your captain against Japan and he scores 11 points, you get 22 points. Nice! Maximum Captain In one of the seven rounds, you can play your Maximum Captain chip. In that round, you don’t select a captain. Instead, whichever of your 11 players scores the highest points delivers double for you. So if you really fancy Luis Suarez to run riot against Russia, but you’re afraid to go against Ronaldo versus Iran, play your Maximum Captain! Bench Boost For one round, all 15 of your players – rather than just 11 – will score you points. Private leagues Create and join leagues with your friends – compete for bragging rights! Stars of 2014 Daley Blind, Toni Kroos, Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano, Thomas Muller, Keylor Navas, Neymar and James Rodriguez were among the top-scoring McDonald’s FIFA World Cup™ Fantasy players at Brazil 2014. But you do you foresee being the stars of the Russia 2018 Fantasy? Get selecting! The prizes have to go to somebody – it could be you… *Conditions apply, please see the Contest Terms and Conditions for details.<doc-sep>Who’s excited?! I sure as heck-fire am, and I know that you are, too! The World Cup is always amazing, and World Cup fantasy is always brilliant fun along with it. Before getting started, let’s go over the vital information you will want to know regarding rules, scoring and strategy. Those of you who have played World Cup, Euro, FPL or similar fantasy portals may be familiar with most of this, but it’s always good to have a basic refresher to help you to pick the best team possible and decide which changes to make during the competition. If you’re new to World Cup fantasy, I promise that you will have fun! If you’re a grizzled veteran, welcome back! ~ WHAT ARE THE RULES? If you’d like to check out the complete rules and scoring, go straight to the FIFA source. I’ve tried to summarize them as best as possible below, while mixing in some strategic recommendations. TEAM SELECTION BREAKDOWN BY POSITION Each team has 15 players: 2 keepers, 5 defenders, 5 midfielders and 3 forwards. STARTING LINE-UP AND BENCH The team is divided into 11 starters (one of whom you may select as Captain to double his points) and 4 bench players. BUDGET The 15 players must fit into a total budget of €100 during the group stage. That expands to €105 when the Round of 16 knockout stage begins. Player pricing, value for price, and advancement prospects will determine how you will assemble your team. You will want to put most of the budget toward your 11 starters, but you will not want to be a complete cheapskate on your bench. The bench is where you will want to look for affordable starters (perhaps diamonds in the rough) who can earn you consolation points in the Group Stage, and possibly advance to the next round as well. The good thing about the budget increasing after the group stage is that you should theoretically be able to keep a strong 15 man roster, rather than feeling you have to kill your bench with cheap filler when the Round of 16 narrows selections to strong teams and their high-priced players. INDIVIDUAL PLAYER PRICING Players have variable prices depending on position and expected production. The prices are locked for the group stage, then may change up or down prior to the Round of 16 knockout stage. You will be very well-served if early on you lock down players whose teams advance and whose prices go up! Just like in real life, star forwards tend to cost more than big name midfielders, who then are more dear than stud defenders, who in turn are pricier than even the best keepers. That means that if you want a well-rounded squad, you may only be able to stock your team with one or two of the absolute best players at a given position, particularly at forward. Generally speaking, the key to success is finding value wherever you can, so don’t despair if you can’t fit the trio of Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar and Lionel Messi into your side. You can’t always have everything in life... otherwise it would be too easy, right? ! MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PLAYERS PER TEAM In your 15-man roster, during the group stage, you may pick no more than three players from any single national team. As the number of teams decreases with each new stage, the limit ticks up, eventually reaching eight players from a single team for the final round. At the start, it’s a good idea to have two or three star players from each of the top teams whom you think will dominate their groups. However, those players tend to come with the highest price tags, so you may have to spread your investment and speculate a bit. You just don’t want to have an overload of players from the bottom teams who you don’t expect to advance. That would limit your capital gains and require you to blow up your team entering the Round of 16. There is always some gold to be mined from the smaller streams, but it is unlikely that too many players from bad teams will score well for you, especially those known for “parking the bus” against stronger foes. ~ TEAM MANAGEMENT FORMATION You may utilize any of the following formations: 5-3-2, 5-2-3, 5-4-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-5-1, 3-5-2, or 3-4-3. Is your head dizzy yet? Relax, don’t worry about it, no need to put too much strategic thought into it, really. You might think that you will want to select the formation that is ideal for the strength of your team. For instance, if you have three great forwards, selecting a 5-2-3, 4-3-3 or 3-4-3 would seem to be optimal. However, your formation should actually vary depending on when your players actually play, as I elaborate here in the “Substitutions” section: SUBSTITUTIONS Following the games of the day but before a round is over, you may swap a bench player with a starter, and you may change your captain selection, as long as the original starter has not been sent off with a red card. You lose any points that the now-benched player had earned. A former captain’s points are undoubled. If you forget to make a move, don’t fret too much. If a player in your starting line-up does not play, a player from the bench who did play will be substituted in automatically. The players who come in from your bench will enter in the order that you have slotted them. That said, ideally you will want to stay on top of things and keep an eye to changing up your line-up as needed daily. The number of substitutions (internal swaps) you may make is unlimited (that is, it is limited to the one extra goalkeeper and the three extra field players you have on your bench). Captain changes are also unlimited. A good strategy is to front-load your starting XI with your players who have early games in the round, using whatever formation fits.<doc-sep>Get into the spirit of the FIFA World Cup with fun new Facebook Messenger features If you really want to get into the spirit of the 2018 FIFA World Cup, then look no further than Facebook Messenger which offers new themed features, camera effects and hidden games. New Messenger Camera Effects: Football fans can access filters which can paint their faces green and gold and put on festive wigs to support the Socceroos. To whack on the face paint and wig open the Messenger camera, click on the soccer ball filter and selected scenes of your choice. New Camera Frames: You can also choose anew camera frame that feature the flag of each country competing in the World Cup. There will also be frames for individual matches. Look out for the France vs. Australia frame this weekend! Here are the new Messenger games: Keepie Uppie: There’s a new twist to the keepie uppie (football) hidden game in Messenger. You can send a flag of your choice and a football to your friends in a chat. Tap the ball on the screen to keep the ball in the air. The winner is the person who doesn’t drop the ball. TheScore: This instant game in Messenger now includes World Cup contests. Choose a five-person squad of the world’s best players and challenge your friends. Golden Boot: Test your skills as you are challenged to find out who is the best free-kick taker. Ronaldo Kick’n’Run: You can put yourself in the shoes of Cristiano Ronaldo and see how it feels to kick, run and score like CR7 in this unique 3D arcade runner. To score and beat your opponents, you must avoid tackles from defenders while avoiding the obstacles on Moscow’s streets.<doc-sep>When concocting a 15-man side of all-Premier League players for World Cup fantasy, we are hamstrung by several factors: Many Premier League stars not surprisingly play for England (and several other national teams have no shortage of great EPL players, perhaps most notably Belgium), but there is a limit to three players per national side for the group stage As much as we would love to overload our team with all of the elite Premier League superstars, they will naturally tend to be pricey, and there is a budget of €100, so we can’t fit in everybody Several stars who we’re used to seeing classified at midfielder (and even defender) are instead listed at forward (such as Eden Hazard , Alex Iwobi, Sadio Mane , Victor Moses, David Silva , and Son Heung-Min), which makes them difficult to squeeze in, as it inflates their price and there are fewer forward spots than midfield , Alex Iwobi, , Victor Moses, , and Son Heung-Min), which makes them difficult to squeeze in, as it inflates their price and there are fewer forward spots than midfield Unfortunately, several of our favorite EPL stars have ended up missing out on the fun as their national teams failed to qualify for Russia this summer Thankfully, the Premier League is chock full of worldwide talent that will be present across many of the 32 teams who are at Russia this summer, and they span a variety of price points. So we should be able to craft an exciting and dangerous World Cup fantasy squad featuring the Premiership’s finest! ~ STARTING LINE-UP Let’s go with the 4-4-2. Not only is that a well-trodden formation from the Premier League, it avoids bankruptcy from putting too much money into more expensive forwards and midfielders, while also allowing for at least one bench player at every position which is always nice and tidy for rotation/injury purposes. ~ KEEPER (1) Thibaut Courtois (Belgium / Chelsea, €6.0) I’d love to go with the Premier League’s best keeper, David De Gea of Spain/Manchester United. Unfortunately, Premier League stars tend to be expensive (and not just at keeper! ), so I’m going to start out cutting corners with my #1 backstop. Every half-euro counts! Courtois was solid if unspectacular for a disappointing Chelsea side last season, but with two titles in four seasons, he has proven himself. Belgium will be expected to win its group with a good chance at several clean sheets. Hugo Lloris (France / Tottenham) is also a nice option at the same price point as Courtois. ~ DEFENDERS (4) There are loads of great defenders at €6.0 (such as Toby Alderweireld, Nicolas Otamendi, Jan Vertonghen, and Kyle Walker), but as with the keeper position, I don’t mind saving some money by starting at €5.5, where there are also many excellent choices. Cedric Soares (Portugal / Southampton, €5.5) Portugal boasts an elite defense, so clean sheets should be plentiful. Cedric also doesn’t mind getting forward, so he may be able to contribute on the offensive end here and there as well. Kieran Trippier (England / Tottenham, €5.5) Amazingly, Trippier seems to have locked down a starting wing back role with the England national team, whereas his more-heralded (but injury-prone) Spurs teammate Danny Rose looks to sit on the bench. Like Tottenham, the Three Lions also have a stout defense, and Trippier will have plenty of chances to pick out assists from his pinpoint crosses. Andreas Christensen (Denmark / Chelsea, €5.0) The young Dane had a fine season with Chelsea, and Denmark has a good chance to tally clean sheets against Australia and Peru, while France looms as a tougher task. Dejan Lovren (Croatia / Liverpool, €5.0) Lovren offers the chance at clean sheets against Iceland and Nigeria, but Argentina could prove more difficult. While he is far from an offensive powerhouse, he has scored six times with three assists in his Premier League career. ~ MIDFIELDERS (4) Christian Eriksen (Denmark / Tottenham, €9.0) As brilliant as Eriksen has been in the Premier League (41 goals and 52 assists in the past five seasons), he’s been even better as the centerpiece of his national side, notching eight goals and four helpers in the 10 European qualifying games for this World Cup. In other words, Australia, France and Peru, beware! Xherdan Shaqiri (Switzerland / Stoke, €8.5) Shaqiri enjoyed a breakout campaign for Stoke with eight goals and seven assists, but it wasn’t enough to save the Potters from relegation. He will look to take that magic to the group stage, where Brazil, Costa Rica and Serbia will attempt the tough task of containing him. Willian (Brazil / Chelsea, €8.5) It’s never a bad idea to have representation from the Samba Kings’ explosive offense, right? If you’re worried (as I was before) that Willian may not be able to crack the starting XI, he was part of the quartet up front with Neymar, Gabriel Jesus, and Philippe Coutinho in the 3-0 friendly win against Austria earlier today, and it would be a surprise to see a different line-up to begin the World Cup. Chelsea’s brilliant winger has 19 each of goals and assists in the past three Premiership seasons, and he contributed four goals and five helpers in qualification. Johann Berg Gudmundsson (Iceland / Burnley, €6.0) Iceland plays extremely defensively, but can’t you say the same about Burnley? After all, the Clarets’ playmaker returned two goals plus eight assists last season in the Premier League, and he has six goals with four helpers across 67 career caps. Not quite TNT, but not at all weak tea for the price! ~ FORWARDS (2) Harry Kane (England / Spurs, €11.0) I’d love to go with Egypt’s Mo Salah, who took the Premier League by storm with a season for the ages for Liverpool. But he’s an injury risk. On top of that, England is a safer bet to perform well in its group. So I’m willing to pay more for the Spurs talisman who has scored 105 goals with 16 assists across the past four seasons in the Premiership. Romelu Lukaku (Belgium / Manchester United, €10.0)<doc-sep>
The biggest event in world soccer opens in just a few days. If you haven’t signed up to play fantasy World Cup yet, get to it! Never Manage Alone’s main fantasy WC platform will be the official McDonald’s game. Read FIFA World Cup Fantasy is Live and sign up (and then use the link there to join our group). Likewise see our article on the Dream Team format, which many of us will also play. And of course, not only are we setting our readers up with leagues to play in, but we’re also sharing our best ideas for player selection. Below is the list of defenders that I think make the strongest case for inclusion in your teams. STRATEGY Keep in mind that the best fantasy defenders will offer potential not just for clean sheets, but also for attacking returns. While an assist earns three points all around, defenders get the most points for goals of any position (six, compared to five for midfielders and four for forwards). A clean sheet earns four points, which is the same as a forward’s goal. This list will therefore be biased toward players that can deliver at both ends of the pitch. Fantasy managers only get 1 free transfer after each round of the Group Stage, so it’s important to choose defenders who are likely to start all three Group Stage games (although daily management of your bench offers you a level of protection from no-shows and poor performances). But because managers are granted unlimited free transfers between the end of the Group Stage and the start of the Round of 16, you don’t necessarily have to stock your Group Stage fantasy squads with players who are likely to advance deep into the tournament. That said, prices will begin to fluctuate once the tournament starts, so locking in low introductory prices on players that subsequently progress far into the later rounds will be a big advantage. PLAYER PICKS PREMIUM Marcelo (Brazil, €6.5M): The left back seems to spend as as much time ahead of the ball as he does behind it, and Brazil could go all the way. Probably my #1 overall choice. But if you’re looking for a cheaper route into Brazil’s back line, Marquinhos (€5.5M) is also an excellent choice. Sergio Ramos (Spain, €6.5M): The villain of the Champions League final is one of history’s greatest defenders. The epitome of the modern center back, he supplements his defensive expertise with deadly skill on either end of free kicks. But as we all saw against Liverpool, he is also an aggressive tackler and a card magnet. Jordi Alba (Spain, €6.5M): If Ramos is too much of a discipline risk for you (or if you just can’t forgive him for what he did to our beloved Mo Salah), then consider Jordi Alba. Spain’s left back is one of the most attack-minded defenders in world football. Expect him to bomb forward over and over again. Joshua Kimmich (Germany, €6.5M): The 23 year-old heir-apparent to Philipp Lahm is already one of the best right backs in world football, but in Russia he says he will prove himself to be one of the best players in world football. Kimmich registered 9 assists and 2 goals in the qualification phase, and Germany could end up hoisting the Cup. Nicolas Otamendi (Argentina, €6.0M): His goal threat is well-known to followers of the English Premier League, and I expect Argentina will win Group D. Thomas Meunier (Belgium, €6.0M): The right back has found it difficult to solidify a starting position at Paris Saint-Germain, having to compete first with Serge Aurier and then Dani Alves. But the flying fullback has no such issues for his national side, where his attacking instincts shine. MID-PRICED Diego Godin (Uruguay, €5.5M): Russia will be Godin’s third World Cup, and he says he’s determined to make it his best. Uruguay’s team captain is virtually guaranteed to start if healthy, and I’m predicting Uruguay will pick up some clean sheets on their way to winning Group A. Djibril Sidibe (France, €5.5M): The right back had seven assists in Ligue 1 this year before he was sidelined by a meniscus injury. Against the advice of his trainers at Monaco, he declined to have surgery, which would have ended his World Cup ambitions. The 25 year-old right back has been healthy for over a month now, and France should go deep into the tournament.