Looking for Fantasy World Cup value? Here are our goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and striker picks, from elite options to bargain-bin wildcards.

With the World Cup just a few days away, we’ve been asking ourselves the question: what does a good Fantasy Football side look like for this World Cup? 

While we can’t be 100% sure how people are going to get on at the tournament, we’ve nevertheless taken a stab at making a list of players we think could be the difference makers over the next couple of months. 

All prices are based on the official “FIFA World Cup Fantasy” game. We're not affiliated with them, we just provide these prices as reference. Although if FIFA's pricing references are anything to go by for World Cup tickets…

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GOALKEEPERS

• Raúl Rangel, Mexico - $3.9m

  There’s still a question mark or two as to which keeper Mexico will plump for. Do they rely on the tournament experience of Memo Ochoa, now at his sixth World Cup? Or will they go with Raúl Rangel? If they pick Rangel, we think this is a real tournament bargain. We’re tipping Mexico to do well in the tournament, and they could have a good opening performance against South Africa. 

• Sergio Rochet, Uruguay - $4.1m

  Uruguay’s first two fixtures look decent - against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde the clean sheet potential is reasonably solid. If he’s picked, he could be one of the bargains of the group stages.

• Jordan Pickford, England - $4.8m

  Our pick of the group stage goalkeepers, partly because he conceded zero goals in England’s entire qualification campaign. Coming in cheaper than Spain’s Unai Simon and France’s Mike Maignan, the 200k saving you make vs those could be invested elsewhere.

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DEFENCE

• Manuel Akanji, Switzerland - $5.0m 

  With Switzerland up against Qatar, Bosnia and Canada, you would hope Akanji can pick up some good points for Switzerland, who look solid in the pre-tournament prep. 

  
  

• Nahuel Molina, Argentina - $4.4m

  Cheap as chips and possibly horribly underpriced if you consider the opposition of Algeria and Jordan in Argentina’s group. Against Austria Molina could face more questions, but 4.4m is a steal. 

  
  

• Johan Mojica, Colombia - $3.9m

  We really rate Colombia and think they could have a good tournament. Mojica will start against Uzbekistan and DR Congo, and kick off the group stage for them. A bargain.

  
  

• Marc Cucurella, Spain - $5.1m

  OK, now we’re spending money, but Cucurealla presents an elite pick and will face off against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia in the group. Likely clean sheets aplenty.

  
  

• Joshua Kimmich, Germany - $5.5m

  A bit more on the pricey side, but Kimmich is likely to have a good tournament and they open against minnows Curaçao. He’s possibly going to be in the mix for bonus points from set pieces and attacks.

  
  

• Jorge Sánchez, Mexico - $4.0m

  Opening against South Africa, and combined with my belief that Mexico should win this group, I think this is a great pick at the price.

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MIDFIELD

• Fabian Rieder, Switzerland - $6.2m

  We’re expecting Switzerland to have a great group stage, and against favourable opposition this is a well-priced pick. 

• Declan Rice, England - $7.0m

  Pulls the strings for England and is hugely creative for England, too, contributing a large number of key passes in dangerous areas. We also think England will have a good tournament.

  
  

• Florian Wirtz, Germany - $7.5m

  Germany v Curaçao seems to be able to potentially provide a lot of point-scoring value here.

  
  

• Hakan Çalhanoğlu, Türkiye - $7.1m

  I think Türkiye are one of the dark horses for this World Cup, and Çalhanoğlu provides nice potential set piece bonuses. 

  
  

• James Rodríguez, Colombia - $6.5m

  I really rate Colombia and have them controversially down for sneakily topping the group in Group K. Rodríguez is still vital to their chances of success. We think you could do a lot worse than plumping for the man whose final third passing statistics lit up qualifying.

  
  

• Bruno Fernandes, Portugal - $8.5

  Free-roaming, elite, in great form, awesome points potential. What’s not to like, except maybe the price?

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STRIKERS

• Harry Kane, England - $10.5m

  Utterly elite, and on the back of a season where he’s scored an incredible 61 goals in all competitions. He’s gunning for that Golden Boot. 

  
  

• Julián Álvarez, Argentina- $8.6m

  Cheaper than the top tier player but absolutely nailed on to have a good tournament. This is a great pick. 

  
  

• Luis Suárez, Colombia - $5.7m

  We love Colombia, we think they’re underpriced and we also think that the form Suárez has been in at Sporting suggests he is wildly underpriced. Our bargain pick. 

WILDCARDS

Based on some of our “ones to watch” at the tournament

• Ellyes Skhiri, Tunisia - $4.7m

  We think he’s the tenacious superpower beneath the hood of Tunisia.

• Lennart Karl, Germany - $4.8m

  Potentially on the verge of a global breakthrough. We think he may end up providing some of the most memorable moments of the tournament. If he plays.

• Kenan Yildiz, Turkiye - $7m

  Not the cheapest pick, but a superstar in the making.

• Woodensky PIerre, Haiti - $4.2m

  Might pop up in the box and cause some unexpected moments. 

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With cash to spare.

That's it for now! We’ll come back to mark our homework after the group stages!