Previously we’ve look at the FanTeam World Cup game rules and at which countries to target based on fixture difficulty ratings and betting odds.
Today we display the expected starting line-ups for the top 15 countries (in the betting) using the player feed from FanTeam’s Fantasy World Cup Season Game which has a £100,000 guaranteed prize pool and a £10 buy-in. Prices displayed are from the FanTeam game which starts on 11th June 2026 and gives managers the chance to build a full 15-man squad for the tournament, using a 110m budget. FanTeam’s game is 18+ only – please play responsibly. BeGambleAware. T&Cs apply. For more discussion, team planning and strategy chat, visit FISO’s FanTeam Forum.
The 15 teams we cover are ordered by these approximate tournament odds. The 11 players noted as ‘expected to start’ are shown in the graphic with those listed as ‘possible to start’ shown underneath. Midfielders and Defenders are not always shown in their exact position (e.g. CBs & FBs are just listed as defenders).
| # | Team | Odds | Fixture run |
| 1 | Spain | 9/2 | Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay |
| 2 | France | 5/1 | Senegal, Iraq, Norway |
| 3 | England | 8/1 | Croatia, Ghana, Panama |
| 4 | Portugal | 9/1 | Congo DR, Uzbekistan, Colombia |
| 5 | Brazil | 10/1 | Morocco, Haiti, Scotland |
| 6 | Argentina | 10/1 | Algeria, Austria, Jordan |
| 7 | Germany | 15/1 | Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador |
| 8 | Netherlands | 20/1 | Japan, Sweden, Tunisia |
| 9 | Norway | 35/1 | Iraq, Senegal, France |
| 10 | Belgium | 45/1 | Egypt, Iran, New Zealand |
| 11 | Colombia | 50/1 | Uzbekistan, Congo DR, Portugal |
| 12 | Morocco | 60/1 | Brazil, Scotland, Haiti |
| 13 | Japan | 60/1 | Netherlands, Tunisia, Sweden |
| 14 | Mexico | 70/1 | South Africa, South Korea, Czechia |
| 15 | USA | 80/1 | Paraguay, Australia, Turkey |
1. Spain (9/2)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-4-2 | Group fixtures: Cape Verde, Saudi Arabia, Uruguay
Possibles/rotation watch: Nico Williams (£9m, midfielder), Lamine Yamal (£11m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Lamine Yamal | Midfielder | £11m | Spain’s explosive wide attacker; monitor FanTeam “possible” status/injury news as recovering from hamstring injury, but his ceiling is elite. |
| Mikel Oyarzabal | Forward | £10.5m | Expected central striker and a prime early group-stage route into Spain goals. |
| Marc Cucurella | Defender | £7m | Clean-sheet potential in one of the best groups plus left-back attacking threat. |
2. France (5/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Senegal, Iraq, Norway
Possibles/rotation watch: William Saliba (£6.5m, defender) – rested after Arsenal CL final, Marcus Thuram (£9m, forward), Desire Doue (£9m, midfielder), Adrien Rabiot (£6.5m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Kylian Mbappe | Forward | £12.5m | France captain, penalty threat and one of the safest premium captaincy options. |
| Michael Olise | Midfielder | £10m | Creative hub with set-piece involvement and midfielder goal/clean-sheet routes. |
| Ousmane Dembele | Midfielder | £10.5m | Projected starter with high open-play upside in a dominant France attack. |
3. England (8/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Croatia, Ghana, Panama
Possibles/rotation watch: Anthony Gordon (£8m, midfielder), Morgan Rogers (£7m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Harry Kane | Forward | £12m | Penalty-taking focal point of England’s attack and a standout GW3 option v Panama. |
| Jude Bellingham | Midfielder | £9.5m | Advanced midfield role gives goal and assist routes (Rogers pushing for his place). |
| Bukayo Saka | Midfielder | £9.5m | High-ceiling right-sided attacker if fit and starting after extra rest from Arsenal CL final. |
4. Portugal (9/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Congo DR, Uzbekistan, Colombia
Possibles/rotation watch: Diogo Dalot (£6m, defender), Pedro Neto (£8m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Cristiano Ronaldo | Forward | £10.5m | 41 year old central striker with penalties in two strong opening fixtures. |
| Bruno Fernandes | Midfielder | £10m | Portugal’s set-piece engine and a strong alternative captain. |
| Nuno Mendes | Defender | £6.5m | Attacking left-back with clean-sheet and assist potential. |
5. Brazil (10/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Morocco, Haiti, Scotland
Possibles/rotation watch: Douglas Santos (£5.5m, defender), Endrick (£8m, forward), Gabriel Martinelli (£7m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Raphinha | Midfielder | £10m | Likely set-piece/penalty route and a strong GW2 captaincy candidate v Haiti. |
| Vinicius Junior | Midfielder | £10.5m | Brazil’s explosive premium attacker. |
| Matheus Cunha | Forward | £7.5m | Good FanTeam price for a projected Brazil starter with Haiti in GW2. |
6. Argentina (10/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-4-2 | Group fixtures: Algeria, Austria, Jordan
Possibles/rotation watch: Thiago Almada (£8.5m, midfielder), Nico Gonzalez (£8.5m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Lionel Messi | Midfielder | £11.5m | 38 year old takes fantastic set pieces, penalties and his creativity still makes him Argentina’s highest-ceiling pick. |
| Julian Alvarez | Forward | £9.5m | Projected starter and a strong GW3 captaincy candidate v Jordan. |
| Enzo Fernandez | Midfielder | £7m | Secure midfield starter with some attacking upside and a much lower FanTeam price than Messi. |
7. Germany (15/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Curacao, Ivory Coast, Ecuador
Possibles/rotation watch: Antonio Rudiger (£6m, defender), Deniz Undav (£7.5m, forward)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Jamal Musiala | Midfielder | £8.5m | Outstanding GW1 captaincy candidate v Curacao. |
| Florian Wirtz | Midfielder | £9.5m | Central creator and another route into Germany’s attack. |
| Joshua Kimmich | Defender | £6.5m | Clean-sheet route plus set pieces from defence. |
8. Netherlands (20/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Japan, Sweden, Tunisia
Possibles/rotation watch: Jurrien Timber (£5.5m, defender), Teun Koopmeiners (£6m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Cody Gakpo | Midfielder | £8.5m | Most reliable Dutch attacking fantasy route. |
| Memphis Depay | Forward | £9m | Central striker with penalties/set pieces when fit. |
| Denzel Dumfries | Defender | £6.5m | High-upside attacking wing-back/full-back. |
9. Norway (35/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-4-2 | Group fixtures: Iraq, Senegal, France
Possibles/rotation watch: Marcus Pedersen (£5.5m, defender), Andreas Schjelderup (£6.5m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Erling Haaland | Forward | £11m | Norway’s main goal threat and penalty taker. |
| Martin Odegaard | Midfielder | £7m | Creative engine with set-piece involvement. Scored in yesterday’s 1-1 friendly v Morocco. |
| Julian Ryerson | Defender | £6m | Attacking defender with assist threat. |
10. Belgium (45/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Egypt, Iran, New Zealand
Possibles/rotation watch: Koni De Winter (£5m, defender), Arthur Theate (£5.5m, defender), Romelu Lukaku (£9m, forward)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Kevin De Bruyne | Midfielder | £8.5m | Belgium’s 34 year old creator-in-chief with set pieces. |
| Jeremy Doku | Midfielder | £8m | Explosive winger and differential route into Belgium’s attack. |
| Charles De Ketelaere | Forward | £7.5m | Projected to start ahead of Lukaku but more known as an attacking midfielder with 5 goals from 42 appearances for Atalanta this season. |
11. Colombia (50/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Uzbekistan, Congo DR, Portugal
Possibles/rotation watch: Santiago Arias (£5.5m, defender), Cucho Hernandez (£7m, forward)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Luis Diaz | Midfielder | £9m | Colombia’s talismanic attacker. |
| James Rodriguez | Midfielder | £8.5m | Creative hub, penalties and set pieces. |
| Daniel Munoz | Defender | £6m | Attacking right-back with strong early fixtures. |
12. Morocco (60/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Brazil, Scotland, Haiti
Possibles/rotation watch: Nayef Aguerd (£5m, defender), Noussair Mazraoui (£5m, defender), Abde Ezzalzouli (£5.5m, midfielder), Chemsdine Talbi (£6.5m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Achraf Hakimi | Defender | £6m | Elite attacking full-back with set-piece involvement. |
| Brahim Diaz | Midfielder | £8.5m | Penalty and set-piece route into Morocco’s attack & scored yesterday in the 1-1 friendly with Norway. |
| Ismael Saibari | Midfielder | £7m | Strong attacking midfielder profile and expected starter. |
13. Japan (60/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 3-6-1 | Group fixtures: Netherlands, Tunisia, Sweden
Possibles/rotation watch: Shogo Taniguchi (£5m, defender), Wataru Endo (£5m, midfielder), Daizen Maeda (£5.5m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Takefusa Kubo | Midfielder | £8m | Japan’s creative hub with set-piece upside. |
| Ayase Ueda | Forward | £8m | Expected centre-forward and penalty route. |
| Ritsu Doan | Midfielder | £7.5m | Attacking midfielder with goal threat. |
14. Mexico (70/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-4-2 | Group fixtures: South Africa, South Korea, Czechia
Possibles/rotation watch: Israel Reyes (£5m, defender), Edson Alvarez (£5.5m, midfielder), Alexis Vega (£8m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Raul Jimenez | Forward | £7.5m | Expected striker and penalty-box focal point. |
| Brian Gutierrez | Midfielder | £5m | Cheap creative midfielder with set-piece potential. |
| Johan Vasquez | Defender | £5m | Safer defensive route into Mexico’s early clean-sheet chance. |
15. USA (80/1)
Expected shape from FanTeam roles: 4-5-1 | Group fixtures: Paraguay, Australia, Turkey
Possibles/rotation watch: Mark McKenzie (£5m, defender), Chris Richards (£5.5m, defender), Brenden Aaronson (£6.5m, midfielder)
Three fantasy targets
| Player | Pos | FT Price | Why they stand out |
| Christian Pulisic | Midfielder | £8.5m | US talisman, set pieces and penalties. |
| Folarin Balogun | Forward | £8m | Expected striker and main central goal threat. |
| Antonee Robinson | Defender | £5.5m | Attacking left-back with assist potential. |
Group-stage fantasy strategy notes
- Spain, Germany and Portugal have the cleanest early fixture profiles among the favourites.
- Brazil’s best attacking fixture is GW2 against Haiti, which makes Raphinha, Vinicius Junior and Cunha ideal transfer/captaincy targets after GW1.
- Argentina’s standout fixture is GW3 against Jordan, so Julian Alvarez and Messi become stronger as the group progresses.
- Belgium are attractive for a late group-stage push because New Zealand arrive in GW3.
- For multi-entry players, spreading captaincy across Musiala, Yamal, Mbappe, Kane, Ronaldo/Bruno, Raphinha/Cunha, Alvarez and De Bruyne is more robust than backing one captain across all teams.
FanTeam’s Fantasy 2026 World Cup Season Game is a tactical fantasy contest with enough moving parts to reward planning and if well planned can add to the enjoyment of watching the matches and with a maximum 5 entries per manager is not going to be overloaded with multi-entries.