Less than 10 days to go for the kick-off of EURO 2024! On Friday, June 14th at 20h00 (UK time), tournament hosts Germany are set to open the European Championship with a game against Scotland and one month later, on Sunday July 15th, we will know which country may call themselves the best in Europe for at least the next four years.
As expected, the football crazies at FanTeam have created their own EURO Fantasy Season Game and it once again looks more than promising, not in the least thanks to a prize pool worth at least a whopping £175,000 with a £10 entry fee (age 18+ only)! The goal is to create a squad of 15 players with a budget of 100M and to score as many points with that squad as possible. The tournament is played over 7 gameweeks (so the duration of the EURO 2024) and the top 10% of participants receive a share of the prize pool, with the winning prize bring at least £35,000. You get 2 Free Transfers every gameweek to strengthen your squad, while additional transfers will result in a 4-point penalty. Check out the EURO Fantasy Season Game for all details on the rules.
EURO 2024: Gameweek 3 (Group stage)
For the first time in history, the European Championship is played with 24 participating countries divided over 6 groups, instead of the traditional 16 countries spread over 4 groups. So, in the build-up to the opening match, we will be looking at some of the most favourable match-ups per gameweek. In the third and final article of this series, the focus is on the fixtures in gameweek 3 of EURO 2024.
PORTUGAL (vs. Georgia)
Portugal’s third and last Group stage game is against Georgia, the EURO 2024 participant with the lowest ranking (75) on the FIFA Men’s World Ranking, which automatically makes this a likely game to be included in our article. Of course, by this time during the tournament, the 2016 European champions will have already played Turkey and the Czech Republic, which could basically mean anything. From Portugal on the brink of elimination to them already being through to the next round with a game in hand. This is why we have gone with some of their most guaranteed starters as our stand-out fantasy picks.
Cristiano Ronaldo (forward) – 10.5M
We know, surprise surprise, we picked Cristiano Ronaldo as our first fantasy pick from Portugal. To be honest, in his ultra-premium price segment, we would probably end up going with someone like Harry Kane or Romelu Lukaku during the EURO 2024 Group stage, but then again, we’re talking about Mister EURO here. Both in terms of scoring the most final tournament goals (14) and most overall goals including EURO qualifiers (45), the former Real Madrid star is miles ahead of any scorer in European Championship history. You can be sure that he will play an important role in Portugal’s squad, which boasts an abundance of other talent with the likes of Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes and Rafael Leao. Their first two group games could end up being tightly contested encounters, but we imagine an easy victory with a few goals for the Lusos against Georgia.
Bernardo Silva (midfielder) – 7.0M
For those fantasy managers who are feeling the appeal of an attacking Portugal pick or two, but who are not convinced by spending 10.5M on Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva could be an interesting way in. The Manchester City star is obviously a lot less prolific in front of goal than his legendary compatriot, but he is also 3.5M less expensive in FanTeam’s EURO Fantasy Season Game. And “not being as prolific as Cristiano Ronaldo” does not necessarily mean that he doesn’t get involved in the goals, on the contrary actually, in the case of Bernardo. Last season, for example, he recorded an excellent 11 goals and 10 assists in 49 appearances for Man City, while he already sits on 11 goals and 29 assists from 88 games for Portugal. During the coming EURO 2024, we expect to continue playing a key role for his national team.
SPAIN (vs. Albania)
Three articles in this series about the three EURO 2024 Group stage gamedays and three times we have highlighted the team playing against Albania. That’s in part because the Albanians boast possibly the weakest squad in the tournament, but in part also because of their tough group. For gameweek 1, we recommended two players from Italy for their encounter with Albania, for gameweek 2 we recommended two fantasy picks from Croatia and this time, we are taking a look at two interesting fantasy assets from the Spain roster.
Lamine Yamal (midfielder) – 7.5M
From a fantasy perspective, one of the most interesting things about Spain’s roster for EURO 2024 is that it boasts a couple of out-of-position players in FanTeam’s EURO Fantasy Season Game. One of those players is Lamine Yamal, the 16-year-old FC Barcelona revelation who made 50 senior appearances for the Spanish giants last season, casually getting 7 goals and 10 assists in the process. As the cherry on top of his special breakthrough season, Yamal is now expected to be part of Spain’s starting eleven during EURO 2024 as well, flanking central striker Alvaro Morata on the right wing. In the EURO Fantasy Season Game though, the youngster is categorised as a midfielder, which means that he gets 5 points for a goal instead of 4 (as forwards get) and he gets an additional clean sheet point as well if his side manages a shut-out. At 7.5M, Yamal could provide excellent fantasy value, though you should keep in mind that the two games before Albania are against Italy and Croatia.
Nico Williams (midfielder) – 7.5M
Our second fantasy pick from Spain is actually very similar to our Lamine Yamal pick, in terms of his role in the team and the fact that he is listed as a midfielder in FanTeam’s EURO Fantasy Season Game. As it looks right now, Williams will be starting opposite Yamal on the other wing, making him another interesting out-of-position midfielder with a relatively affordable price tag to top it off. The Athletic Bilbao forward is also coming into EURO 2024 in decent form, having scored 8 times and provided 17 assists in 37 games this season, helping his side to a fifth place in LaLiga. As we wrote earlier when talking about Spain’s chances in the Group stage in general, the encounters with Italy and Croatia will likely be tight affairs, but the game against Albania could see Spain put a few balls in the back of the net, hopefully with some direct involvement from Nico Williams.
ENGLAND (vs. Slovenia)
England do not have the easiest of groups at EURO 2024, but the sheer abundance of (individual) quality on show at The Three Lions kind of makes it obligatory for them to end on top in a group with Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia. It could very well be that England will already be qualified by the time the kick-off for their third and final Group stage game against Slovenia has come, but with our picks, we are assuming that they still have it all to play for and need a good win to advance to the Knockout stages. The focus will be on attack-minded players as we expect a rather defensive Slovenia side, led by world-class goalkeeper Jan Oblak.
(previously recommended England picks: Harry Kane (Round 1), Jude Bellingham (Round 1))
Cole Palmer (midfielder) – 6.5M
In our preview for Round 1 of the Group stage, we also highlighted England for their encounter with Serbia, picking Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham as stand-out fantasy assets. Both are very expensive fantasy picks as well though, which is why we have gone with Cole Palmer this time. One of the best players of the last Premier League season and possibly one of the biggest surprises as well, Palmer absolutely tore it up for Chelsea in his first season as a Blue. With penalty duties firmly is his locker, the youngster managed an incredible 22 goals and 13 assists in 29 Premier League appearances. That’s right, that’s 35 direct goal involvements in 29 games, and it looks like he is taking that form in EURO 2024 as well. He started as part of the heavily rotated England squad that faced Bosnia in a friendly on Monday (June 3rd) and scored a penalty, though it should be noted that Kane was not on the pitch at that time. Despite England’s overly stacked midfield, it looks like Palmer’s starting spot is his to lose, which makes him an extremely appealing budget midfield option for basically any FanTeam EURO Fantasy Season Game squad.
Trent Alexander-Arnold (defender) – 6.5M
As a defender, Trent Alexander-Arnold is very pricey in FanTeam’s EURO Fantasy Season Game, but what about Trent Alexander-Arnold as a playmaking midfielder? That changes things in a big way, especially from a fantasy point of view, and fortunately for us, seemingly so for Three Lions manager Gareth Southgate as well. In the previously mentioned friendly against Bosnia, for example, TAA was positioned in central midfield next to Conor Gallagher and he did well in that role. Considerably better than “well” actually, because the Liverpool star looked very comfortable and scored the second goal in what ended up being a 3-0 victory over the Bosnians. Additionally promising is the fact that Alexander-Arnold also managed to make five key passes in 90 minutes. Keep an eye out for team news regarding England’s starting lineups ahead of their EURO 2024 opener against Serbia, but if it turns out that TAA made the midfield spot his, he could well become a serious differential fantasy pick for FanTeam’s EURO Fantasy Season Game.