This article is part of our FanDuel Fantasy Soccer series.
The last two groups kick off their World Cup on Thursday, including tournament favorite Brazil. As a reminder, you'll need to employ the all-important late swap. In the World Cup, all games are staggered start times until the last group-stage matches. As such, we won't have lineups for each game until around an hour before the start, so you need to be extra cautious and at the very least, make sure all your players have the green check mark. You may also need to have contingencies in case a player you have in your lineup isn't starting so you can swap efficiently.
MATCHES (ET)
- 8:00 am: Uruguay vs. South Korea
- 11:00 am: Portugal vs. Ghana
- 2:00 pm: Brazil vs. Serbia
For detailed stats and odds, check out the
FORWARDS/MIDFIELDERS
Neymar, BRA vs. SRB ($22): At the top of the price range and goalscoring odds are two of the biggest names in the tournament in Neymar and Cristiano Ronaldo ($21). Both of their teams are heavy favorites with a 68.25 win percentage but Brazil have the highest implied goal total at 2.00. There are several other options you could look at with the Brazilians if you don't want to pay up for Neymar, including Richarlison ($16), Raphinha ($18) and Vinicius Junior ($17). With Luis Suarez ($20) playing back in Uruguay at the club level, he may fly under the radar but has 68 goals in 134 international appearances.
Bruno Fernandes, POR vs. GHA ($18): Given how heavily favored Portugal are heading into this matchup, you probably don't want to fade both Ronaldo and Fernandes, so consider taking the cheaper of the two in playmaker Fernandes. His assist prop comes in at +200 on the heels of recording six assists in seven Champions League appearances for club Manchester United this season.
Son Heung-Min, KOR vs. URU ($18): As a fade/underdog option, Son is still pretty expensive but if South Korea are going to pull off an upset similar to Saudi Arabia or Japan, it will almost certainly be thanks to a goal or two out of the Tottenham star. He is coming into the competition having suffered a facial injury Nov. 1 yet seems ready to go. If you want to target a slightly cheaper striker from one of the underdogs, you could do worse than Serbia's Aleksandar Mitrovic ($16), who actually has the eighth-highest goalscoring odds among projected starters on the slate.
DEFENDERS
Daniel Amartey, GHA vs. POR ($13): With the Portugal attack likely to put significant pressure on Ghana's backline, Amartey should have plenty of chances to rack up clearances. With Leicester City, Amartey recorded 21 clearances in his last five outings and should produce at similar levels in the World Cup. Brazil's Thiago Silva ($10) is another player that generates a lot of clearances, with the added benefit of a high clean-sheet percentage.
Martin Caceres, URU vs. KOR ($9): On the cheaper end of the spectrum, Caceres may not generate the same number of clearances as some of the other defenders on the slate but a clean sheet is certainly in play. He could benefit from a more wide role on the Uruguay backline which would offer the chance to record more tackles and possibly a chance created or two. Either Alex Telles ($14) or Danilo ($11) would be similar plays though more expensive.
GOALKEEPER
Sergio Rochet, URU vs. KOR ($10): Rochet is the cheapest of the three favorites while actually having a higher clean-sheet percentage (43.74) than Alisson ($13) and Brazil. A lot of this is going to come down to where you decide to lean in the rest of your lineup as you could just consider paying up for Diogo Costa ($13). If you want to really back the underdogs, Vanja Milinkovic-Savic ($8) will likely face a lot of shots and could generate a high enough save total to make up for conceding a few goals.
