Matchday 1 of the World Cup is drawing ever nearer – so without further ado, here is the first draft of our regular Scout Picks for the official FIFA game.
Much could still change between now and kick-off in Al Khor on Sunday, and we’ll finalise our selection closer to the deadline.
For starters, the FIFA game-makers are missing dozens upon dozens of names from their player pool. At the time of writing, there’s no Kasper Schmeichel, Emiliano Martinez, Eric Dier, Timothy Castagne, James Maddison… the list goes on. Cameroon only have two players priced up, to really underscore the shambolic feel.
We’ve still got press conferences and some last-minute pre-tournament friendlies to come before the weekend, too, which could influence the picks.
But, for now, here’s what our ‘bus team’ looks like ahead of Matchday 1.
GOALKEEPERS
There is the potential to go with two $4.0m goalkeepers in Matchday 1: Qatar’s Saad Al Sheeb will very likely be between the posts for the hosts’ opening-day group game against Ecuador, while Sergio Rochet has started eight of Uruguay’s last nine fixtures ahead of the tournament.
For now, we’ve opted for Rochet alongside Emiliano Martinez placeholder Franco Armani ($5.0m). Argentina arguably have the best fixture of Matchday 1, against a Saudi Arabia side ranked lower than all other competing nations bar Ghana and who have scored just four goals in their last nine friendlies. While uncertainty reigns over personnel choices at full-back and centre-half, we can be pretty confident that Martinez will be between the sticks against the Group B whipping boys – and have left $0.5m in the bank to upgrade to the Aston Villa custodian when he is eventually priced up, hopefully at $5.5m.
DEFENDERS
There’s a trio of potentially underpriced gems at the back, with Kieran Trippier ($5.0m), Joakim Maehle ($4.5m) and Benjamin Pavard ($5.0m) all included.
The set-piece-taking Trippier is the Premier League’s statistically most creative defender this season and with England wing-backs/full-backs dropping like flies, and Kyle Walker ($5.0m) very likely not fully fit just yet, the in-form Newcastle United star surely gets the nod for Matchday 1 at the very least. Opponents Iran have scored more than one goal just once in 2022 (against Lebanon), despite facing the might of Nicaragua, Iraq and UAE this calendar year.
Maehle belongs to a Denmark side that kept eight clean sheets in 10 qualifying matches but shut-out potential is but the tip of the iceberg. Anyone who played Euro 2020 Fantasy will know of this budget gem: Maehle scored two goals and created one assist in that tournament, going on to net a further five goals in World Cup qualifying.
Pavard is best remembered for his humdinger of goal against Argentina four years ago but he’s only netted once for his natonal side since then, also ending a domestic drought of over two years (admittedly playing a lot at centre-half) with a goal on the opening day of the Bundesliga season. Still, he’s currently the cheapest route into Les Bleus’ expected starting defence against Australia, who only just got to Qatar by virtue of two knife-edge play-offs.
You have to pay more bang for your buck to get Denzel Dumfries ($6.0m), while there is a fitness concern hanging over the Dutch defender that could lead to us overlooking him in the final picks. He has at least trained after the recent injury scare. Like Maehle, he’s another attack-minded wing-back who won Fantasy hearts at Euro 2020. Two strikes last summer were followed by another pair of goals in this year’s Nations League campaign, and he now has an eye-catching 11 attacking returns in his last 25 national team run-outs.
There’s some curious pricing in this year’s official FIFA game, with Borna Sosa ($3.5m) one of the head-scratchers. A cheap full-back for the 2018 World Cup runners-up, who also saw off Denmark (twice) and France in their recent Nations League games, Sosa is expected to be Croatia’s starting left-back in Matchday 1. On the domestic front, one goal and eight assists in the 2021/22 Bundesliga season has been followed by five assists already in the current campaign.
MIDFIELDERS
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