After the defenders starred yesterday, the midway point of Round 2 in the game saw the attacking players strike back. Both Japan forward Ayase Ueda ($7m) and Netherlands counterpart Cody Gakpo ($7.7m) plundered a brace and an assist, with Gakpo just pipping things to top the day with 19 points, after pocketing two bonus points for having four shots on target.
What a roller-coaster tournament this has been for Sweden. First-up 5-1 winners against Tunisia, they then lost by the same score-line to a rampant Netherlands side in Houston. Dutch forwards Brian Brobbey ($5.7m) and Cody Gakpo ($7.7m) had a field-day both in Fantasy and real-life terms, with the latter turning in one of the highest-scoring outings in the tournament so far.
FWD Cody Gakpo (Netherlands) | $7.7m | 19 points FWD Brian Brobbey (Netherlands) | $5.7m | 15 points MID Crysencio Summerville (Netherlands) | $5.3m | 12 points
DEF Gabriel Gudmundsson (Sweden) | $4.2m | -3 points DEF Victor Lindelof (Sweden) | $4m | -2 points MID Yasin Ayari (Sweden) | $5.3m | 1 point
It took Germany until the fourth minute of second-half stoppage-time to see off an impressive Côte d'Ivoire in Toronto. The come-from-behind victory was orchestrated by Deniz Undav ($6.6m), who only came on in the 60th minute but managed to grab both of Germany's goals and a game-high 14-point Fantasy return.
FWD Deniz Undav (Germany) | $6.6m | 14 points MID Franck Kessie (Côte d'Ivoire) | $5.9m | 10 points MID Felix Nmecha (Germany) | $5.6m | 10 points
MID Florian Wirtz (Germany) | $7.5m | 2 points DEF Joshua Kimmich (Germany) | $5.5m | 2 points DEF Nico Schlotterbeck (Germany) | $5.3m | 1 point
After Cabo Verde held Spain last week, this result was right up there as one of the more stunning results in recent World Cup history. Coming off a 7-1 humbling against Germany in their tournament debut, Curaçao responded in brilliant fashion. The scoreless draw saw plenty of strong defensive returns from those who took a punt on this clash, led by Curaçao keeper Eloy Room ($3.9m) and well-backed Ecuadorian defensive pair Piero Hincapie ($4.7m) and Willian Pacho ($4.4m).
GK Eloy Room (Curaçao) | $3.9m | 14 points DEF Piero Hincapie (Ecuador) | $4.7m | 9 points DEF Willian Pacho (Ecuador) | $4.4m | 9 points
FWD Enner Valencia (Ecuador) | $5.9m | 4 points MID Moises Caicedo (Ecuador) | $6.8m | 3 points FWD Jeremy Antonisse (Curaçao) | $4m | 1 point
Having dropped points to the Dutch in their opener, Japan bounced back in some style in what was the 1000th match at the FIFA World Cup. The second player to get two goals and an assist was Japan forward Ayase Ueda ($7m), who pocketed an 18-point return as a result.
FWD Ayase Ueda (Japan) | $7m | 18 points DEF Ko Itakura (Japan) | $4.5m | 12 points MID Junya Ito (Japan) | $5m | 11 points
GK Abdelmouhib Chamakh (Tunisia) | $4.1m | -2 points DEF Ali Abdi (Tunisia) | $4.1m | -1 point MID Daizen Maeda (Japan) | $5m | 2 points
The second batch of group stage games are well underway, but Fantasy managers still have the option of switching up their captains and making the most of the substitutes in their squads.
Plenty will have Spanish stars available for such moves, although with ongoing fitness questions over starlet Lamine Yamal ($10m) and Belgian midfielder Jeremy Doku ($7.5m) already ruled out, maybe Spain forward Mikel Oyarzabal ($8.1m) could be the smart play.
Sources: FIFA Official
