World Cup Fantasy Football tips and advice: Sky Sports International final selections, picks and captains

By Tom Carnduff

Football

Sun December 18, 2022 · 2y ago

So, here we are. After a month of football dominating the airwaves, Argentina meet France in the World Cup final.

The bookmakers can't split them, with both sides the same price to lift the trophy. France are slightly favoured, but it does feel like a contest that could go either way.

Infogol gives France the smallest of margins, with the current holders favoured 51% to 49% according to the model. That shows how even this could be.

It, of course, also signals the end of the international fantasy football campaign. We have a week or so to sort out our Premier League teams, but we can worry about that when it comes to it.

Depending on how others in your leagues have managed transfers, this could be the chance to overtake if you have a full XI available.

Remember, you have right up until kick-off to pick teams (15:00 GMT on Sunday), so any transfers you want to make are worth waiting on until the team news is released.

There is also that third place play-off taking place on Saturday (15:00 GMT), but focus will likely be on that final as a final push for points.

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Who are the best players for the final?

Enzo Fernandez has starred for Argentina at the World Cup

Hopefully, you've been in a position to manage transfers and utilised previous/ongoing rounds to maximise the number of available players in your team.

Regardless of how many transfers are showing as remaining from the full allocation of 21, you can only make a total of three for this round.

Obviously, the best approach, if required, is to use those to get out any players who won't be involved here, and while you may end up with some who aren't prolific points scorers, you know they will have the chance to return.

There's also the possibility of others securing points based on the expected match-up. Theo Hernandez was included in our Gameround 6 column, and he delivered 16 points despite not going above five in any of his France's previous five games.

Now we know it's going to be Argentina taking on France, who are the best players to bring in?

Lionel Messi

Position: STR
Nation: Argentina
Fixture: France
Price: £11.0m

Seems obvious, right?

At the time of writing though, nearly 40% of teams DON'T have Lionel Messi. That's baffling considering he's the highest scorer on the game with 54 points.

Yes, he's also the most expensive, but he has been delivering, and we'd back him to deliver on the biggest stage of them all in what could be the fairytale ending.

Messi has returned double figure hauls in four of his six games at the tournament, and he'll be Argentina's main threat throughout.

Nicolas Otamendi

Position: DEF
Nation: Argentina
Fixture: France
Price: £8.9m

Nicolas Otamendi is a name who has repeatedly appeared in this column throughout the tournament but with good reason.

He returned six points in their win over Croatia, taking his tournament total to 41 - the fourth-highest on the game.

The centre-back has returned Pass Tier 2 in five of his six - no player has more - and he could hit the 70 marker again given how the game might play out.

France have seen a lower amount of possession than their opponent in their last two contests, and they may be happy for Argentina to have the ball here.

Enzo Fernandez

Position: MID
Nation: Argentina
Fixture: France
Price: £7.4m

He's likely to win Young Player of the Tournament, and Enzo Fernandez is a great option to include in the final.

The midfielder has returned 27 points across the tournament, but he didn't start their first game, meaning he's averaged 5.2 points per game in the five appearances since.

A goal against Mexico and an assist v Poland helped this, but he's been a regular in the bonus tiers with passes and tackles points secured.

France allowing Argentina to have more of the ball could see him return Pass Tier 2 points once again.

Hugo Lloris

Position: GK
Nation: France
Fixture: Argentina
Price: £7.6m

While a goalkeeper shouldn't be high on your priority list if you are limited on transfers, it's definitely worth targeting one of the two if there is opportunity to do so.

Hugo Lloris could be in for a fairly busy game given the strength of Argentina's attack, with the France keeper making a total of six saves in the win over England.

Argentina are also a high shot team at the tournament, averaging 6.2 on target per game in the knockouts. While a clean sheet is tough, we can be hopeful that he'll make it up with saves.

Opposition goalkeepers have made at least three saves in each of Argentina's three knockout games at the tournament.

What are the best captains for the final?

Lionel Messi celebrates Argentina's win over Croatia

Obviously, this being a one-off game means that captaincy choices are much easier - but don't forget that we do have the third place game on Saturday.

It's tricky to call the final, and it's hard to know whether or not it will become high-scoring.

Argentina's defence has been really strong throughout the tournament, so targeting a player who is likely to excel in the bonus tiers may be a good move.

But Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are always difficult to oppose when it comes to captaincy. After all, they are the highest scorers on the game so far.

Whichever route you take will have its positives and negatives, so there isn't really a right or wrong approach to captaincy in the final.

It could be the decisive factor in leagues, but the possibility of extra-time between two evenly matched teams at least presents an opportunity for further points.

Saturday:

Ivan Perisic, Andrej Kramaric, Hakim Ziyech

Sunday:

Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Enzo Fernandez, Aurélien Tchouaméni