World Cup Fantasy Football tips and advice: Sky Sports International Gameround 1 selections, picks and captains

By Tom Carnduff

16:26 · SUN November 20, 2022

So this is it, the World Cup is finally here.

For fantasy football players, Sky Sports Fantasy Football's International edition provides us with a game to get involved with throughout the tournament.

Everything you need to know about that game can be found here. Alongside that, we've picked out A 26-MAN LONGLIST OF PLAYERS TO TARGET when making those initial teams.

Sporting Life has set up a league which is completely free to enter, with a £1k prize on offer for the player who finishes top. Details of how to join that league are available here.

Want to play Fantasy Football throughout the World Cup?

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Go to https://fantasyfootball.skysports.com/

A reminder for when you're constructing those initial teams, you only have to focus on the group stage.

The Overhaul will be 'after the completion of the Group Stages until the first match of the Round of 16 fixtures. This will be between 7pm 2 December until 3pm 3 December.'

That is a (short) period of time where you can make an unlimited amount of changes to your team provided that it's within the £100m budget that you're allowed.

What are the best players for Gameround 1?

The first set of fixtures take place across FIVE days, with one fixture on the Sunday and then four on most days up until Thursday.

It is really important to start off with a Qatar or Ecuador player in the initial squad, before potentially using a transfer to move them out later in the week.

This is the key difference with the Sky Sports version of fantasy football, you get a captain on each day so there is a chance for double points in the only match on the opening day of the tournament.

While Qatar are hosts, Ecuador are priced as the favourites so it may be worth targeting a player from the 'visitors' for maximum points potential.

With this first round of games in mind, who are the best players to include?

Lautaro Martínez

Position: STR
Nation: Argentina
Fixture: Saudi Arabia
Price: £9.7m

There will be question marks around the bigger nations and how they will cope in their first games with the lack of warm-up but Argentina will be delighted with how their group has worked out.

They start off with a contest against Saudi Arabia, and Lautaro Martínez could be a solid differential pick in this game with focus likely to be on Lionel Messi.

The forward matched Messi's seven goals in qualifying and the eye-catching element was how many came following Argentina's 2021 Copa America triumph.

Five of his seven were scored from 2021 onwards, all in separate matches. The Inter striker also scored when they beat Italy in the Finalissima at Wembley.

Aurélien Tchouameni

Position: MID
Nation: France
Fixture: Australia
Price: £7.9m

France are another big nation with what appears to be a favourable first game to start the tournament and Aurélien Tchouameni is a solid pick in midfield.

He is definitely a starter and has the potential to be a player who gathers bonus tier points in tackles and passes - at a reasonable price too considering his team.

France are likely to dominate possession throughout and Tchouameni should hit the 60 passes line to get a couple of extra points, while it wouldn't be a surprise to see him claim an assist either.

Tchouameni is averaging 2.3 tackles per La Liga game with Real Madrid, while also seeing 56.1 average passes.

Declan Rice

Position: MID
Nation: England
Fixture: Iran
Price: £7.6m

It's a surprise to see Declan Rice at such a low price - he is the second-cheapest England midfielder on the game.

We can be confident that the Three Lions will see the majority of possession in their opening game, with Iran likely to sit back and look to frustrate.

That should mean Rice hits passing bonus tiers with relative ease, while there is potential for him to get in a few tackles as they look to win the ball high up the pitch.

A great player to have as a consistent 4/5 points scorer throughout the tournament, Rice can start on good terms with a decent enough return on Monday.

Ivan Perišić

Position: MID
Nation: Croatia
Fixture: Morocco
Price: £8.1m

An interesting looking opening game for Croatia as they take on Morocco on Wednesday.

Ivan Perišić plays as a wing-back for Tottenham, but he is more of a winger while occasionally playing through the middle for his country.

He scored three goals and returned two assists across his ten appearances in qualifying, with eight of those games being starts.

Perišić averaged 2.8 shots per qualification game, with 1.2 key passes helping his assists tally.

Moisés Caicedo

Position: MID
Nation: Ecuador
Fixture: Qatar
Price: £7.1m

One player to have in your team and then likely transfer out following their game.

Ecuador's Moisés Caicedo is great to include so that you have a captaincy option for the only game taking place on Sunday.

The midfielder averages 3.1 tackles per game in the Premier League with Brighton, while his 1.1 key passes should have led to more assists.

If he hits tackles bonus tiers than we know we'll start the tournament with eight or ten points as a captain, with a move out shortly after to bring someone else in if required.

What are the best captains for Gameround 1?

We know that there are five days of games, and there is a good case to be made for targeting an Ecuador player.

You'll have that captain for the first day and the potential for ten points could prove crucial in such a short format.

Making your initial team with a variety of players who will play across all days is crucial, not only for the first round of games but the group stage as a whole.

It limits the need to make transfers, with the more you hold throughout the knockouts better as big hitting teams are eliminated.

Who are the best captains to target for the first week?

Sunday: