World Cup Group F – Fantasy Football Potential

The World Cup is within reach now and we will be previewing every group to see who could make it into your Fantasy World Cup squads. This article will be looking at Group E which contains Germany, Mexico, Sweden and South Korea. The Germans are the current holders of the prestigious trophy and are certainly strong favourites to win this group and one of the favourites to win the competition. It should be good to see who joins them in the knockout stages as anyone of these three will feel they have a good chance to qualify.

Let’s see what players could become a vital part to your Fantasy World Cup squads…

Germany

As already mentioned the Germans won the tournament in Brazil four years ago and look to be in the mix to win yet another one. They’re strength in depth is second to none which lead to Manchester City winger Leroy Sane being left out the whole squad. A player who did make the squad was Bayern Munich defender Joshua Kimmich. The youngster can play in defence and midfield and has been brilliant for Bayern for a couple of seasons now. He loves to get forward which is perfect for Fantasy World Cup managers, whilst he is also part of a rock solid defence, so he should be racking up the fantasy points this tournament.

Timo Werner will more than likely be leading the line for Germany at this World Cup and has been great for RB Leipizig for the past few years. Werner is rapid on and off the ball, whilst brining something different to what Mario Gomez and Thomas Muller have been bringing in the recent years. If Werner can get going he could replicate Miroslav Klose’s fantastic scoring record at World Cup’s and join the long line of great German strikers.

The final German to be highlighted is Arsenal’s Mesut Özil. Despite sometimes going missing for Arsenal at times, he has consistently performed in a German shirt. He has 23 goals in 90 games, meaning his scoring record is better than 1 in 4 which is decent for a striker, let alone a midfielder. Ozil alos has an eye for an assist and with that he is definitely one to watch in Russia.

23-man squad: Manuel Neuer, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Kevin Trapp, Jerome Boateng, Matthias Ginter, Jonas Hector, Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Marvin Plattenhardt, Antonio Rudiger, Niklas Sule, Julian Brandt, Julian Draxler, Leon Goretska, Ilkay Gundogan, Sami Khedira, Toni Kroos, Mesut Ozil, Sebastian Rudy, Mario Gomez, Thomas Muller, Marco Reus, Timo Werner.

Mexico

Mexico reached the round of 16 in the last tournament and they were unlucky to not go further, so they’ll be looking to set things right in Russia. One of their key players will be West Ham striker Javier Hernandez who will be key to how successful they are this summer. Chicharito scored in their last World Cup campaign and has 49 goals in 101 appearances for Mexico. He scored just 8 times for West Ham last season, but I believe he will turn up and make a name for himself once again.

Another player who will be key is Real Betis midfielder Andres Guardado who will be martialling the midfield for the Mexicans. Guardado also scored in Brazil and is a brilliant box to box player to consider for your Fantasy team. Guardado and Hernandez should link up very well together and this could bring fantasy points if you wish to take a punt of them. They are both cheap options in their respective positions and have great potential so what’s not to like?

23-man squad: Guillermo Ochoa, Alfredo Talavera, Jesus Corona, Carlos Salcedo, Diego Reyes, Hector Moreno, Hugo Ayala, Edson Alvarez, Jesus Gallardo, Miguel Layun, Rafael Marquez, Hector Herrera, Jonathan dos Santos, Giovani dos Santos, Andres Guardado, Javier Aquino, Jesus Corona, Javier Hernandez, Raul Jimenez, Oribe Peralta, Carlos Vela, Hirving Lozano, Marco Fabian.

Sweden

Sweden famously squeezed pasta Italy to reach the World Cup and are at Team improving by the day. Despite Zlatan no longer being a part of the team, other players are stepping up. One of which is another RB Leipzig player, Emil Forseberg. The attacking midfielder is a fantastic playmaker in the Bundesliga and will be familiar with most of the German team which could help when they meet. He will provide goals and assists which is great news for potential owners of the midfielder.

A possible interesting differential from Sweden is their central defender Andreas Granqvist. Sweden have always been defensively sound so he will be getting a few points from that across the tournament, but most importantly the defender is on penalty duty which is huge for Fantasy World Cup managers as there aren’t many more defenders that could provide this potential.

23-man squad: Robin Olsen, Karl-Johan Johnsson, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Mikael Lustig, Victor Lindelof, Andreas Granqvist, Martin Olsson, Ludwig Augustinsson, Filip Helander, Emil Krafth, Pontus Jansson, Sebastian Larsson, Albin Ekdal, Emil Forsberg, Gustav Svensson, Oscar Hiljemark, Viktor Claesson, Marcus Rohden, Jimmy Durmaz, Marcus Berg, John Guidetti, Ola Toivonen, Isaac Kiese Thelin.

South Korea

The South Koreans are an unknown bunch as most of them play in their own country and it’s hard to find time to watch the K League! However a player we do recognise is Tottenham winger Son Heung-min who has been exceptional for Spurs over the last couple of season and will be pivotal to them possibly reaching the knockout stages. It would be unheard of if they improve upon their best ever finish as they came 4th in 2002 as it will be a great struggle to get out of this group.

Another player who will be playing a key part is another England based player in Ki sung-yueng. The midfielder was relegated with the Swans last season but could change his fortunes around with a good tournament with his home country. He will captain the side at the World Cup and has racked up over a century of games for them, scoring 10 goals in the process so he isn’t shy of scoring a goal and could be a decent cheap 5th midfielder option.

23-man squad: Kim Seung-gyu, Kim Jin-hyeon, Cho Hyun-woo, Kim Young-gwon, Jang Hyun-soo, Jung Seung-hyun, Yun Yong-sun, Oh Ban-suk, Kim Min-woo, Park Joo-ho, Hong Chul, Go Yo-han, Lee Yong, Ki Sung-yueng, Jung Woo-young, Ju Se-jong, Koo Ja-cheol, Lee Jae-sung, Lee Seung-woo, Moon Seon-min, Kim Shin-wook, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan.

Conclusion

Well it’s seemingly nailed on for the Group E winners being Germany but three of the last four winners haven’t even reached the knockout stages the following tournament, but Germany should have the quality to buck that little trend. The fight for second will be tight, but Mexico could and should probably edge it from Sweden and then South Korea in fourth despite Son Heung-min being such a great asset to them.

Written by, Harry Clark (@HarryClark67)

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