World Cup DFS Picks & Strategy: Monday, June 22nd
The World Cup rolls on into a new week with the second game for the teams in Group I and Group J. Plenty of big names will take the pitch today, offering lots of different ways for us to assemble your fantasy lineups. DraftKings has some great contests on the board in both Showdown and Classic formats, so let’s dive in and break down some of the top plays from across the board.
Argentina and Austria each won their opener in Group J and will go head-to-head in the first match of the day, which kicks off at 1:00 PM ET. From Group I, France is heavily favored in the second game of the day, taking on Iraq at 5:00 PM ET. The other game from Group I kicks off at 8:00 PM ET, as Norway takes on Senegal. The final match of the day goes back to Group J for Jordan against Algeria, after both teams lost their openers.
Argentina, Austria, France, and Norway all come in to today at 1-0-0, while Iraq, Senegal, Jordan, and Algeria are all 0-0-1. France (against Iraq) is the heaviest favorite on the board, while Algeria and Argentina are also strongly favored. Norway and Senegal should be the closest matchup on the board, according to the odds.
Just a reminder that the tournament has been expanded this year to include more teams in both the Group Stage and Knockout Round. As a result, the top 2 teams will be moving on from each group, and the top 8 3rd-place teams will earn a spot in the Round of 32 as well. Argentina and France are also heavily favored to win their respective group, while Austria, Norway, Algeria, and Senegal are also favored to qualify from the Group Stage. Each of these two groups is also favored to get a 3rd-place team into the round of 32.
If you’re new to soccer DFS, don’t worry! We have you covered with my Beginner’s Guide to Daily Fantasy Soccer, our soccer player projections, and our soccer optimizer (LineupHQ). And last but not least, don’t forget to check out our World Cup DFS Simulation tool.
Forwards
Top Play: Kylian Mbappe, France ($10,800)
France won 3-1 over Senegal in their first match, and Mbappe came up huge for Les Bleus, scoring a pair of goals and putting 4 shots on goal on his way to 28.3 DraftKings points. Mbappe struggled in the 1st half, but he and the rest of his squad found their groove in the 2nd half.
He scored in the 66th minute and added a 2nd goal in stoppage time. The 2 goals moved the prolific goalscorer past Olivier Giroud as France’s all-time leading scorer, with 58 goals in 99 caps. This is his third World Cup, and he has netted 14 total goals.
In the club season, he starred for Real Madrid, piling up 42 goals across all competitions. France’s offense is built around his elite finishing abilities, and since he’s in a favorable matchup against Iraq, he should be able to take advantage and rack up more scoring as he looks to continue to cement his legacy as one of the top players in the world.
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About the Author
Zach Thompson is a featured writer at FantasyLabs for NBA, MLB, NFL, golf, and soccer content. Zach’s fantasy experience dates all the way back to high school, when he would manually tabulate fantasy football scores using Tuesday morning’s newspaper. Even though he was raised on the island of Guam on the opposite side of the world, Zach is a hardcore Boston sports fan who loves playing fantasy sports in almost any format. Zach joined the FantasyLabs team in 2022 and is also a contributor for DraftKings Network and RotoGrinders.