FootballCoin Daily Cheat Sheet: Best Budget & Premium Cards for Matchday 3 [Part 2]

By Eduard Bănulescu

Looking to make some quick, smart choices for World Cup fantasy football team? These are the players you need for Matchday 3’s second batch of games.

The matches are part of the free FootballCoin contest starting tonight.

World Cup Fantasy Picks: Matchday 1 Guide (June 24–25) – Win XFC Rewards

The “Locks”

Curaçao vs. Ivory Coast

• Les Éléphants Attacks (Ivory Coast):

  • Ousmane Diomande: Essential target for an expected high-intensity attacking match.

  • Beni Traoré (or Bonny): Deserves attention as a primary focal point in the frontline.

  • Amad Diallo: Highly recommended attacking threat to load up on.

• The Engine Room (Ivory Coast):

  • Franck Kessié & Ibrahim Sangaré: Excellent picks specifically chosen for their high volume of defensive interventions and ability to break down opponent attacks.

• The Clean Sheet Specialist (Ivory Coast):

  • Yahia Fofana: Selected purely as a reliable clean sheet point target with minimal save-work expected.

• The Shot-Stopper Volume Pick (Curaçao):

  • Eloy Room: Heavy volume selection; expected to face plenty of shots, giving him the perfect opportunity for maximum save points.

• The Lone Star (Curaçao):

  • Juninho Bacuna (or Leandro): Recognized as the single standout outfield selection from the underdog side.

Ecuador vs. Germany

• The Motivation Factor (Germany):

  • Oliver Baumann: Expected to start due to rotation and will be highly motivated to secure a clean sheet.

  • Leon Goretzka: A high-upside pick driven by his need to make an impact with his opportunity in the starting XI.

• The Goal Threat (Germany):

  • Deniz Undav: Strongly backed to start and predicted to find the back of the net against the South American defense.

Japan vs. Sweden

• The Stats Monsters (Japan):

  • Daichi Kamada: Lock for midfield possession points based on underlying stats (48 successful passes in Matchday 1).

  • Ko Itakura: Elite defensive value target backing up his place with heavy metrics (76 successful passes, 8 successful tackles).

• Tactical Discipline Picks (Japan):

  • Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ayase Ueda, & Junya Ito: Highly recommended pieces due to Japan’s clinical tactical structure and superior form.

• The Pure Quality Outlets (Sweden):

  • Alexander Isak & Viktor Gyökeres: Retained purely as elite, decent-tier attacking alternatives despite Sweden’s poor collective distribution.

The “Enablers”

Tunisia vs. Netherlands

• The Possession Accumulators (Netherlands):

  • Virgil van Dijk, Jan Paul van Hecke, Tijjani Reijnders, & Ryan Gravenberch: Primary targets explicitly chosen for their elite ball control, projectable passing metrics, and high baseline for possession-based points.

• The Focal Point (Netherlands):

  • Brian Brobbey: Highlighted as the central point of focus for the Dutch attack in an economically managed game.

• The Lone Tunisian Options (Tunisia):

  • Hannibal Mejbri & Omar Rekik: The only two Tunisian players who have shown enough individual tournament quality to justify squad selection.

The “Wild Cards”

Paraguay vs. Australia

• The Budget South Americans (Paraguay):

  • Gustavo Gómez: A recurring expert recommendation to roll the dice on.

  • Frabrizio Peralta (or Caceres), Diego Gómez (or Galarza), & Isidro Pitta: Inexpensive, young enablers to flesh out salary cap room in a highly volatile game.

• The Free-Card Value (Australia):

  • Nestory Irankunda, Mohamed Touré, Jason Geria, & Paul Okon-Engstler: High-value utility picks highlighted for their robust recent performances and zero-cost budget profile.

Türkiye vs. USA

• The High Work-Rate Low-Cost Targets (Türkiye):

  • Ismail Yüksek, Mert Müldür, & Abdülkerim Bardakcı: Designated workhorse picks who put shift-heavy stats in, allowing you to bypass underperforming Turkish stars.

• The Rotation Capitalizers (USA):

  • Timothy Weah, Giovanni Reyna, & Matt Freese (GK): High-upside entries expected to start and flourish against an embarrassed Turkish side, even amidst squad rotation.

The Matchday 3 Slate

Set-Piece & Penalty Matrix

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