Best 2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy MD1 Drafts

The 2026 FIFA World Cup is fast approaching us and there is excitement amongst football fans and fantasy football lovers who can’t wait for the tournament to get started. The official 2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Football game has also been launched, which means it’s time to get started in setting up our teams ahead of the matchday 1 deadline, which is the kick-off of the first game between Mexico and South Africa on the 11th of June. In this blog, let’s look at some of the best MD1 World Cup Fantasy drafts with pros and cons for each draft.

Link to all our 2026 World Cup Fant asy blogs in one place, including position-wise players to target, Group previews, Differentials, Captaincy, Chip strategy, Budget Enablers, Tips, and more. Completely free to access as well!

Best World Cup Fantasy MD1 drafts with Pros/Cons

Matchday 1 is the longest matchday this time, with 24 games being held over eight days from 11th June to 18th June. All the games are listed below for your reference

A quick overview of the rules:

There are eight matchdays, and the initial focus is on the three matchdays during the group stages, with managers getting unlimited transfers between MD3 & MD4 (Round of 32)
Five boosters make it exciting, as you’ll have to use them in the 8 Matchdays
You can manually substitute players between any match, ofcourse you can only sub in a player who hasn’t played yet. The same applies to captaincy, too.
Having multiple captaincy options is essential as you change your captain if they blank or do not haul big.
Popular chip/boost strategies in the group stage include: Wildcard in MD2 or Wildcard in MD3, 12th man in MD2/MD3.

Here’s our beginner’s guide to World Cup Fantasy:

2026 World Cup Fantasy Beginner’s Guide: Rules, Tips, and More

**Link** to join our WC Fantasy Mini League (Code: S8DIP9RE)

World Cup Fantasy Predicted Goals:

Teams with the top 10 predicted goals (for) in MD1 (Best attacks): Spain, Portugal, Germany, Argentina, Norway, France, USA, Colombia, Mexico, Belgium

Teams with the least 10 predicted goals (against) in MD1 (Best defences): Spain, Argentina, England, Brazil, Portugal, Germany, France, Belgium, Netherlands, USA.

Check out the full predicted goals list of all 48 teams in this blog for MD1, MD2, MD3, MD1+2, MD2+3 – > Predicted Goals (For & Against) – Interactive Table

World Cup Fantasy MD1 Draft 1

This draft is tripled up on Spain, who have the best predicted goals both for and against in MD1 as they face Cabo Verde.
There’s a nice balance of differentials under <5% ownership to target the scouting bonus, including the likes of Enner Valencia, James Rodriguez, Çalhanoglu, and Robinson.
Haaland is in this draft with Norway facing Iraq in MD1, giving him a favourable matchup. If you’re not bullish on Haaland beyond MD1, you can use the 12th man booster and have him for MD1 alone, too.
Ryerson is another differential from Norway, who has been in very good attacking form of late.

Ryerson Stats and Heatmap vs Sweden(Friendly on June 1):

63 Minutes played, 1 Shot, 8 Chances created, 4 Big Chances created, 2 Assists.

Enner Valencia was one of the standout stars for Ecuador in the Qualifiers, getting 6 goals, 2 assists from just 1057 minutes. At just 5.9 million, he should be an excellent budget option.

Further Read: World Cup Fantasy: Groups A-D: Best Teams & Players to Target

World Cup Fantasy MD1 Draft 2

This draft goes cheap with the Goalkeepers with Rangel & Rochet in goal, both of them qualify for scouting bonus too.
As a nailed starting left back for Colombia, Mojica is a good pick for the first two fixtures vs Uzbekistan and Congo. He is also just 4% owned at the moment meaning he will be eligible for Scouting Bonus.
Guimarães is a low-owned midfield option with high upside, registering 9 goals and 7 assists for Newcastle this season. He is expected to start centrally for Brazil behind an elite attack and already showed form with a goal against Egypt in a recent friendly. Ownership sits at just 1.8%.
Lamine Yamal and Oyarzabal are the two Spanish attackers in this draft to maximize Spain’s matchup against Cabo Varde in MD1.

Oyarzabal in 2026 World Cup Qualifiers: 442 minutes, 6 Goals, 3 Assists, 1.83 Goal Contributions/90

**Top Players for Goal Contributions from Europe in World Cup Qualifying**

Further Read: Best Midfielders to Target in FIFA 2026 World Cup Fantasy

World Cup Fantasy MD1 Draft 3

Ofcourse we cannot go without having some options from the defending champions, Argentina.
Crépeau recently secured the No. 1 shirt for Canada and looks like one of the best budget enablers in the game. At just $4.0m, he offers a cheap route into a side with favourable opening fixtures against Bosnia and Qatar, giving him decent clean-sheet potential in the early matchdays.
Embolo is a strong differential not seen in many drafts, playing for a strong Swiss side who’ll be facing Qatar. Kane & Messi complete the forward line, and this combination of Embolo, Kane & Messi is far from the popular template of Oyarzabal, Mbappe & Haaland
Muñoz is one of the most attacking defenders in the game. The Crystal Palace wing-back registered four goals and four assists in the Premier League this season and is constantly involved in the final third. Colombia may not be among the strongest defensive sides in the tournament, but Muñoz’s attacking output gives him multiple routes to points.
Olise covers France attack for MD1, and McTominay is the differential in midfield.
McTominay is a strong MD1 option in Scotland’s opener against Haiti. He arrives in excellent club form with 22 goals and 6 assists across his last two seasons for Napoli. He also scored in Scotland’s recent 4-0 win over Bolivia and is a guaranteed starter in central midfield, offering a strong goal threat.

This draft has three of the most in-form midfielders heading into the World Cup in the form of Raphinha, Olise, and Yamal, who have all had phenomenal seasons for their clubs.

Most in-form Midfielders heading into the World Cup:

**Most in-form Midfielders heading into 2026 FIFA World Cup (Full List here across positions)**

Further Read: Best Defenders to Target in FIFA World Cup Fantasy 2026

World Cup Fantasy MD1 Draft 4

All five defenders (Cucurella, Nico O’Reilly, Kimmich, Munoz & Nuno Mendes) in this draft are attacking-minded, and the haul potential is high with them.
Galindez has two good fixtures in MD1 and MD2- Playing Côte d’Ivoire and Curaçao before the tough fixture in MD3 vs Germany. Galindez started 12/18 qualifiers for Ecuador and kept 10 clean sheets in the process. He also started the latest friendly and is likely to be the first choice at the World Cup.
Going slightly heavy in defence means we have to make up for it in midfield with Musiala in place of Yamal, making it a double German midfield instead of a double Spain attack. Sabitzer and Rodriguez are the differential midfielders in this draft.
Sabitzer should be the talisman for Austria in this World Cup, as seen with his 3 goals, 3 assists from just 700 minutes in the qualifiers, averaging 0.77 Goal Involvement/90. Sabitzer had 3 shots on target and scored in the 1-0 win vs Tunisia in one of the latest friendlies as well.

Further Reads from AAFPL ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy Season

Link to all our FIFA World Cup Fantasy blogs in one place, including group previews, tips, and rules guide, differentials, chip strategy, best drafts with pros and cons, and more. Completely free to access as well!

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**Link to all our 2026 World Cup Fantasy Content** in one place

Our content is always free, and if you like our content, do drop a comment, follow, subscribe, and support us. Your love is what keeps us going:)

Best 2026 FIFA World Cup Fantasy MD1 Drafts