World Fantasy: Group C analysis
All you need to know about Group C of the World Cup
Group C is headed by France, one of the favourites to win it all. Peru was the draw from Pot 2 and Denmark and Australia complemented the group.
France is the strongest squad of the bunch and placing your bets in 2 or even 3 french players should provide plenty of points. That decision should be made right from day one, since they face Australia first. The opening round also has an intriguing Peru-Denmark that could help settle the group result, with an eventual loss from either part carrying its weight when they face France further down the road.
Les Bleus, 7th on the FIFA ranking, are the clear-cut favourites to snatch 1st place and any other outcome would be a shocking surprise. Peru and Denmark should fight it out for the remaining place in knockout rounds, with their FIFA rankings, 11th and 12th respectively, and indicator on how they are levelled going on to the already mentioned inaugural game of capital importance. Australia, despite being the lowered ranked team of Group C (40th) will try to not leave Russia empty-handed and spoil someone else’s party.
France
The french qualified 1st from their group, with 23 out of 30 possible points, being matched against teams like Sweden and the Netherlands. They showed great defensive consistency, conceding only 6 goals, and despite netting only 18, they have a tremendous display of offensive firepower. Griezmann and Giroud were their top-scorers during qualifying with 4 goals each. In their latest friendly against Italy, that firepower has showcased with a 3–1 victory. The only thing France may be lacking is a true leader, with many of their youngsters still unproven at international tournaments.
Didier Deschamps’ team greatest reference is Antoine Griezmann (10.0M). The Atlético Madrid’s striker arrives after a huge season with his club and is expected to lead France again, after the 7 goals in the Euro2016. Mbappé (8.0M) has been stealing some of the spotlight after barely playing during the qualifiers, and is one of the early-voting candidates for the youth player of the tournament award. With Koscielny out due to injury, the pair of centre-backs will be made of Varane (6.5M) and Umtiti (6.5M), one of the best duos of this World Cup. Against Italy, Dembélé (7.5M) also had a strong outing and could battle for a spot in the starting lineup, for a more dynamic approach, replacing Giroud and shifting some pieces around.
One of the squads expected to go far in the World Cup, mainly due to individual talent in every sector, France has left the last major tournaments with the feeling they should’ve done better and in 2018 anything less than a trip to the semi-finals will be a disappointment.
Peru
Peru finished the south American qualifiers in 5th, with 26 points, hanging Chile out to dry, watching the World Cup at home. Then they beat New Zealand in the playoff to ensure the last spot in Russia. The two stalwarts of the qualifying stages were Paolo Guerrero and Edison Flores, splitting 10 goals between the two. In their recent friendlies setting up the WC2018, the Peruvians have mostly played European sides (Scotland, Iceland, Croatia) and finished it off with Saudi Arabia, emerging victorious of every game.
They also received some last-minute great news, with the lift of the ban on Paolo Guerrero (7.0M), their biggest star. He’s the focus point of their offense and will have the job, along with Farfán (6.0M), of keeping Peruvian dreams alive. Their midfield consists of quality role-players like Tapia (5.0M), Cueva (6.5M) or Carrillo (5.5M) and goalkeeper Gallese (4.5M) is the best bet on their defensive players, with those who remember his exhibition against Argentina during the qualifiers nodding in approval.
With good chances of escaping the group stage, Peru will have more difficulties in the Round of 16. Anything beyond that, it will feel like winning it all.
Denmark
The Danish ended up in 2nd in Group E of the European qualifiers, behind Poland, with 20 points and 20 goals scored. Christian Eriksen left his mark with 8 goals and 3 assists. Like Peru, Denmark also had to go through a playoff to book their ticket to Russia, against Ireland, with Eriksen coming through again with a hat-trick on the 2nd leg. In their latest fixtures, friendlies against Chile and Sweden, the Danish got the same result: nil-nil draws.
The creative Eriksen (9.0M) is, without a doubt, one of the best available options from Group C for your team. All of the forward game of Denmark goes through him and he also owns all the set-pieces. Their defensive prowess in the qualifiers and their “easy” schedule to start the WC2018, only facing France in the last group stage match, makes Schmeichel (5.5M) and Christensen (6.0M) decent options as well, despite a not so light price-tag.
Despite having legitimate aspirations to get out of the group stage, it will be hard to beat the feat of 20 years ago, when reaching the quarter-finals. However, the Danish are no pushovers and anything further than the Round of 16 will be a bonus to this squad.
Australia
After moving to the Asian Qualifying stages, due to lack of true competition in the Oceania groups, the Aussies had to survive two playoff rounds to be in the World Cup, knocking out Syria first and then Honduras to clinch their spot. They finished the group stages in 3rd, behind Japan and Saudi Arabia, with veterans Tim Cahill and Mile Jedinak on most of the highlight reels, with 11 and 7 goals respectively. In the last friendly, the Australians hammered Czech Republic by 4–0 and will start the WC2018 on a high note.
Few are the players that are spotlighted for the World Fantasy. Goalkeeper Mat Ryan (4.5M) might be a good low-cost option for a 2nd keeper, facing Denmark in Peru in the last two group stage games. Other budget options are “europeans” Mathew Leckie (6.0M) and Aaron Mooy (4.5M), after great seasons for their clubs.
While being one of the worst ranked of the squads in Russia, the Ozzies are not expected to go anywhere, with the main objective being getting out of Russia with something more than 0 points in the bag.
