World Cup Fantasy Weekly Update 1

June 23, 2026

Hello everyone and welcome to Game of Stones fantasy - World Cup edition! I'm finally back from my travels so I have a little bit of time to take a break from the Season 4 recap and write one of these, so let's get started.

Heading into Gameweek 3, there are only a handful of teams that have qualified for the Round of 32 already:

Mexico - Group A
United States - Group D
Germany - Group E
France - Group I
Norway - Group I
Argentina - Group J
Colombia - Group K

and a slightly smaller sized handful have been eliminated:

Haiti - Group C
Turkey - Group D
Tunisia - Group F
Jordan - Group J
Panama - Group L

Group A

Mexico (Q) - 6 pts
South Korea - 3 pts
Czechia - 1 pt
South Africa - 1 pt

Mexico vs Czechia
South Korea vs South Africa

Basically, South Korea qualifies in 2nd with a win (no matter the result of the Mexico game since Mexico wins H2H). Czechia/South Africa needs to win to have the chance to qualify. Czechia would probably qualify in 3rd on 4 points if South Korea wins, but if South Africa wins it'll go down to goal difference for who is in 2nd vs 3rd (and again, 4 points is probably enough).

Group B

Canada - 4 pts
Switzerland - 4 pts
Bosnia and Herzegovina - 1 pt
Qatar - 1 pt

Switzerland vs Canada
Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Qatar

Pretty simple, winner of Switzerland vs Canada wins the group. If they tie, Canada wins on GD. A loss for Canada likely has them qualify regardless of the result of Bosnia and Herzegovina vs Qatar, considering they have a +9 difference to BIH and H2H over Qatar. Plus, they are at +6 and 4 points so even if they end up in 3rd they're probably fine.

Group C

Brazil - 4 pts
Morocco - 4 pts
Scotland - 3 pts
Haiti (E) - 0 pts

Brazil vs Scotland
Morocco vs Haiti

RIP Haiti o7. Basically this group comes down to if Brazil beats Scotland and keeps their goal difference over Morocco, they finish 1st. Morocco wins and Brazil loses and they finish 1st. If Scotland wins, they go either 1st or 2nd depending on Morocco's result. CMON MCFRATM

Group D

United States (Q) - 6 pts
Australia - 3 pts
Paraguay - 3 pts
Turkiye (E) - 0 pts

United States vs Turkiye
Australia vs Paraguay

It's only fitting that Freeman and Balogun won this group for the US as they go into a completely pointless match vs Turkiye. Australia vs Paraguay is the interesting one, where the winner qualifies in 2nd and the loser has to fight in the 3rd place gauntlet. A draw is honestly probably best for both teams but is a win for Australia because GD.

Group E

Germany (Q) - 6 pts
Ivory Coast - 3 pts
Ecuador - 1 pt
Curacao - 1 pt

Ecuador vs Germany
Ivory Coast vs Curacao

Germany has locked up 1st place so their game doesn't matter to them, but Ecuador can get up to 4 points with a win. Which could put them in 2nd if Curacao win. Maybe the most interesting result though would be a Germany win and a Curacao win, which would have the tiny island nation finish the group in 2nd with probably -5 GD.

Group F

Netherlands - 4 pts
Japan - 4 pts
Sweden - 3 pts
Tunisia (E) - 0 pts

Netherlands vs Tunisia
Japan vs Sweden

Really interesting that Tunisia fired their manager after losing vs Sweden considering this is quite the group of death, but whatever floats their boat I guess. Anyway, Netherlands can go first if they win and outscore Japan (likely), while Japan needs at least a draw against Sweden to secure 2nd. If they lose, they're probably through, but Sweden will be looking for a win to secure their place in the knockouts.

Group G

Egypt - 4 pts
Iran - 2 pts
Belgium - 2 pts
New Zealand - 1 pt

Egypt vs Iran
Belgium vs New Zealand

Probably the most interesting group here, considering Iran and Belgium both have 2 draws. And 1st place will come down to the Pride Match between Egypt and Iran. If Egypt wins, it's theirs. If Iran wins, it'll come down to GD vs Belgium (if they win), otherwise they take the group. The only team that can't finish 1st is New Zealand, who would need an Egypt win to finish 2nd and would otherwise finish 4th on 4 points (if they beat Belgium). Interesting stuff for sure.

Group H

Spain - 4 pts
Uruguay - 2 pts
Cape Verde - 2 pts
Saudi Arabia - 1 pt

Spain vs Uruguay
Cape Verde vs Saudi Arabia

All eyes on… Cape Verde as they have a genuine shot at qualifying for the Round of 32 this week. Spain looked pretty unstoppable against Saudi Arabia and Uruguay looked, well, stoppable against Cape Verde, so a win for Spain and for Cape Verde would see the Cape Verdeans through to the next round. The situation here is basically the same as Group G so just switch out the names above and re-read if you want the full rundown.

Group I

France (Q) - 6 pts
Norway (Q) - 6 pts
Senegal - 0 pts
Iraq - 0 pts

France vs Norway
Senegal vs Iraq

I mean, poor Senegal and Iraq having to defend against Mbappe and Haaland these past couple of weeks. But also it has set up a France vs Norway face off for 1st place in the group, with France winning if they draw. Senegal and Iraq have a long road ahead if they want to qualify, considering their GDs are at -3 and -6 respectively.

Group J

Argentina (Q) - 6 pts
Austria - 3 pts
Algeria - 3 pts
Jordan (E) - 0 pts

Argentina vs Jordan
Austria vs Algeria

Another group where the #1 will have nothing but records to play for as Argentina secured their 1st place spot this week. Austria and Algeria will battle it out to see which of them can secure 2nd on points. The good news is the loser will already be on 3 points. The bad news is they'll have a negative GD.

Group K

Colombia (Q) - 6 pts
Portugal - 4 pts
DR Congo - 1 pt
Uzbekistan - 0 pts

Colombia vs Portugal
DR Congo vs Uzbekistan

While Colombia has qualified for the Round of 32, they're one of the few teams on 6 points to not have confirmed their #1 spot, so their head to head against Portugal in gameweek 3 will decide the group. DR Congo and Uzbekistan also aren't quite out, with a win putting them on 4 or 3 points, respectively, and giving them a shot at a 3rd place qualifying spot. Uzbekistan is certainly in a little bit worse of a position going into this considering the -7 GD.

Group L

England - 4 pts
Ghana - 4 pts
Croatia - 3 pts
Panama (E) - 0 pts

England vs Panama
Ghana vs Croatia

England goes into this last match with their Round of 32 spot basically secured, although it is completely possible they drop to 3rd if Panama batters them and Croatia only beats Ghana by a little bit. That said, what a game Ghana vs Croatia should be, with the winner securing at least 2nd place in the group. Although, England vs Ghana was incredibly boring so who even knows.

Third Placed Teams

And, real quick, here are the 3rd place teams (top 8 qualify):

Sweden - 0 GD - 3 pts
Scotland - 0 GD - 3 pts
Croatia - -1 GD - 3 pts
Algeria - -2 GD - 3 pts
Paraguay - -2 GD - 3 pts
Cape Verde - 0 GD - 2 pts
Belgium - 0 GD - 2 pts
Czechia - -1 GD - 1 pt
DR Congo - -1 GD - 1 pt
Ecuador - -1 GD - 1 pt
Bosnia and Herzegovina - -3 GD - 1 pt
Senegal - -3 GD - 0 pts

And as some may recall, we're doing World Cup Fantasy! So let's take a look at the leaderboard after 2 gameweeks:

Position	Manager	Points	R1	R2
1	Chris	204	107	97
2	Zach	192	90	102
3	Darryan	186	85	101
4	Luke	176	106	70
5	Jesse	168	67	101
6	Matthew	161	85	76
7	Mack	158	91	67
8	John	145	81	64
9	Coop	144	78	66
10	Kevin	141	66	75
11	Scott	90	44	46

And I think I got all the names right so lmk if any of this doesn't look quite right. Anyway! Chris out to an early lead with a solid 12 point gap over Zach, who is just 6 ahead of Darryan. Luke sits 10 behind him, with Jesse 8 off the top 4. Then comes me 7 points behind him, with Mack another 3 points back. John leads the mighty trio 13 points behind Mack, just 1 point ahead of Coop and 4 ahead of Kevin. Scott sits just a few 51 points behind Kevin.

Friendly reminder that after this next week, we get unlimited transfers, so use them wisely! Good luck this week and I hope y'all enjoy the simultaneous match action!