Teams set out to become the biggest surprise of the WC-2018 with a plethora of promising fantasy options.

Uruguay

Opponents: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Russia

Uruguay is not in the top eight favorites to win the tournament, but they can deliver such a massive amount of points during the group stage that their playoff destiny may become nothing but irrelevant to fantasy managers.

Everything has been ideal for them so far. They have been seeded with the world cup hosts from pot one and Mohamed Salah’s injury will most likely rule him out of the game against Uruguay.

Based on team Russia’s current form and Saudi Arabia being labeled as one of the weakest teams of the tournament, it’s safe to assume Uruguay will top group A thrashing everyone else in the process.

As far as fantasy picks are concerned, Uruguay’s squad is close to ideal as well. There are two reliable and safe picks in goalkeeper Muslera and center back Godin, and two top-forwards - aspiring “Golden Boot” winners - Suarez and Cavani.

Bookmakers see Uruguay as favorites as well and call attention to their defensive stacks. Russia is struggling up front, Egypt will miss Salah, their best attacking player, and Saudi Arabia is one of the weakest underdogs of the world cup.

Poland

Opponents: Senegal, Columbia, Japan

Team Poland continues to gather pace with Robert Lewandowski set out to make some noise this time around. Adam Navalka’s team were just one tiny step away from Euro 2016 semifinal (lost on penalties to Portugal - the eventual champions) and cruised through the world cup qualification (25 points in 10 games, 28 goals scored, 14 conceded)

They are strong, have developed good chemistry and are ready for an emotionally demanding major tournament. There is no clear-cut favorite in their group meaning they can become the aforementioned favorite themselves. It seems team Poland was created specifically for season-long fantasy competitions. There are neither super-strong teams nor super-weak ones they have to face. Pick those players who would deliver across the whole distance of the tournament and rack-up fantasy points.

Your main picks are from the attacking group as Poland will not be facing any ultra-defensive teams in the group stages. With the best scorer of the WC qualifying campaign - Robert Lewandowski - being the obvious pick, you should also keep Kamil Grosicki in mind. He was equally as good during the last Euros and the World Cup qualifying campaign. Lukasz Piszczek is your best pick amongst defenders. He still loves going forward and his motivation will be sky high - this most likely will be his last major tournament.

Denmark

Opponents: Peru, Australia, France

You could easily rename team Denmark into “Eriksen’s squad”. Christian played full 12 matches during the World Cup qualifying campaign leading his team in shots (41, with Sisto, the runner-up, having only 18) and chances created (41 as well, Delaney, the runner-up, with 12)

Besides Eriksen, Danes have benefitted from a solid defensive system. Being in the same group with unstoppable Poland, they conceded only 8 goals in 10 games (3 from Poles). In the knockout round, they conceded only 1 goal from Ireland across 2 games.

Danes first two opponents - Peru and Australia - barely made it to the World Cup through the knockout round. Both these teams are weak in defense which makes Eriksen practically an essential pick. Defensive stacks are also viable but worth discarding before game 3, as Denmark faces a potent France side in their final group match.

Switzerland

Opponents: Brazil, Serbia, Costa Rica

While the Danes face their toughest opponent in game 3 of the group stage, the Swiss do so in game 1. They have to survive their match against the stellar Brazil team and then shift into upper gear.

The best tactics to employ against Brazil is quite obvious: ultra-defensive approach with Xherdan Shaqiri and Ricardo Rodriguez hoping to capitalize on set-piece situations. Swiss success in the qualification round was based on their defensive line: 27 points and only 7 goals allowed in 10 games. But even with such magnificent numbers, Switzerland ended up in the knockout stage (Portugal topped their group on a tie-breaker) where they beat North Ireland without conceding a single goal. It seems that if the Swiss are in the mood not to concede goals - they don’t allow any.

The defensive line looks even better when you realize that it’s full of attack-minded guys like Ricardo Rodriguez (3+2), Stephan Lichtsteiner (3+1), Fabian Shar (1+0). Their goalie, Yan Sommer, from Borussia Monchengladbach is also quite decent. Defensive stacks look amazing since both Serbia and Costa Rica don’t look like teams capable of generating much danger up front.