Who should I captain in World Cup Fantasy Semi-finals?
World Cup Fantasy — Semi-final captain shortlist
Live pool — refreshes hourly. Matchup column populates once the SF pairings are known.
| RANK | NATION | CAPTAIN PICK | FIFA |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | France | Lucas Digne | #1 |
| 2 | Spain | David Raya | #2 |
| 3 | Argentina | Emiliano Martínez | #3 |
| 4 | England | Dean Henderson | #4 |
FAQ · SF captain
Who should I captain in World Cup Fantasy Semi-finals?
Pre-bracket, the SF captain shortlist will be the 4 marquee forwards of the highest-ranked nations — typically Mbappé (France), Bellingham (England), Vinicius Jr (Brazil), Pedri / Yamal (Spain). Once the SF bracket locks the page rewrites with matchup-aware picks: the Onside AI weights toward the favoured side in each fixture.
When do the World Cup 2026 Semi-finals kick off?
Semi-finals start Tuesday 14 July at 19:00 UTC. Two matches across two days. Full schedule on /world-cup-2026/knockout.
How does Onside pick its Semi-final captain shortlist?
Onside AI ranks every armband candidate from the 4 surviving nations using its per-fixture projection. The shortlist is the 4 most ownable picks. The detailed methodology is proprietary.
Get the World Cup brief in your inbox — plus early FPL 2026/27 picks
Match-by-match predictions, captain picks for World Cup Fantasy, likely scorers, and the first FPL 2026/27 differentials to watch. Same engine that powers our Premier League tools, pointed at the world's biggest pre-season.
Weekly digest
Captain picks, transfer tips & differentials — every week.
One email per gameweek. Unsubscribe any time.
Tracking the World Cup? Use the same engine for FPL 2026/27.
v5 depth-2 GBT stacker · 51k+ OOS predictions · MAE 1.92. Captain picks, MILP squad optimiser, AI Coach, set-piece intel — the production Premier League tools.