Building a roster for the Sorare Global Cup requires compromises to be made. Either selecting some bottom of the barrel players to go all-in on your starting 5 players, or selecting a more well rounded team with some budget starters. Given the insanely top heavy pay-outs in a field of over 300,000 entries, I prefer the all-in approach to give you the best chance of a top score. However, points scored by your top 3 bench players will be the tiebreaker if you have the same team as someone else, so picking bench players smartly is worth considering!

I have had a look through the player pool and found some of my favourite low cost bench fillers who may be able to step in for a game if you have an injury or if a star gets rested in Matchday 3. I’ve also added some budget starters, who could save you enough budget to build a well rounded roster.

Before we dive into the players, if you haven’t signed up to Sorare and fancy giving it a go, sign up via this referral link to earn a free limited card.

Bench Fillers

For our bench fillers we are looking for players who can step in for a match day in the case of either injury or a player being rested in match day 3. We want to keep the cost as low as possible so we can get the best 5 players possible in our starting line-up. Our sole focus here is on players who are likely to start for their team.

Saad Al Sheeb 🇶🇦 (Goalkeeper, 6 Points) – Al Sheeb comes in at the cheapest price for a goalkeeper and is set to start for the hosts. He doesn’t seem likely to get a clean sheet in the tournament, but he could score a decent number of points from saves.

Matthew Cash 🇵🇱 (Defender, 6 Points) – Matty Cash will start for Poland at right-back and comes in one point above the minimum for a defender. Poland do get a game against Saudi Arabia, so there is a chance for a decent score and a clean sheet there. Otherwise, it may be tough going for Poland against Argentina and Mexico.

Takumi Minamino 🇯🇵 (Midfielder, 6 Points) – Minamino will play on the left of a front three for Japan in a very tough group. Japan have an extremely tough group against Germany and Spain, but Minamino may be able to put up a decent score against Costa Rica in match day 2.

Bryan Mbuemo 🇨🇲 (Forward, 6 Points) – After playing for France at U21 level, Mbuemo declared for Cameroon this year. He earned his first call up in September and started in both games. He will start again for Cameroon on the left wing. He should start on the left wing for Cameroon will hopefully link up well with Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting (more on him later!).

Budget Starters

Our budget starters cost a bit more than the bench fillers and as a result we’re looking for a bit more from them. We’re looking players who can start and have a path to putting up solid scores. At this price, the players we’re looking at are likely to have one or more questionable match-ups so we may need to pair them with a someone else with solid match-ups in these weeks.

Netherlands GK 🇳🇱 (8 points) – At this point we still don’t know will start in goal for the Netherlands. But, whoever does will have a legitimate shot at 3 clean sheets in perhaps the easiest group in the tournament. At this point it appears to be between Biljow and Paasveer, but there had been no confirmation from Van Gaal. If nothing changes before the submission deadline, I think you have to stay away from Netherlands keepers. You can potentially win with a lesser player but having a DNP will kill your line-up.

Vanja Milinkovic Savic 🇷🇸 (Goalkeeper, 9 points) -Serbia have a tough test in Brazil, but also get play Switzerland and Cameroon two games where they could keep clean sheets. Serbia are a bit of dark horse team, they managed to beat and draw with Portugal over two game in the qualifiers and should be seen as the favourite to come 2nd in Group G.

Thomas Meunier 🇧🇪 (Defender, 8 points) – Meunier has been out for the last month with a fractured cheek bone, but looks set to return for Belgium. He plays as a wingback in Roberto Martinez’ 3-4-3 system, so offers more decisive action upside than the majority of other defenders at his price point.

Pervis Estupinian 🇪🇨 (Defender, 9 points) – Estupinian is the starting left-back for Ecuador who play in Group A with the Netherlands. Obviously that isn’t a great match-up, but Qatar and Senegal are much more favourable and could give the opportunity for the 10 point clean sheet score as well as some attacking potential.

Tyler Adams 🇺🇸 (Midfielder, 8 Points) – Tyler Adams is a real steal at this price point. Over his last 4 games for the US he has managed two scores over 60 with no decisive actions, including a 60.80 in a 2-0 loss to Canada. So he’s pretty match-up proof and a threat for a monster score if he can land a decisive.

Gregorz Krychowiak 🇵🇱 (Midfielder, 9 points) – Krychowiak should start in a midfield two alongside Szymon Zurkowski, both come in at 9 points but Gregorz is my preferred play. This year he has managed a decisive action in one game for Poland and had two others over 50 points. Poland do have a tough group, but a result against Mexico could see them head to the knock-outs.

Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting 🇨🇲 (Forward, (8 points) – Choupo-Moting has been in phenomenal form for Bayern Munich over the last couple of months. Despite a tough group, Cameroon do have an exciting attack with Mbuemo and Aboubakar joining Choupo-Moting up front. It’s not out of the realm of possibilities he can score a couple of goals and help Cameroon to the Round of 16.

Andrej Kramaric 🇭🇷 (Forward, 8 points) – Finally, Andrej Kramaric is set to lead the line for an aging Croatia side. His form might not be the best for Hoffenheim, but he has the benefit of a number of great creators behind him including Luka Modric, Ivan Perisic and Borna Sosa. It might be tough to score on Belgium, but there is certainly opportunities to be had against Canada and Tunisia.

Thanks for reading, and best of luck in the Global Cup! I’d love to hear your thoughts on the Global Cup competition either using the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @ThinkingFantasy