Apologies for the delay in getting this out – I didn’t get back from London until late yesterday evening.

I didn’t plan my trip too well – I was able to watch the final upto Messi’s first goal then had to make my way (in the rain!) to Winter Wonderland and rely on FlashScore updates – at least it sounded like a sh1t game and I didn’t miss much……

Anyhow, on to the Fantasy stuff – no real shocks in the final table. Final update can be viewed here, along with a final list of players and squads. If the 5 prize winners can contact me with their bank details and I will get your winnings across to you! Well done!

Normal Fantasy Footy resumes this week, along with my Super 6 comp and the resumption of Last Man Standing – updates have been sent for those of you in those games. 

That’s the semi finals done and we now know the winner if this years World Cup will be Argentina or France.

Two games still to play – don’t forget the 3rd place play off. A pointless game in most people’s eyes but the only way the top 5 places can really be influenced seeing as most managers have both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe. The real difference could be made if Joško Gvardiol or Achraf Hakimi can get on the score sheet (or conversely get sent off!!). Emiliano Martínez and Luka Modrić are the only other two players who could influence the final placings.

Update after the semis can be viewed here. Squads can be viewed here, players list here.

I am in London for the weekend so might not be able to get an update until I get home on Monday, but I’m sure the managers in with a spot won’t need an update anyway! Good luck to those in contention!

The first of the semi finals played and Argentina now have to wait 24 hours to see who they meet in the final.

ARGENTINA 3 CROATIA 0
22 managers get 8 points from Lionel Messi’s goal and assist. Emma Bisset and Ben Corrie get 13 points from Julián Álvarez’s brace. James Grierson, Gary Nelson and Tracey Corrie get a clean sheet from Emiliano Martínez.
David Owen and Lauren Haigh lose points from Mateo Kovačić’s booking

POS	MANAGER	TEAM	TEAM NO.	PLAYERS LEFT	TIEBREAK	GD	POINTS
1	Melvin Pool	Melvinho XI	10	3	167	20	303
2	Gisela Mowles	Hopp Schwiiz	6	3	168	19	285
3	Michael Grierson	Grio FC	24	3	185	2	277
4	Shaun Sparkes	Do You Put The Kekkle On	35	4	214	27	272
5	Albert Au	WeDontTakeLs	23	3	188	1	270
6	James Grierson	Toffee Down Under	15	3	185	2	268
7	Jason Harrison	Brutal Deluxe	8	3	174	13	268
8	Ewan White	The Briggs Ballers	11	4	223	36	267
9	Kevin Robinson	Boro Lad	19	3	191	4	262
10	Steve Smith	Cube of sixty four	16	3	227	40	260
11	Ste Corbett	No Chance FC	7	3	164	23	256
12	Chris Mowles	Out in the Quarters	5	3	174	13	254
13	Josh Wignall	Haven’t Jota clue	25	3	168	19	252
14	Allan Jones	AllStars	2	4	190	3	251
15	Mike Sparkes	Bluemoon	31	3	172	15	247
16	Ian O’Brien	Boss Nights	4	3	144	43	243
17	Christopher Grierson	Qatar Payoff	12	3	213	26	242
18	Paul Maiden	Pride of Europe	9	3	185	2	240
19	Martin Grierson	The Jester’s Tear	14	3	161	26	238
20	Lauren Haigh	Rodri, you plonker	29	3	165	22	234
21	Neil Metcalf	Jubilee Invincibles	26	3	210	23	231
22	Ross Hunt	Last Minute 11	33	2	154	33	230
23	Dave Nicholls	CuddaWuddaShudda	3	2	170	17	229
24	Emma Bisset	GodsHand	1	2	159	28	229
25	Tracey Corrie	Ta-ra Qatar	27	4	160	27	219
26	Madison and Rhys	Mad dogs	32	3	162	25	218
27	Ben Donafee	Karim Bensteama	30	4	166	21	215
28	David Owen	Dasus United	22	3	173	14	214
29	Philip Haigh	Sonly a Game	18	2	152	35	212
30	Gary Nelson	MMDG	21	2	278	91	212
31	Paul Sparkes	Best team in all the land and world	34	3	135	52	197
32	Nick & Emma	Nick & Emma	28	1	180	7	194
33	Robin Horsler	No Transfer Demons	20	3	123	64	193
34	Ben Corrie	Jack Warner’s brown envelope	17	3	151	36	189
35	Colin Eunson	UE’s go aussie	13	5	165	22	175

Nearly there, down to the last four teams and the last four games. 

League table can be viewed here. List of players can be viewed here and all squads here.

Most of the top sides have both Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe with either Joško Gvardiol or Achraf Hakimi. The only one who might have a chance of breaking into the top teams is James Grierson, he has Emiliano Martínez  – if he is involved in another  penalty shootout then a couple of saves could throw him right in the mix. 

Had stuff on last night so couldn’t do an update – same applies tonight, off to see Paolo Nutini (at the same time as the England game 🤦‍♂️!), so don’t expect an update til tomorrow.

CROATIA 0 BRAZIL 0 (1-1 AET – CROATIA WIN 4-2 ON PENALTIES)
16 managers get points from Luka Modrić’s penalty, as does Ben Corrie from Nikola Vlašić. Gisela Mowles, Steve Smith and Shaun Sparkes get a clean sheet from Joško Gvardiol.
18 managers get points from Neymar’s 2nd goal of the tournament. Emma Bisset, Paul Maiden, Christopher Grierson and Martin Grierson get a clean sheet from Alisson – as do Ste Corbett and Ben Corrie from Marquinhos (who also picked up a booking).

NETHERLANDS 2 ARGENTINA 2 (AET – ARGENTINA WIN 4-2 ON PENALTIES)
16 managers lose points from Virgil van Dijk’s penalty miss. Dave Nicholls, Chris Mowles, Melvin Pool, Ewan White, Martin Grierson, James Grierson and David Owen lose points from Denzel Dumfries’s sending off (yep, the idiot got a 2nd booking after the pens!). Allan Jones, Colin Eunson and Steve Smith lose points from Steven Bergwijn’s booking, as do Paul Maiden and Philip Haigh from Memphis Depay.
22 managers get 14 points from Lionel Messi’s brace, assist and booking. James Grierson, Gary Nelson and Tracey Corrie get 12 points from Emiliano Martínez’s penalty saves.

POS	MANAGER	TEAM	TEAM NO.	PLAYERS LEFT	TIEBREAK	GD	POINTS
1	Melvin Pool	Melvinho XI	10	4	167	22	287
2	Gisela Mowles	Hopp Schwiiz	6	5	168	21	269
3	Michael Grierson	Grio FC	24	4	185	4	261
4	Albert Au	WeDontTakeLs	23	4	188	1	255
5	James Grierson	Toffee Down Under	15	4	185	4	255
6	Jason Harrison	Brutal Deluxe	8	4	174	15	254
7	Shaun Sparkes	Do You Put The Kekkle On	35	6	214	25	253
8	Kevin Robinson	Boro Lad	19	5	191	2	251
9	Ewan White	The Briggs Ballers	11	6	223	34	249
10	Chris Mowles	Out in the Quarters	5	4	174	15	246
11	Ste Corbett	No Chance FC	7	5	164	25	244
12	Steve Smith	Cube of sixty four	16	4	227	38	241
13	Josh Wignall	Haven’t Jota clue	25	4	168	21	238
14	Allan Jones	AllStars	2	5	190	1	233
15	Mike Sparkes	Bluemoon	31	5	172	17	229
16	Christopher Grierson	Qatar Payoff	12	4	213	24	228
17	Martin Grierson	The Jester’s Tear	14	4	161	28	228
18	Ian O’Brien	Boss Nights	4	4	144	45	228
19	Paul Maiden	Pride of Europe	9	4	185	4	226
20	Ross Hunt	Last Minute 11	33	4	154	35	223
21	Lauren Haigh	Rodri, you plonker	29	4	165	24	222
22	Dave Nicholls	CuddaWuddaShudda	3	4	170	19	221
23	Neil Metcalf	Jubilee Invincibles	26	5	210	21	215
24	Emma Bisset	GodsHand	1	3	159	30	207
25	Madison and Rhys	Mad dogs	32	5	162	27	205
26	David Owen	Dasus United	22	4	173	16	204
27	Tracey Corrie	Ta-ra Qatar	27	5	160	29	204
28	Ben Donafee	Karim Bensteama	30	4	166	23	203
29	Philip Haigh	Sonly a Game	18	4	152	37	198
30	Gary Nelson	MMDG	21	4	278	89	197
31	Robin Horsler	No Transfer Demons	20	4	123	66	187
32	Nick & Emma	Nick & Emma	28	3	180	9	183
33	Paul Sparkes	Best team in all the land and world	34	4	135	54	183
34	Ben Corrie	Jack Warner’s brown envelope	17	5	151	38	170
35	Colin Eunson	UE’s go aussie	13	5	165	24	158

56 games done, just 8 more to go!

Latest update is here after the Round of 16 is complete.

A list of all players can be viewed here and you can view all squads here.

Next update after the Quarter Finals are completed. I am out on Saturday so no update until Sunday at the earliest (and at a concert so will miss the England game 🤦🏻‍♂️)!

Games 5 & 6 of the Round of 16 and the first game to go to extra time (and penalties!).

JAPAN 1 CROATIA 1 (AET – CROATIA WIN 3-1 ON PENALTIES)
Lauren Haigh gets points from Maya Yoshida’s assist but loses them from his penalty miss. Martin Grierson and Tracey Corrie lose points from Takumi Minamino’s penalty miss.
Martin Grierson gets points from Ivan Perišić’s goal. David Owen and Lauren Haigh lose points from Mateo Kovačić’s booking. Ben Corrie gets points from Nikola Vlašić’s penalty. Nobody had the Croatian keeper, Dominik Livaković, who earned 17 points from his 3 penalty saves!

BRAZIL 4 SOUTH KOREA 1
Ian O’Brien, Albert Au and Paul Sparkes get 8 points from Vinícius Júnior’s goal and assist. 18 managers get points from Neymar’s goal

POS	MANAGER	TEAM	TEAM NO.	PLAYERS LEFT	TIEBREAK	GD	POINTS
1	Melvin Pool	Melvinho XI	10	6	167	5	260
2	James Grierson	Toffee Down Under	15	6	185	13	234
3	Kevin Robinson	Boro Lad	19	7	191	19	234
4	Gisela Mowles	Hopp Schwiiz	6	8	168	4	233
5	Michael Grierson	Grio FC	24	7	185	13	230
6	Chris Mowles	Out in the Quarters	5	7	174	2	227
7	Jason Harrison	Brutal Deluxe	8	7	174	2	226
8	Ste Corbett	No Chance FC	7	8	164	8	223
9	Shaun Sparkes	Do You Put The Kekkle On	35	8	214	42	223
10	Steve Smith	Cube of sixty four	16	6	227	55	218
11	Albert Au	WeDontTakeLs	23	7	188	16	217
12	Josh Wignall	Haven’t Jota clue	25	6	168	4	213
13	Ewan White	The Briggs Ballers	11	8	223	51	213
14	Dave Nicholls	CuddaWuddaShudda	3	6	170	2	210
15	Martin Grierson	The Jester’s Tear	14	7	161	11	209
16	Ross Hunt	Last Minute 11	33	6	154	18	209
17	Ian O’Brien	Boss Nights	4	7	144	28	209
18	Mike Sparkes	Bluemoon	31	6	172	0	203
19	Lauren Haigh	Rodri, you plonker	29	6	165	7	202
20	Christopher Grierson	Qatar Payoff	12	6	213	41	201
21	Emma Bisset	GodsHand	1	5	159	13	199
22	Paul Maiden	Pride of Europe	9	6	185	13	198
23	Allan Jones	AllStars	2	7	190	18	196
24	Neil Metcalf	Jubilee Invincibles	26	7	210	38	188
25	David Owen	Dasus United	22	7	173	1	184
26	Madison and Rhys	Mad dogs	32	8	162	10	181
27	Tracey Corrie	Ta-ra Qatar	27	7	160	12	181
28	Philip Haigh	Sonly a Game	18	5	152	20	179
29	Ben Donafee	Karim Bensteama	30	6	166	6	178
30	Gary Nelson	MMDG	21	6	278	106	177
31	Robin Horsler	No Transfer Demons	20	6	123	49	172
32	Nick & Emma	Nick & Emma	28	6	180	8	168
33	Paul Sparkes	Best team in all the land and world	34	6	135	37	156
34	Ben Corrie	Jack Warner’s brown envelope	17	8	151	21	154
35	Colin Eunson	UE’s go aussie	13	8	165	7	139