By J.T. CHADWELL
Our second World Cup outlook will feature some players futures markets; specifically, players to consider for most goals and most assists.
WORLD CUP TOP GOAL SCORER
A few things to look for when picking someone in this market. First up is group difficulty. With the field expanding to 48 teams, there are some teams here that will give up a ton of goals in the group stage. Secondly, we need to look for teams that we feel can make a deep run into the knockout stage, because every game counts. Finally, we need to look for a player or players that are on teams that lack depth when it comes to scoring options.
With all that said, here are some players I think you should consider for a play into the top goalscorer market.
- HARRY KANE (+700) – Of the less risky choices at the top of this market, Kane takes the obvious spot here over Kylian Mbappe from France, who is surrounded by other goal-scoring options. England as a team will not score a ton of goals in this World Cup, but Kane does not have much competition for offensive chances. He is coming off a 36-goal season with Bayern Munich and he’s England’s top international scorer ever, with 78 career goals, including nine in nine matches last year.
- MIKEL OYARZABAL (+1800) – Spain is going deep in this tournament and, on top of it, was given a very soft group with teams that give up goals in bunches. Spain is loaded with goal scorers, but star winger Lamine Yamal could see limited time in the group stage, given they can win this group easily without him. Plus, less playing time will give his hamstring time to heal for more important matches down the road. Cue Oyarzabal. Since the start of 2024, he has scored 18 goals for Spain in 31 matches. Even though Spain is very deep with scoring options, that is a fantastic ratio.
- CRISTIANO RONALDO (+2500) – Another popular choice here, but I am really high on Portugal, which gets two of its group games against Uzbekistan and DR Congo. Ronaldo could easily score two in each of those matches and put himself right at the top of the scoring leaderboard heading into the knockout stage. Portugal is not short of attacking wingers and midfielders (Leao, Silva, Vitinha, Fernandes) who can deliver nice balls to set up Ronaldo. He should also take all penalty kicks as well.
- KAI HAVERTZ (+5000) – The German striker should feature at the top of the formation and has quite capable help behind him with the likes of Leroy Sane, Joshua Kimmich, Jamal Musiala (+6500 in this market, and would be my other choice), and Florian Wirtz delivering him balls. Havertz, who scored the opening goal in the Champions League final for Arsenal, can finish balls in the air and on the ground. Germany also draws a very favorable group to score goals, getting games against Curacao and Ivory Coast.
SKIP THE STARBUCKS LONGSHOT PICKS
- RAUL JIMENEZ – MEXICO (+8000)
- JHON DURAN – COLOMBIA (+8000)
- BREEL EMBOLO – SWITZERLAND (+12000)
- JULIAN QUINONES – MEXICO (+15000)
WORLD CUP TOP ASSISTS
Same concept as the top scorer market, we just look for guys who deliver the ball more than shoot. Here are some options to consider:
- BRUNO FERNANDES (+900) – The Portugese attacking midfielder just set the record for most assists in a Premier League season. Normally in markets like this you really want to look deep for a price, but it’s really hard to ignore Fernandes. Bruno will have many of options available who can take the ball and reliably in the back of the net. Add to it Bruno has 15 assists in his last 34 comps under the Portugese flag.
- MICHAEL OLISE (+1000) – Easily the top pick here. France has tons of scoring options and hile Olise can score, he is much more of a deliverer. France is going to score a ton of goals and Olise takes corners, free kicks, and most of the attacking will come from his side of the field when in possession.
- JEREMY DOKU (+3000) – The Belgian winger has been in red hot form for Manchester City, where he also has a large target man in the No. 9 striker role in Haaland. Doku has amassed 20 assists in three seasons with City and has four more in his last 15 games with Belgium. With Kevin De Bruyne aging, I expect Doku to get some set piece opportunities when he is on the field and KDB is not.
- JOSHUA KIMMICH (+5000) – The midfielder is a longstanding player for the Germans. Kimmich will most likely be team captain, on top of taking most set pieces and corners as well. And, as mentioned, Germany has a pretty soft group. In nine seasons with Bayern Munich, Kimmich has averaged just under nine assists per season and has 10 in his last 23 appearances under the German flag.
SKIP THE STARBUCKS LONGSHOT PICKS
- CODY GAKPO (NETHERLANDS) +6500
- ACHRAF HAKIMI ( MOROCCO) +10000
- ALEXIS VEGA (MEXICO) +12000
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