{
  "competition": "fifa_world_cup_fantasy",
  "round": 8,
  "article": "wildcard",
  "title": "Best XI & wildcard squad — Round 8",
  "generated_at": "2026-07-19T12:52:43.995807+00:00",
  "sims": 50000,
  "methodology": "Market odds (de-vigged) → Dixon-Coles scorelines → 50k Monte-Carlo simulations, scored on the official FIFA World Cup Fantasy points table.",
  "entries": [
    {
      "name": "Kane",
      "team": "England",
      "position": "FWD",
      "x_points": 5.02,
      "captain_ev": 10.05,
      "ceiling": 7.78,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.549,
      "price": 10.5,
      "ownership_pct": 40.6,
      "value": 0.478,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 1
    },
    {
      "name": "Lionel Messi",
      "team": "Argentina",
      "position": "FWD",
      "x_points": 4.8,
      "captain_ev": 9.59,
      "ceiling": 7.79,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.625,
      "price": 10,
      "ownership_pct": 40.4,
      "value": 0.48,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 2
    },
    {
      "name": "Mbappé",
      "team": "France",
      "position": "FWD",
      "x_points": 4.51,
      "captain_ev": 9.02,
      "ceiling": 7.53,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.668,
      "price": 10.5,
      "ownership_pct": 59.2,
      "value": 0.43,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 3
    },
    {
      "name": "Unai Simon",
      "team": "Spain",
      "position": "GK",
      "x_points": 3.89,
      "captain_ev": 7.77,
      "ceiling": 3.89,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 5,
      "ownership_pct": 8.5,
      "value": 0.777,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 4
    },
    {
      "name": "Bellingham",
      "team": "England",
      "position": "MID",
      "x_points": 3.61,
      "captain_ev": 7.22,
      "ceiling": 3.61,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 8.3,
      "ownership_pct": 17,
      "value": 0.435,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 5
    },
    {
      "name": "Lamine Yamal",
      "team": "Spain",
      "position": "MID",
      "x_points": 3.51,
      "captain_ev": 7.01,
      "ceiling": 8.35,
      "ceiling_ratio": 2.383,
      "price": 10,
      "ownership_pct": 39.3,
      "value": 0.351,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 6
    },
    {
      "name": "Aymeric Laporte",
      "team": "Spain",
      "position": "DEF",
      "x_points": 3.28,
      "captain_ev": 6.55,
      "ceiling": 3.28,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 5.5,
      "ownership_pct": 9.2,
      "value": 0.595,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 7
    },
    {
      "name": "Rice",
      "team": "England",
      "position": "MID",
      "x_points": 3.08,
      "captain_ev": 6.16,
      "ceiling": 3.08,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 7,
      "ownership_pct": 6.7,
      "value": 0.44,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 8
    },
    {
      "name": "Cucurella",
      "team": "Spain",
      "position": "DEF",
      "x_points": 3.01,
      "captain_ev": 6.01,
      "ceiling": 3.01,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 5.1,
      "ownership_pct": 27,
      "value": 0.589,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 9
    },
    {
      "name": "Pau Cubarsi",
      "team": "Spain",
      "position": "DEF",
      "x_points": 2.92,
      "captain_ev": 5.84,
      "ceiling": 2.92,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 5,
      "ownership_pct": 6.1,
      "value": 0.584,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 10
    },
    {
      "name": "Facundo Medina",
      "team": "Argentina",
      "position": "DEF",
      "x_points": 2.13,
      "captain_ev": 4.27,
      "ceiling": 2.13,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 4,
      "ownership_pct": 9.4,
      "value": 0.533,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "XI",
      "rank": 11
    },
    {
      "name": "Leandro Paredes",
      "team": "Argentina",
      "position": "MID",
      "x_points": 1.48,
      "captain_ev": 2.96,
      "ceiling": 1.48,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 5.6,
      "ownership_pct": 0.2,
      "value": 0.264,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-19T19:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "Bench",
      "rank": 12
    },
    {
      "name": "Jordan Henderson",
      "team": "England",
      "position": "MID",
      "x_points": 0.34,
      "captain_ev": 0.67,
      "ceiling": 0.34,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 5.1,
      "ownership_pct": 0.2,
      "value": 0.066,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "Bench",
      "rank": 13
    },
    {
      "name": "James Trafford",
      "team": "England",
      "position": "GK",
      "x_points": 0.16,
      "captain_ev": 0.32,
      "ceiling": 0.16,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 4,
      "ownership_pct": 0.4,
      "value": 0.039,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "Bench",
      "rank": 14
    },
    {
      "name": "Pierre Kalulu",
      "team": "France",
      "position": "DEF",
      "x_points": 0.12,
      "captain_ev": 0.24,
      "ceiling": 0.12,
      "ceiling_ratio": 1.0,
      "price": 3.9,
      "ownership_pct": 0,
      "value": 0.031,
      "kickoff": "2026-07-18T21:00:00+00:00",
      "role": "Bench",
      "rank": 15
    }
  ],
  "source": "https://evmax.ai",
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "license_text": "CC BY 4.0 — free to reuse with attribution to evmax (https://evmax.ai)",
  "squad": {
    "total_cost": 99.5,
    "xi_xpoints": 39.76,
    "formation": "4-3-3",
    "budget": 100.0,
    "left_over": 0.5
  }
}