# Mike Maignan leads Round 5 efficiency rankings

> France's goalkeeper dominates value metrics. Here's the best pick in every price bracket.

By the evmax model · 7 July 2026 · https://evmax.ai/round/5/efficiency/

Mike Maignan stands alone at the top of Round 5's efficiency table, delivering 1.007 points per million—the highest value marker in the dataset. The France goalkeeper projects 5.03 xPts at a 5.0m price tag, offering a safe floor with no big-haul upside, as is structural for the position. At just 8.9% ownership, he represents genuine contrarian capital in a round where most managers will chase the obvious plays.

For those building on a Budget tier, Chadi Riad (Morocco, DEF) is the single best-value pick outside Maignan, posting 1.004 points per million—nearly identical efficiency—on 3.92 xPts at 3.9m. His 1.4% ownership suggests the market has overlooked a defender projecting clean-sheet upside with a ceiling of 3.75. In the Mid tier, Achraf Hakimi (Morocco, DEF) leads with 0.832 points per million, though his 28% ownership and 0.812 ceiling ratio (indicating limited upside) make him a crowded consensus rather than a true edge.

> The efficiency gap between Maignan and the field is stark enough to justify him as a captain platform, not merely a bench enabler.

Giovanni Reyna (United States, MID) is the highest-value Premium option in this dataset at 0.751 points per million, priced at 5.5m with 4.13 xPts and a 2.158 ceiling ratio—genuine big-haul potential. His 0.4% ownership reflects either market blindness or fixture concern, but the numbers alone justify investigation. Ismael Saibari (Morocco, MID) sits just behind at 0.821 points per million with a 1.634 ceiling ratio, though his 14.9% ownership suggests some recognition of his upside.

**Bottom line:** Maignan is the efficiency leader and a legitimate captain option at 5.0m; in Budget, pair him with Chadi Riad (3.9m) for maximum value density. If you're spending into Mid or Premium, Reyna's 0.4% ownership and 2.158 ceiling ratio make him the contrarian move worth the capital.

**Bottom line:** Maignan is the efficiency leader and a legitimate captain option at 5.0m; in Budget, pair him with Chadi Riad (3.9m) for maximum value density. If you're spending into Mid or Premium, Reyna's 0.4% ownership and 2.158 ceiling ratio make him the contrarian move worth the capital.

## The data

| # | Player | Team | Pts/m | xPts | Price | Captain EV | Owned % | Ceiling |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chadi Riad | Morocco | 1.04 | 4.05 | 3.9 | 8.09 | 1.4% | 4.05 |
| 2 | Mike Maignan | France | 1.01 | 5.06 | 5.0 | 10.13 | 8.9% | 5.06 |
| 3 | Emiliano Martinez | Argentina | 0.96 | 4.82 | 5.0 | 9.64 | 30.0% | 4.82 |
| 4 | Dayot Upamecano | France | 0.95 | 5.02 | 5.3 | 10.03 | 4.9% | 5.02 |
| 5 | Yassine 'Bono' Bounou | Morocco | 0.93 | 4.36 | 4.7 | 8.73 | 5.7% | 4.36 |
| 6 | Facundo Medina | Argentina | 0.91 | 3.64 | 4.0 | 7.28 | 9.4% | 3.64 |
| 7 | Jules Kounde | France | 0.88 | 4.74 | 5.4 | 9.47 | 6.3% | 4.74 |
| 8 | William Saliba | France | 0.87 | 4.62 | 5.3 | 9.24 | 13.0% | 4.62 |
| 9 | Noussair Mazraoui | Morocco | 0.85 | 3.76 | 4.4 | 7.52 | 3.6% | 3.76 |
| 10 | Achraf Hakimi | Morocco | 0.85 | 5.08 | 6.0 | 10.17 | 28.0% | 5.08 |
| 11 | Jhon Lucumi | Colombia | 0.81 | 3.47 | 4.3 | 6.94 | 0.2% | 3.47 |
| 12 | Lisandro Martinez | Argentina | 0.80 | 3.70 | 4.6 | 7.39 | 7.0% | 3.70 |
| 13 | Ismael Saibari | Morocco | 0.80 | 5.41 | 6.8 | 10.82 | 14.9% | 8.92 |
| 14 | Jordan Pickford | England | 0.79 | 3.80 | 4.8 | 7.59 | 15.9% | 3.80 |
| 15 | Vargas | Colombia | 0.79 | 3.38 | 4.3 | 6.76 | 2.5% | 3.38 |
| 16 | Rangel | Mexico | 0.78 | 3.03 | 3.9 | 6.06 | 6.7% | 3.03 |
| 17 | Cristian Romero | Argentina | 0.77 | 3.75 | 4.9 | 7.51 | 5.8% | 3.75 |
| 18 | Douglas Santos | Brazil | 0.77 | 3.29 | 4.3 | 6.58 | 2.4% | 3.29 |
| 19 | Lionel Messi | Argentina | 0.76 | 7.57 | 10.0 | 15.15 | 40.4% | 13.57 |
| 20 | Alisson Becker | Brazil | 0.75 | 3.75 | 5.0 | 7.49 | 7.4% | 3.75 |

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Method: Market odds (de-vigged) → Dixon-Coles scorelines → 50k Monte-Carlo simulations, scored on the official FIFA World Cup Fantasy points table.
Data license: CC BY 4.0 (attribution: evmax, https://evmax.ai). Machine-readable JSON: https://evmax.ai/api/round/5/efficiency.json