Our Fantasy Draft With Europe’s Top Players Ahead Of UEFA Nations League

Everyone loves a fantasy draft, especially when it involves some of the players who made the 2026 World Cup the most entertaining edition of the tournament ever. With the return of international soccer this week, we decided to conduct a fantasy draft focused around the final group-stage games of the UEFA Nations League. We’ll be seeing eight of Europe’s top teams advance to the two-legged quarterfinals in March with the semifinals and final held in June 2027. The rules of this draft were simple: Let the selection begin, or skip ahead to see how these two super-squads would fit on the pitch. No. 1 Pick: Lamine Yamal | Forward | Spain Doug McIntyre: With the first pick, I obviously have to pick the 19-year-old World Cup winner, who a couple of weeks ago I called the world’s best player right now. The youngster is playing like the greats who previously wore the No. 10 jersey at Barcelona, with 10 goals in 11 La Liga games so far this season. Yamal also scored four times in four matches for Spain during the September/October window, including in a 3-2 Nations League group-stage win over England at Wembley. No. 2 Pick: Harry Kane | Forward | England Luis Miguel Echegaray: Well, Doug stole Lamine, so I had to match that aggression and there was no way in the world I was drafting my starting XI without the Ballon d’Or winner. Kane has six goals in four Nations League matches for the Three Lions and in this final window, fresh from signing a new contract with Bayern Munich, he’ll be roaring for more against Croatia and Spain. Kane is a double threat because his ability to drop deep allows him to be a creator as well as a finisher. And you can’t beat that kind of dual excellence. No. 3 Pick: Kylian Mbappé | Forward | France McIntyre: With all due respect to Kane and Erling Haaland, Mbappé is currently the most lethal finisher on Planet Fútbol. In July, he became the first player to score double-digit goals at a World Cup in more than half a century. The French superstar has also outscored both at club level this season, with 16 strikes in La Liga and the Champions League for Real Madrid. No. 4 Pick: Erling Haaland | Forward | Norway Echegaray: I felt starting strong upfront was important and with Mbappé gone, I decided to create a two-headed monster and pair Kane with Haaland, who comes in with three goals so far in the Nations League competition. Norway had a rough start to the tournament in the previous window, but with two doable matches (Wales and Denmark), it’s a great chance for the Manchester City man to keep scoring. It’s become second nature for the 6-foot-4 striker, who has 13 goals for Man City in all competitions this season. The fact that he’s Norway’s all-time scorer already? With 65 goals in 59 international matches? That’s insanity. No, it’s Erling Haaland. No. 5 Pick: Michael Olise | Forward | France McIntyre: On a French squad featuring Mbappé and former Ballon d’Or winner in Ousmane Dembélé, Olise has been the straw that stirs Les Bleus’ drink. The Bayern Munich man was his country’s best player at the World Cup. He’s been even better since under new France manager Zinedine Zidane, with four goals in four matches so far. No. 6 Pick: Jude Bellingham | Midfielder | England Echegaray: His brother Jobe Bellingham has joined him in the England squad and for the first time since 2007, there will be siblings on the men’s national team. But let’s not get it twisted. Jude Bellingham, alongside Kane, is the driving force behind Thomas Tuchel’s side, as his five goal contributions in four matches have shown. At the World Cup, he earned seven goals and one assist in 617 minutes of action. This meant he became the first Englishman to score seven goals at a single World Cup. This season? He also has seven goal contributions for Real Madrid, showing that under José Mourinho, he continues to be a potent force. No. 7 Pick: Pau Cubarsí | Defender | Spain McIntyre: The most talented center back in the game earned that distinction over the summer, when the 19-year-old anchored a Spanish defense that conceded just one goal in eight outings en route to its World Cup win. Now Cubarsí, a 2024 Olympic gold medalist and two-time La Liga champion with Barça, is gunning for his first Nations League title. No. 8 Pick: Riccardo Calafiori | Defender | Italy Echegaray: Portugal’s Nuno Mendes was my original choice here, but with the PSG left-back opting out due to injury, I have to include Riccardo Calafiori, who has been magnificent this season for Arsenal. So much so that Roberto Mancini’s set-up for Italy has called for Calafiori to start over Federico Dimarco, the Inter man who won player of the season last year. Calafiori has a goal and two assists in the Premier League and in the last window, he scored his first international goal for the Azzurri, a towering header against Türkiye. After missing three straight World Cup finals in disappointing fashion, Italy is improving and Calafiori is a major reason. No. 9 Pick: Vitinha | Midfielder | Portugal McIntyre: For all of its attacking flair, there’s no way PSG wins back-to-back Champions League titles without the Portuguese midfielder holding things down in the center of the park. He’s every bit as important for Portugal, too; after helping his country win the UEFA Nations League over Spain last year, Vitinha finished third in the 2025 Ballon d’Or voting. No. 10 Pick: Pedri | Midfielder | Spain Echegaray: For me, there is no better creative midfielder, no better architect in the game than Pedri. His ability to distribute and conduct Spain’s tempo is like watching Picasso paint. He only has one assist so far in the tournament, but I think this will increase in this window. This might not be a high-stats pick in the draft, but I just couldn’t see a side without Pedri, who also has two assists and one goal in La Liga for the Catalan side. No. 11 Pick: David Raya | Goalkeeper | Spain McIntyre: So what if Raya watched from the bench as Spain won the World Cup with longtime No. 1 Unai Simón between the sticks? By posting 28 clean sheets in 51 appearances as Arsenal won the Premier League and lost the Champions League final on penalties, many still consider the Gunners keeper soccer’s current top backstop – including me. No. 12 Pick: Declan Rice | Midfielder | England Echegaray: The Arsenal midfielder and Premier League champion is the best player in his position in this tournament right now, notably after Rodri’s absence. He has five assists in the league so far and scored a great goal against Bayern Munich in the Champions League. Rice needed a rest in the previous window so he wasn’t selected, but the thinking now is that he is raring to go, and I have a feeling he’ll make a big statement in these next two matches. Yes, I realize Rice is my third Arsenal selection. Trust me, I don’t like it more than you do. But as we all know: Ball don’t lie. No. 13 Pick: Joško Gvardiol | Defender | Croatia McIntyre: Though last season was a down year for the Manchester City centerback after being named the Premier League titan’s top player in 2024-25, the Croatian – who is still only 24 – remains one of the best at his position in the global game. Hopefully an injury in Manchester City’s loss on Nov. 7 to Nottingham Forest won’t preclude him. No. 14 Pick: Virgil van Dijk | Defender | Netherlands Echegaray: There’s no doubt that Liverpool is going through a learning period under Andoni Iraola. But for the Netherlands, who are now led by Xavi? Van Dijk is playing his usual, consistent self as the team is tied with Greece for the lead in its Nations League group with eight points from the first four matches. Van Dijk even scored against Greece, who the Dutch face again in this window. There’s also a big upcoming clash against Germany and his former Liverpool boss Jürgen Klopp. So I think we might see another consistent performance from arguably one of the greatest defenders of his generation. No. 15 Pick: Marc Cucurella | Defender | Spain McIntyre: Opponents and fans alike love to hate the Spaniard’s flowing locks. But it’s hard to argue that Cucurella isn’t the second-best left-back (behind the injured Nuno Mendes) after his star turn for La Roja at the World Cup, or his play for Real Madrid since then. No. 16 Pick: Bruno Fernandes | Midfielder | Portugal Echegaray: As I mentioned earlier, I think we are going to see a different Portugal without Cristiano Ronaldo and one of the biggest beneficiaries from his international retirement will be Bruno Fernandes. Sure, things are messy on the west side of Manchester but for his national team, when things are clicking, he is a major driving force. He has two assists in the Nations League so far and now that he will fully take on set-piece responsibilities, I see Bruno taking a further step under Portugal manager Jorge Jesus. No. 17 Pick: Dominik Szoboszlai | Midfielder | Hungary McIntyre: While the Liverpool playmaker doesn’t get much international love playing for Hungary, few players mean more to their country’s chances. Szoboszlai has a chance to vault his team up the Nations League group stage standings this month, with a six-pointer against first-place Northern Ireland looming on Nov. 17. No. 18 Pick: Bart Verbruggen | Goalkeeper | Netherlands Echegaray: I can’t say enough good words about Bart Verbruggen, who is having a tremendous season with Brighton & Hove Albion right now. The Dutch stopper is joint-leader in the Premier League’s Golden Glove race alongside David Raya with six clean sheets in nine matches. And in all competitions? Ten. I probably should have gone with Unai Simón in the draft, but I didn’t want to bore you all with two Spanish stoppers. Verbruggen is the real deal and reportedly, the successor to Thibaut Courtois at Real Madrid. For now? The 24-year-old earns my pick in between the sticks. No. 19 Pick: João Neves | Midfielder | Portugal McIntyre: All this 22-year-old does is win, whether at club level (he helped Benfica claim a Portuguese title before his haul of trophies with PSG) or with his country, for which he was part of the triumphant Nations League squad in 2025. No. 20 Pick: Ezri Konsa | Defender | England Echegaray: I went with my former Villan here as Konsa has been excellent for Mikel Arteta’s side since joining from Aston Villa. It is not an exaggeration to suggest that he is currently the best English defender in the Premier League, helping Arsenal maintain four clean sheets when he has featured. For England, he is a leader and versatile defender, where he also scored a goal in that thrilling third-place match at the World Cup against France. His presence on the national team in the Nations League has been impacted by injury, but now that he’s fully back in this lineup? I see him as a key factor for Tuchel. He most likely won’t play right back for England, but I still had to have him in my lineup. No. 21 Pick: Arda Güler | Midfielder | Türkiye McIntyre: The Turkish Delight isn’t as well known as some others on this list, but that will change quickly if his early-season form continues for Real Madrid, for which he has three goals and five assists across 13 La Liga and Champions League games. He occupies an even bigger role for Türkiye, which is looking to rebound against France and Belgium this month after getting outscored 11-2 in four Nations League losses earlier this fall. No. 22 Pick: Dávid Hancko | Defender | Slovakia Echegaray: I want you all to know this. Dávid Hancko is one of the best defenders in the game right now. Full stop. For Diego Simeone’s Atlético de Madrid, he is a pivotal reason why the side has started so well this season as his duel-winning, physical and relentless coverage of the pitch turns him into a force of nature. For Slovakia, he has led this team to only conceding two goals against Faroe Islands and Kazakhstan, he should once again play a key role in this window. Starting XI Formations And with the conclusion of the draft, here’s how the formations could pan out. Would we get a golazo-fest or could each team’s respective backlines and keepers be able to withstand all that attacking power up front? Going with a diamond-shaped midfield on Team McIntyre with Arda Güler at the tip creates a lethal attack, but puts pressure on that three-man backline. And for Team Echegaray, you gotta love the two-striker setup that you don’t see often.