Emmanuel Agbadou offers rare defensive efficiency in Round 3
The Ivory Coast defender ranks second overall for value at 1.289 points per million, with minimal ownership.
Emmanuel Agbadou sits at rank 2 in Round 3's efficiency standings, posting a value score of 1.289 points per million—bettered only by Amad Diallo's 1.457. At 3.9m, the Ivory Coast defender delivers 5.03 xPts with a captain EV of 10.05, making him one of the tournament's most economical picks. His 0.6% ownership means you're unlikely to find him in rival squads.
The efficiency gap between Agbadou and other defensive options is meaningful. Guela Doue and Ghislain Konan, his Ivory Coast teammates, both offer 1.237 points per million—a 4% drop in value. Virgil van Dijk, despite elite underlying numbers (6.05 xPts, 12.09 captain EV), converts to just 1.099 points per million at 5.5m, and carries 22.2% ownership. Agbadou's ceiling of 4.22 is modest, but his price point makes that irrelevant to the value calculation.
Agbadou's 0.6% ownership combined with 1.289 value makes him a contrarian play in a Round 3 where ownership clusters around premium assets.
Ivory Coast's fixture against Senegal (kickoff 2026-06-25T20:00:00+00:00) offers reasonable defensive opportunity. While Agbadou won't generate the ceiling upside of Amad Diallo (14.15) or Nicolas Jackson (14.05), his xPts-to-price ratio rewards disciplined squad construction. The data suggests he's being undervalued relative to peers at similar price points.
Bottom line: Agbadou's 1.289 points per million and sub-1% ownership make him a smart value pick for Round 3. Lock him in as a defensive filler and redeploy the savings toward premium attacking assets.
The data
| # | Player | Pts/m | xPts | Price | Captain EV | Owned % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amad Diallo Ivory CoastDifferential | 1.46 | 8.60 | 5.9 | 17.19 | 1.3% |
| 2 | Emmanuel Agbadou Ivory CoastDifferential | 1.29 | 5.03 | 3.9 | 10.05 | 0.6% |
| 3 | Ibrahim Mbaye SenegalDifferential | 1.27 | 5.57 | 4.4 | 11.14 | 0.3% |
| 4 | Crysencio Summerville NetherlandsDifferential | 1.24 | 6.59 | 5.3 | 13.18 | 7.6% |
| 5 | Guela Doue Ivory CoastDifferential | 1.24 | 4.82 | 3.9 | 9.65 | 2.3% |
| 6 | Ghislain Konan Ivory CoastDifferential | 1.24 | 4.95 | 4.0 | 9.90 | 1.0% |
| 7 | Edin Dzeko Bosnia-HerzegovinaDifferential | 1.23 | 7.52 | 6.1 | 15.03 | 0.7% |
| 8 | Nicolas Jackson SenegalDifferential | 1.22 | 8.15 | 6.7 | 16.31 | 0.5% |
| 9 | El Hadji Malick Diouf SenegalDifferential | 1.16 | 4.75 | 4.1 | 9.50 | 1.4% |
| 10 | Maxim De Cuyper BelgiumDifferential | 1.15 | 5.39 | 4.7 | 10.78 | 2.7% |
| 11 | Abdoulaye Seck SenegalDifferential | 1.14 | 4.34 | 3.8 | 8.69 | 0.0% |
| 12 | Kerim Alajbegovic Bosnia-HerzegovinaDifferential | 1.13 | 4.76 | 4.2 | 9.52 | 0.2% |
| 13 | Yan Diomande Ivory CoastDifferential | 1.12 | 6.62 | 5.9 | 13.24 | 1.9% |
| 14 | Orlando Gill ParaguayDifferential | 1.10 | 3.85 | 3.5 | 7.70 | 0.4% |
| 15 | Virgil van Dijk Netherlands | 1.10 | 6.05 | 5.5 | 12.09 | 22.2% |
| 16 | Thomas Meunier BelgiumDifferential | 1.07 | 5.13 | 4.8 | 10.26 | 1.2% |
| 17 | Denzel Dumfries Netherlands | 1.07 | 6.08 | 5.7 | 12.17 | 16.8% |
| 18 | Ayoub El Kaabi MoroccoDifferential | 1.06 | 6.25 | 5.9 | 12.51 | 0.2% |
| 19 | Yahia Fofana Ivory CoastDifferential | 1.05 | 4.42 | 4.2 | 8.84 | 2.6% |
| 20 | Leonardo Balerdi ArgentinaDifferential | 1.05 | 4.19 | 4.0 | 8.38 | 0.1% |
Bottom line
Agbadou's 1.289 points per million and sub-1% ownership make him a smart value pick for Round 3. Lock him in as a defensive filler and redeploy the savings toward premium attacking assets.
How we get these numbers. Market odds (de-vigged) → Dixon-Coles scorelines → 50k Monte-Carlo simulations, scored on the official FIFA World Cup Fantasy points table. Every figure here is machine-readable at /api/round/3/efficiency.json.