World Cup Fantasy Game to Exclude First Round of 16 Match for Observant Jewish Players
To maintain fairness, the first match in the round of 16 will not be included. The explanation is below.
Sport 5 Published: 11.06.26, 10:49 (GETTY) | Photo: Sport 5
Channel 5 Sports and Bank Yahav’s World Cup fantasy game is set to kick off today (Thursday), alongside the World Cup opening match between Mexico and South Africa. We are already moving ahead to the knockout stages with an important update.
The round of 32 will conclude during Saturday, July 4, in the early morning hours, while the round of 16 will begin later that same day in the evening. To preserve fairness in the game, for the sake of those who observe Shabbat, it has been decided that the first match in the round of 16 will not be part of the World Cup fantasy scoring.
This will allow us to extend the transfer window until after Shabbat ends and enable observant players to build an updated lineup for this stage. The players from the two teams competing in the first match of the round of 16 will be grayed out, so they cannot be selected, and in any case this match will not be part of our fantasy game.
Good luck to all the managers, veterans and newcomers alike, and happy World Cup season.
World Cup 2026
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