Fantasy Premier League: When is the deadline for using your wildcard in FPL?

With the World Cup fast approaching, Fantasy Premier League (FPL) players will have some tricky decisions to make on the state of their squad.

If you've fallen behind in the opening 15 gameweeks of the season, this weekend is your last chance to make up vital ground before the World Cup starts.

It's been a tricky start to the campaign for a lot of FPL users, given the unpredictability of the current Premier League season.

Liverpool - normally bankers when it comes to defensive points - have kept only four clean sheets, while 10 goalkeepers already have 50 points to their name, making it tricky to pick a definitive number one that can gain you points over your rivals.

Then there is Erling Haaland. His 122 points - 31 more than any other player in the game - means that, if you are one of the very few not to pick him at any point this season, you might find yourself struggling to make it back up the leaderboard.

But even if that is true for your team, GW16 can still be critical in saving your season:

Fantasy Premier League: When do I need to use my wildcard?

Each FPL player is granted two wildcards a season.

The first wildcard is active from GW2, with the second wildcard usually activated from January onwards. That means you can add any real-life transferred players to your team.

However, because of the World Cup, things are slightly different this season.

The second wildcard is active after January, as usual. But the first wildcard must be used before, or on, this weekend's GW16 - prior to the World Cup break.

Therefore, if you have not already used your first wildcard, now is the time to do so.

How does the wildcard work?

For those new to FPL, playing your wildcard allows you to make unlimited permanent transfers for one gameweek. In addition, all these transfers are free.

Like always, these transfers must keep you under the £100 million budget cap that exists in the game, but it is a valuable way to catch up to your opponents prior to the World Cup if you need to.