When we talk about sports, football is what a lot of people think of as it is the biggest and the best, in my opinion anyway. With the sheer popularity of football, naturally, a lot of people want to play football games and control even their favourite players.
Luckily for these fans, a lot of the best football games are available to play right now, whether you are looking for a free-to-play game on your phone or a more skill-based computer game, there are endless options available.
FIFA (EAFC)
When a lot of people think of football games they think of FIFA, which is now EAFC but I will keep calling it FIFA throughout this out of habit. FIFA has been around for nearly 3 decades now and it feels like every year more players are joining the fray.
FIFA is the biggest footballing game and has spent years trying to improve most of its essential things. It has gained all the licensing for the biggest players and clubs in the world and has made the graphics and the player likeness its biggest priority.
Its biggest priority should be the gameplay and its core fanbase that have been around for decades. My first proper FIFA was in 2008 (I played PES before this) and since then it has somehow got worse to play. The players find new little ways to ruin the games and exploit errors in FIFA’s gameplay.
FIFA has become an esports regular game, proving its difficulty. You can even bet on esports like you can with football betting markets and some professional football teams have their own esports teams, Man City is a good example of this.
Pro Evolution Soccer
The original football game and one of my personal favourites. PES was a fantastic game in its prime and before FIFA’s pure dominance, it was the football game to play. It didn’t have the biggest names and licenses or even the look, but it was a football game for true fans of football. Rewarding patient play and build-up, rather than mazy skill runs and luck.
Unfortunately for PES, FIFA had more funding and better connections, the game hasn’t died per se but it hasn’t been able to come even close to FIFA for over a decade now.
Football Manager
In my opinion, Football Manager is the best football game of all time and has been since its early days. Even with FIFA and PES being dominant, Football Manager still had its core fanbase but it feels like over the last decade we have seen a massive influx of players. Especially now with the young generation being more interested in gaming and massive football fans, we are seeing them become obsessed with Football Manager like we were all those years ago.
Football Manager is a game that requires more football knowledge and skill compared to games like FIFA. Football Manager has become a staple in real-life football, with managers and scouts using it to enhance their game and find talented players.
An example of this was Will Still, the coach from England who rose up the managerial ranks in France. When Will Still started his job at Reims, he became a popular story and was shown a lot of attention because of his openness about learning from a Football Manager which a lot of people can relate to.
Overall, football games are not hard to come by and even luckier for fans, football games are usually good. Even the worst FIFA game or the worst PES are still better than a lot of other football games. We should count ourselves lucky as football fans and make use of the games we have. Especially with Football Manager if you haven’t played it.
Lynn Martelli is an editor at Readability. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University and has worked as an editor for over 10 years. Lynn has edited a wide variety of books, including fiction, non-fiction, memoirs, and more. In her free time, Lynn enjoys reading, writing, and spending time with her family and friends.
