Football video games have been around for over three decades now. History states that the first full-color Football-themed title was released in 1979 by Mattel with “NASL Soccer” built exclusively for the Intellivision. Still, we have to go back to 1976 for the first official football video game for the Binatone TV Master MK IV. However, football was nowhere near as important as it is today. In fact, it’s now comfortably the most popular sport to watch and bet on around the world. All of this explains why so many licensed bookmakers decide to offer free bets before big football shows such as the UEFA Champions League and FIFA World Cup finals. If you’re new to soccer and wondering if co-op games have rightly moved on to team sports, you’ll be pleased to know that there are plenty of co-op soccer titles to choose from.

FIFA 22

EA Sports’ FIFA franchise is still alive and well. Its cooperative mode is one of the most engaging in all football video games. In fact, in the latest version of FIFA 22, there is a dedicated FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) “Cooperative Lobby”, where friends can team up to participate in cooperative FUT games to earn rewards and points by completing in-game objectives.

This new “Public Matchmaking” mode is perfect for casual football players who are happy to be paired with another FUT player who wants to play on the same team. In the game, you can control any player on the team except for the one your random teammate is actively controlling at the time. Cooperative gameplay has been further enhanced from FIFA 21 to FIFA 22 with the ability to play together in the “Division Rivals” and “FUT Champions” game modes.

rocket league

Although not football in its purest form, Rocket League is a crazy but engaging fusion of automotive fun and football game dynamics. Hone your car until it’s ready for the battlefield and compete in arcade-style football matches, trying to ram the oversized ball into the opponent’s goal using your vehicle swollen. This cooperative game has become one of the most popular sports-themed eSports games on the planet. The Rocket League Esports franchise has a prize pool of approximately $6 million up for grabs by professional teams.

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Online and split-screen functionality allows you to pair up with friends or teammates in co-op Rocket League teams in 2v2, 3v3, or 4v4 mode. Co-op mode is available against other human-controlled teams or AI-controlled teams.

Kopanito All-Star Football

Take a look at the casual mobile games market and you will get a glimpse of Kopanito All-Stars Soccer from Merixgames. It is one of the most popular arcade-style soccer games available today. It’s entirely skill-based, so while there are crazy superpowers assigned to individual players, they need to be used at the right time to hit the back of the net.

Kopanito All-Stars Soccer has local cooperative gameplay, with the ability to team up with a friend on the same side against a team of AI-controlled bots. There’s a nod to some of the more nostalgic football arcade sims in this release. There are distinct shades of Sensible Soccer and Kick Off, both of which had a bird’s eye view of the pitch. The game continues to be refined by the Merixgames team after its inaugural release in 2014.

To sum up the three titles mentioned, if you want the most authentic and realistic football simulation, FIFA 22 stops a bit in the cooperative stakes. If you love fusion games and don’t care about every aspect of your gameplay being true to the sport, Rocket League and Kopanito All-Stars Soccer are just the thing for you. Rocket League nurtures competitive players, with an online league system allowing you to progress your vehicle through divisions and continue to refine and customize your football machine for bigger, faster matches.

Best of all, all of these games are 100% cross-platform, with the ability to play on a host of traditional and next-gen consoles, desktops, and mobile devices.