How to play The Matchball
The Matchball is a simple and fun fantasy game based around how teams do in real-life matches.
For every football match, you pick a team for one of five categories. Each team earns points on their performance in each category. Your score is a total from the teams you picked.
Currently, the following competitions are available in The Matchball: Premier League, Champions League, Serie A, La Liga, Championship.
How to play
For each game, you pick one team to earn you points in each of the five points categories:
- Passing accuracy
- Shooting accuracy
- Corners
- Fouls
- xG difference
You can change your selections right up until the game starts.
As the game is played you will earn points based on your chosen team's performance points. Your total points are updated in real-time as each football game progresses.
During each game you play against other players around the world to battle it out to become mini-league champion.
You can earn in-game coins and Boosts by playing and performing well. Boosts improve your points in different categories, giving you a points "boost" over other players. Coins can be used to buy boosts.
Playing against others
Every player is automatically entered into each game's mini-league. The top 3 players win Boosts.
There is also a Global League table, where all players compete together for the weekly title.
Points categories
- Passing accuracy: teams earn between 20–50 points when their passing accuracy is over 60%. Accuracy is calculated from accurate passes / total passes × 100.
- Shooting accuracy: teams earn between 20–50 points when their shooting accuracy is over 20%. Accuracy is calculated from shots on goal / total shots × 100.
- Corners: teams earn 3 points for every corner they win.
- Fouls: teams lose 1 point for every foul they commit (pick the team you think will commit fewer fouls!)
- xG difference: teams earn or lose points based on the difference between how many goals they score compared to their expected goals ("xG"). Their xG difference is mulitplied by 10 points (limited between -20 and 20 points). For example, a team which scores 2 goals and has an xG of 1.24 will earn 7.6 points (0.76 × 10).
Earning XP
XP shows how experienced you are in the game. A you earn XP, you also climb through game levels.
You can earn XP by playing individual games and getting high scores. Warning: some results will also lose you XP!
- +1 XP: Submitting picks for a game (Trainee level only)
- +1 XP: Earning +60 points from a game
- +2 XP: Earning +80 points from a game
- +3 XP: Earning +100 points from a game
- -2 XP: Earning fewer than 50 points from a game
- +5 XP: Winning a game's mini-league (miniumum 5 players)
- +2 XP: Coming 2nd in a game's mini-league (miniumum 5 players)
- +1 XP: Coming 3rd in a game's mini-league (miniumum 5 players)
Levels
As you earn and lose XP you will move between game levels. Everyone starts as a Trainee and can progress through to being the GOAT 🐐.
You earn a boost every time you level up.
- 0 XP: Trainee
- 20 XP: Academy player
- 60 XP: Squad player
- 120 XP: Regular starter
- 200 XP: Key player
- 320 XP: Captain
- 500 XP: Superstar
- 750 XP: Hall-of-famer
- 1000 XP: GOAT
Leagues
Every week there is a Global League table, ranking players based on total points earned.
The week runs from Tuesday midnight to Tuesday midnight UTC. The top 3 players by total points and the top 3 players by highest average points earn boosts for their performances.
Earning prizes
Participating in the game will earn you coins and Boosts, which you can then use in future games to earn higher point scores.
You can also buy coins and Boosts from the Matchball Shop.
Here's how you earn coins...
- If your game score is over 80, you earn 1 coin for every 10 points (so if your game score is 107.6, you earn 10 coins).
- Inviting a new player to the game (20 coins).
- You can also buy coins from the Shop.
Here's how you earn Boosts...
- Invites
- Inviting a new player to the game (Basic, Pro or Elite)
- Single games
- Winning a mini-league (Elite) (minimum 5 players)
- Coming second or third in a mini-league (Basic or Pro) (minimum 5 players)
- Getting the maximum available points in a single game (Elite)
- Weekly league
- Finishing top by total points or average points in the weekly Global league table (Elite)
- Finishing second or third by total points or average points in the weekly Global league table (Basic or Pro)
- Ongoing activity
- Levelling up with XP (Basic, Pro or Elite)
- Every 10 played games (Basic, Pro or Elite)
- You can also buy Boost packs from the Shop.
Buying coins and boosts
You can buy coins and boosts to help improve your points at any time from the Matchball Shop.
Sales are powered by Stripe and charged in USD, EUR or GBP. Once purchased, coins and boosts are immediately applied to your account, therefore refunds are not possible.
For help with purchases, please email hello@thematchball.com