This year’s world championship in the USA, Canada and Mexico is an ideal opportunity for us to remember how the biggest soccer competition has been celebrated through video games.
The World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico enters the elimination phase tomorrow. For some nations, the next match will be the end of the road in that competition, and for us, this text will be the conclusion of a historical review of video games that marked the world championships in football.
In the previous two articles, we went through the initial era of those games and the establishment of EA Sports as a long-term license holder for FIFA competitions. Now we have to go through the last 16 years to the somewhat infamous final.
World Cup 2010: South Africa
This was the first and so far the only world championship held on the African continent, and it was accompanied by probably the best football game of the world championships that we had the opportunity to play. The 2010 FIFA World Cup set a new record for the number of playable nations – as many as 199. While the previous games were just remakes of FIFA titles from the same year, this game was in development for a full year and it showed. They even recorded authentic vuvuzelas!
Unlike FIFA 10, this game had some specific mechanics. For example, the altitude of the location where the game was played affected the energy of the soccer players. National teams that normally play at higher altitudes tired more slowly than opponents that do not play in such conditions. In this game, a new system of penalty kicks was debuted, in which, in addition to the strength of the shot, precision had to be determined. This system was later used in FIFA games until 2016.
As in previous World Cup games, here we had different scenarios from past World Cups, but also missions that were updated according to the results of the current championship. For the first time in a World Cup game, we could manage an individual player on the field through the so-called Captain Your Country mode. In terms of presentation, this was also a specific game with the display of real team menus, authentic groups of fans, fan props, etc.
2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa sold more than two million copies and earned the status of the best video game of the world football championships. Unfortunately for a section of players, for some reason the game was only available on consoles and never appeared on PC.
World Cup 2014: Brazil
Do you remember this championship? The first in which Croatia played in the very opening, and for our neighbors from BiH this was the debut championship. For the world of video games, this was the last standalone World Cup game directed by EA Sports. The 2010 FIFA World Cup was released only for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles, although we were already playing on PS4 and XBO consoles back then.
The number of playable national teams grew once again – to a record 203. The greatest reach was that qualifications could be played on all continents, and the tournament itself was available in its entirety as an online competition, for the first time.
The presentation of the game was enhanced by showing the atmosphere in the fan zones outside the stadiums, and between the games you could listen to EA Sports Talk Radio, where presenters and guests commented on the chances of the national teams, etc.
Although this was the only official game of the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, it is worth saying that FIFA 14 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One also received an update with the World Cup mode, while on PC the same was marked through the former FIFA Online 3. This was also an indication of the future to come. We didn’t know it at the time, but this was the last stand-alone World Cup game that could be purchased.
World Cup 2018: Russia
Croatia has a special memory of this world championship because we reached the finals there. However, in gaming it was not so significant. From this world championship, there was no longer a separate game, but the event was marked through the World Cup add-on for the then current FIFA game. If anything, the expansion was free and available on PC, PS4, XBO and NS platforms.
We had 32 licensed teams, authentic jerseys, stadiums and all that. However, something was lost in all of this. There were no more qualifying games, and instead of special modes, the world championship was integrated into the Ultimate Team mode and its cards.
Although we cannot say that this is a bad addition for FIFA 18, the fact is that the absence of a separate game for the World Cup broke a long-standing tradition and reduced the excitement around the event in the virtual world.
World Cup 2022: Qatar
Another championship in which the Croatian national team went far and another one that was marked through DLC. There is almost nothing to comment here: this was an add-on like the one before it, with additional elaboration on the dominant Ultimate Team mode. It is worth mentioning that this was a kind of farewell for EA Sports from the official license for the FIFA World Cup. FIFA 23 was the last EA Sports game to feature an officially licensed World Cup.
World Cup 2026: USA, Canada and Mexico
And here we are at the current World Cup, where we were greeted by perhaps the least accompanying excitement in the world of gaming. As FIFA and EA Sports parted ways on not so good terms, the rights to the official game of the world football championship were obtained by the company Netflix. This means that this game can only be played on mobile platforms and only with an active Netflix subscription. Unfortunately, if you are in Croatia, BiH or Serbia, even that will not be enough. Because look at the irony – the Netflix game of the world football championship is not available worldwide, but only in certain markets.
However, it should be said that this world championship was marked in two other ways, apart from that game unavailable to us. Unofficially, EA Sports FC 26 got a mod called World’s Game. However, since EA Sports does not have a license for this championship, it all came out kind of lukewarm. The mod brings all the nations competing in the tournament and an authentic group schedule, but that’s about all we got.
The license for FIFA World Cup 2026 was grabbed by the Sports Interactive team, responsible for the Football Manager series. Thus, in their Football Manager 26, you can play an authentic world championship in football, for the first time in that series. However, it is authentic in terms of visual presentation: there is a recognizable cup, it is played with a Trionda ball. But – no hydration breaks!
What’s next?
The next World Cup in football will be the jubilee 100th edition of that competition and will be played in as many as six countries. FIFA is trying to make the event an even bigger spectacle, but for now it doesn’t seem like it involves any spectacle in the world of video games. National competitions in the world of video games are not as popular as club competitions, and developing a new football game for FIFA would bring more costs than profits. But four years is a long period in which anything can happen and/or change. Who knows, maybe the final chapter of the World Cup video games has not yet been written.