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Forget EA Sports FC and Football Manager – there's a better football game to play during this World Cup
Rematch director Pierre Tarno tells us why now is the best time to jump in.
Sloclap
- Alex Raisbeck
Published: Friday, 26 June 2026 at 7:00 pm
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You may have noticed that there's quite a lot of football going on at the minute – it's only the World Cup!
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Football and gaming have always gone hand in hand, and while in bygone years, the extent of World Cup celebrations would be limited to FIFA promos, that's not the case this year.
Rematch dropped onto our screens just over a year ago. From French developer Sloclap – the team behind Sifu – it delivered an arcade-style football experience quite unlike anything else.
Against the odds, it has managed not only to compete with the giants of EA Sports FC and Football Manager, but improved with every update, cementing a dedicated fanbase.
With its definitely-not-a-World-Cup-update update, the Nations Cup 2067 now out, we spoke to director Pierre Tarno on why it's the perfect time to take to the pitch.
"The game is in the best shape it's ever been," Pierre explained, "and from what I read online, it seems to be a shared opinion".
Since launching last year, Rematch has leaned into its expressive, technical playstyle, adding new mechanics, features and more to make it the definition of easy to pick up, hard to master.
The Nations Cup kicks off Rematch season 4. Sloclap
For the Nations Cup update, a new fake shot mechanic has been introduced, alongside upgrades to the goalkeeper to deliver a more active, granular experience.
"It's the same game, and it's the same core concepts, core pillars, but there have been plenty of small improvements along the way that I think make the overall experience much more enjoyable. And there's still a lot of things to come."
In a world where new free-to-play titles struggle to maintain a committed playerbase, Rematch has done extraordinarily well to do so as a paid game, and according to Pierre, player numbers were on the up even prior to the Nations Cup update.
But that committed global playerbase makes the Nations Cup – which Pierre, again, reminds me is not the World Cup – an even more exciting prospect.
"We've got players from all over the world, and we think it's fun for them to be able to choose a country, whether it's their own country or a country they enjoy and appreciate, and through their performance, reach the top."
The implementation of the Cup has been carefully crafted so as to make even smaller nations competitive.
"We've been very careful to include a catch-up bonus system which avoids countries having demographic advantage, otherwise the US would be winning because they're our first territory [by player count] by far.
"And so, [with] countries with fewer people, you'll be scoring more points when you play for these countries."
It's already proven such a success that Sloclap has plans for it to return sooner than expected: "We might do it more frequently than once every four years."
On the concept of the World Cup, Pierre noted that the in-game Nations Cup takes place in a kind of utopian 2067, a concept similar to the in-universe game show of Embark Studios shooter The Finals.
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As The Finals integrates worldbuilding and story outside the 'game show' into the gameplay itself, I ask if Sloclap has plans to lean more heavily into the storytelling side of Rematch.
"Nothing that I can confirm or announce officially, but the way we thought about it was that we wanted the world and the art direction to reflect the values of the game, and the themes of the game.
"It's really a game about how collective action is even more important than individual talent, and so this inspired our direction to be quite colourful, with impressionist cultures.
"And it's also inspired us to set the game in a world that's not like today's football, you know, big business, big corporations, sponsors and stars, etc."
He continued: "It's something that I would like to explore somehow, but exactly how, it's still being discussed and thought about. But I think, yeah, there are cool stories and experiences to be had in that world, and I'd love to develop it further."
While having done well to retain so many players, Sloclap naturally wants to increase that number even further. As a mechanically complex game with a dedicated fanbase, it bears similarities with many fighting games, many of which also struggle to attract new players.
Pierre, however, views this as a strength rather than a weakness.
"I think the truth is that you don't need to have amazing skills on the pad to hold your own. The quality of your positioning, of your vision, knowing where to be, who to pass the ball to; if you already managed to do that, you can get all the way to Elite.
"It's the same way as Leo Messi is. The player who runs the least on the pitch because we just walks to exactly where he needs to be. Obviously you've got crazy skills and dribbling, but in a way, the basic layer can take you very far. This is a game IQ kind of thing."
At least it's coming home on my PC. Sloclap
Nonetheless, Pierre confirmed that the team is working on its tutorial experience. Much of the above will be second nature to players already familiar with the basics of football, but more needs to be done to help those new to football to "master the mechanics, but also master the tactics of the game".
So, whether you're considering returning to Rematch, or perhaps pick it up for the first time, why now? Pierre made his pitch.
"As mentioned before, the game is in the best state it's ever been in. Launch was a bit rough, and there were issues. In retrospect, it was probably foolish of us to consider that you can launch a game like that, that's never been done before without calling it officially early access, which it was, basically.
"Now we're in a stage where the game is in a really solid state, is going to keep improving, and there's no other game that plays like this. There's no other game that feels like football as much as Rematch does.
"Rematch is a game that feels like football. That feels like playing football with your friends.
"If you want the tactical, bird's eye view of football simulation, there are other games that do that. If you want a game that feels like football, come and join and play Rematch, and you'll have a good time."
Perhaps most importantly of all, who does Pierre think will win the World Cup? His answer is his least surprising of all: "I don't want to jinx it, but I do have high hopes that France will bring home a third star in July."
No doubt, Sloclap will be hoping for a world-class showing of their own on the virtual pitch over the next month, year and beyond.
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Authors
Alex RaisbeckGaming writer
Alex Raisbeck is a Gaming Writer at Radio Times, covering everything from AAA giants to indie gems. Alex has written for VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, PCGamesN and more.
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