There are various football games available on multiple gaming platforms at present, with each offering very different experiences, but which offers the most significant representation of the real-life game?

The EA Sports FIFA Series and Football Manager are some of the biggest games representing the sport right now, and we will look at the advantages and limitations of each relative to football in reality.

Football Manager 2023

The latest title from Sports Interactive features official UEFA licensing, which means the world’s biggest club competition, the Champions League, and its sister competitions the Europa League and Europa Conference are featured. In real life, the UCL is popular across the globe with many people tuning in to watch Europe’s best players and even place bets on the flagship competition.

Due to it being such a popular competition, the Champions League features heavily on soccer betting markets in Europe, as well as other places such as the US as betting sites aim to attract new customers from different sports fanbases. Naturally, the US is a competitive market, so it can be hard for newcomers to work out the best option for them. Therefore, sites such as BonusFinder US provide a comprehensive breakdown for individual states such as Ohio, which includes ratings for the various options based on the features they offer. This level of accessibility makes the industry much more beginner-friendly.

In contrast, Football Manager may not be beginner-friendly but it certainly offers the most realistic football gaming experience due to the depth of control available, as well as the detail of the player database which is incredibly accurate.

FIFA 23

FIFA may not offer the most realistic experience but it provides what Football Manager lacks in regards to having complete control over the gameplay aspect, as well as having many superior graphics to the management simulation game.

In terms of its gameplay, FIFA has made strong strides this year to make the gameplay mechanics represent reality more accurately. An example of this was through the addition of new FIFA running styles, these include three types; explosive, controlled and lengthy. Explosive relates to short and agile players who are extremely quick on the ball but can be caught over longer distances. Controlled performs how a player typically would in past editions. Lengthy means that taller heavier players that do not have the best acceleration but are extremely quick over long distances are now viable to use in-game.

Players such as Virgil van Dijk have recorded some of the highest running speeds in real life but up to now, this has not been shown in the game. But now for the first time ever, there seems to be a clear distinction between acceleration and sprint speed that can actually be seen in-game.

Overall FIFA’s gameplay mechanics are of course superior, with Football Manager’s 3D match engine only comparable graphically to a FIFA of the 2000s perhaps. However, Football Manager offers a level of detail that reflects how a real-life football club works that FIFA can not compete with. FIFA wins in terms of game mechanics but is no match for FM’s extreme level of detail.