Skip to content

Sport hub · 36 guides · 3 calculators

Soccer rules, tactics and simulation

Soccer — association football — is a low-scoring game, which is why league tables, goal difference and tie-breakers carry so much weight and why a single result tells you so little about a team. These guides cover the rules that most often confuse people, such as offside and the way a league season is scored, and what positions and formations actually ask of players.

Our two soccer apps cover the manager’s chair and the player’s boots. Pro Football GM Club Soccer has you draft an XI position by position and simulate a league campaign; Football Career Soccer XI Sim follows one footballer from the academy to the end of a career. In these hubs, “football” on its own means the American game, which has its own hub.

Our soccer apps

Pro Football GM Club Soccer is the manager’s view: draft across every position, weigh position fit and playing style against ratings, then simulate a league campaign scored in wins, draws and losses, with club management for formations, transfers and contracts. Football Career Soccer XI Sim is the player’s view: create a footballer in one of six positions, earn Coach Trust, and play the key moments of each match — pass, shoot, dribble, press or make the run.

Where to start

  • Start with how a team is set up

    Formations describe how eleven players share the pitch, and most tactical ideas build on them. The formations guide is the place to begin; the positions guide explains what each role in a formation is for, and the guide to style fit why the roles have to work together.

  • Then the rules that decide matches

    Offside, league tables and goal difference explain most of what confuses new fans. The league table guide covers points and the common tie-break orders.

  • Choose the side of the game you want

    Squad building, formations and transfers belong to the manager. Coach trust, energy and morale, and what a player says at a press conference belong to one player’s career.

Start here

Rules and how the sport works

Statistics and what they measure

Strategy, tactics and team-building

Getting more from the simulators

Guides for any sport

These use our soccer apps as the example, but the ideas apply to every sport. More are collected on the sports index.

Calculators

Good to know

Soccer: common questions

What is the difference between Pro Football GM Club Soccer and Football Career Soccer XI Sim?
Pro Football GM Club Soccer is a draft and club-management game: you draft an XI position by position, simulate a league campaign, and can manage formations, squad depth, transfers and contracts. Football Career Soccer XI Sim is a career simulator: you create one footballer — goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, winger, forward or striker — and play the key moments of each match while Coach Trust decides your playing time.
How are points usually awarded in a league table?
Most leagues give three points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, then separate teams level on points with goal difference and further tie-breakers that each competition sets for itself. The league table and goal difference guides explain the common orders.
Where should a newcomer to these guides start?
With soccer formations explained, then soccer positions explained and how the offside rule works. The soccer draft simulator guide shows how those ideas carry into building a squad.
Sports indexSports calculatorsAll sports apps