What is it like to start eFootball in 2025?

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We can't say in February 2025 that "nobody remembers PES anymore". Of course, there are many fans of Konami football and football in general who still long for its golden age competing head-to-head with EA's FIFA series. But neither PES, nor FIFA, exist as they were traditionally known, and in a season where EA Sports FC 25 is garnering criticism from both its biggest fans and EA itself for its performance, Konami has managed to establish its free-to-play eFootball platform not only as a profitable business... but also as a much more robust and enjoyable gaming experience in recent times.

Okay, there's still no Master League mode. OK, we still don't understand why they never released eFootball on Nintendo Switch. But the fact is that the current product is much improved over the first few editions, when they had the annual tagline to mark the season. Since Konami decided to let go of the year with version 4.00, this "plain eFootball" has managed to add many more users (800 million downloads already) and, more surprisingly, convinced some who had left disenchanted to return, simply on the basis of traditional gameplay and a not-so-unfair F2P system.

You can take this article as a hybrid between an analysis of the current state and a first steps guide to eFootball in 2025, because we comment on the experience but we also tell you and show you in gameplay videos how to create a team and start playing, both offline against the CPU, and online in solo and cooperative doubles.

Chapter 1: Starting to play eFootball in 2025 from scratch

Here, you can see how the game starts up, including the creation of the first team once the ten initial signings have been made. We also take a look at the menus, which are now cleaner and more orderly, and look at the different line-ups and strategic possibilities.

As a free-to-play product, it's worth mentioning the Match Pass, which we thought was great for what we're used to. eFootball will shower you with rewards from minute one, and then every match you play really counts and rewards you with more rewards.

Finally, taking advantage of the signing of Leo Messi, we see that RPG touch that eFootball has to improve players and study their player progression. In this section of the game we have to assign points to the different stats and skill upgrades to adjust them to our style of play and preferences. For example, a faster and more incisive Messi, or one that keeps the ball better and passes beautifully.

Chapter 2: First eFootball League matches (against the CPU)

To progress in the eFootball League, you should know that you are not thrown directly against experienced online players. In fact, the first few League matches are played against the AI. It's true that it's a bit tiresome because you spend too many matches without playing against real opponents, but in the absence of a Master League, good things come in handy, and it will serve as training for the future.

Of course, the first divisions are a joke in terms of difficulty. As an example, it is enough to underline that the League shows a percentage of the players in each division, and this scoreboard shows an interesting fact: 42% of the players are in the 9th division, a circumstance that we understand is due to the fact that there are many users who simply get tired of playing against the computer.

Chapter 3: Matches against real players

This is where the good stuff starts, because there are some really competitive teams. At times, the experience can be overwhelming, but if you are patient and persevering, you can gradually get the hang of eFootball and it soon becomes a lot of fun, with close and evenly matched games right down to the wire. Of course: it will always depend a lot on the Collective Strength that each team gathers.

In these videos you can see very well the difficulty curve that at the beginning made us feel more awkward and uncomfortable and that later allows us to play with more ease match-by-match.

Chapter 4: Event Matches

Events are a mode where eFootball poses different challenges against the AI or against real players. All modes have very attractive rewards for further play, so we haven't held back on this section.

In addition, some of them are in the format of a specific challenge or test, rather than full matches. For example, the new Events, such as the penalty shootout , are very entertaining, fast, and effective. Also, Events that only allow you to play with players from one league help to make matches more balanced against users who have been around longer than you.

Chapter 5: The Division 6 Promotion Match

Moving up to Division 5 we consider it a turning point or a milestone in any eFootball player's career in 2025. Here, you can see our first clean sweep, and you can also clearly see the curve from the beginning to this game, where every single player is a joy to control.

Chapter 6: eFootball in cooperative mode

This is a more personal story, but it can serve as a reference for you. Once I was comfortable playing the game and ultra hyped, I told a friend how cool eFootball is in 2025. Said and done, we tried the double co-op mode and fell completely in love (with the game!).

With the current balance and based on the revamped matchmaking, at first we suffered beating-after-beating, which was to be expected against much more experienced online players. However, the feeling was very good: we felt like we were learning and, with each match, we were playing a little more with confidence. This was starting to give way to more fluid and better-timed plays, to defensive coverages that came out almost without speaking... In short, we were really hooked despite the defeats, because it awakened our curiosity and we saw the evolution and potential.

As the matches went by, although we continued to take a lot of beatings, they began to be interspersed with the ones we were giving to other pairs and trios.

Chapter 7: A new season arrives

After playing one season of eFootball, it has to be said that there are no significant changes with the start of the next one. Technically, each eFootball season change serves to reset the Match Pass and player rewards.

This, which seems repetitive or monotonous, is actually a good thing because the flow of gameplay is maintained quite well and the system invites you to keep playing.

Conclusions: eFootball has its pros and cons, just like Konami.

In closing, the truth is that eFootball has turned out to be a major surprise, a sort of revelation of the season. The updates implemented have hit the nail on the head, and the game works very well. Like PES in its best days, this title breathes pure football: the moves, the passes, the runs, the defensive behaviours, and the positioning in general, everything is very well done. But of course, let's be honest, my interest in eFootball is also accentuated by the great disappointment that EA FC provokes among online players at the moment. It's a title that I currently have zero desire to play another game of, and that's why in my case, I've drastically reduced the number of gameplay clips I used to capture from EA FC on a weekly basis.

However, not everything is perfect in eFootball and there are some points that are still quite annoying:

• Firstly, it's important to note that there are also unfair bounces in eFootball, especially when the other team is much better than yours. This is not unique to EA FC, and it is unpleasant to see how this factor still exists in football simulators, with bounces that seem to be predestined to always fall on the side of the team with the higher stats in reactions. Although in EA FC this is much more pronounced, in eFootball it is also noticeable, and annoying.


• Matchmaking is another point to improve. It's not normal to play four games in a row against top teams, who always have Gullit in their ranks. Yes, yes, some of you already know him: a super-powerful Gullit in God mode who not only scores and assists, but also steals balls, defends well, and even stops shots as if he were a goalkeeper.


• We have also noticed in some matches a scripting sensation similar to what we can see in EA FC: suddenly, your players feel much slower, or on the contrary, they become incredibly agile for no apparent reason. It's a little disconcerting when you're looking for smoother gameplay.


• And finally, the lack of co-op modes, both local and online, is something that continues to weigh down the experience. You should be able to play with two other friends at home without having to resort to another computer or console individually. Not having that option severely limits the potential of a co-op mode that could be excellent if it were better implemented.

In short, eFootball has earned a place among gamers thanks to its solid gameplay and a fair F2P system, but it still has room for improvement in some aspects. It's not the perfect game yet, but you can download it, try it, and play it for free and it has all the ingredients to continue to grow and surprise.