GoKawiilThe FIFA World Cup 2026 games are here, and where many of our readers are into the sport, it’s time to provide an updated look at soccer/football arcade games that have popped up over the years. We did do an article on this way back in 2014, but aside from some outdated information, and there not being enough new releases in the genre since, it didn’t warrant a post every four years. There is however enough to add to it now, so we have adapted that 2014 post with some rewrites, additions, and updates for a fresh look at this niche for the business.
My principal experience with the sport came through my years of living in Brazil, which included being there when they won the World Cup in 2002. I wasn’t anywhere near a TV when it happened but boy did I know about it – I’ve never seen such a non-stop party since, with fireworks, horns honking, and hollering, and it just went on for two or three days. It was pretty wild, and stuff like Carnival couldn’t touch it (in fact, where I lived, most people left town for Carnival, so things were mellow when it was that time of year – Rio’s generally where most of the usual partying is). Fortunately there were no riots or violence that I can recall, at least in the place I was living in at the time.
Anyways, onto the games:
Before Video Games
While our main focus here is on the video game, the pre-video era deserves at least a brief mention. Pinball covers this ground well, with a flipperless pingame that was aptly called Soccer by G/M. Laboratories. The first time a flipper pin would apply the theme was with Williams’ 1958 release, Soccer Kick Off.
In the 1950s, companies like René Pierre would develop foosball, also known as table soccer. Many companies have tried their hand at that game, although RP is one of the longest lasting creators of the game.
A head-to-head pin by the name of Star Foot would come along in 1964, where the flippers had figurines of the team players integrated into them, almost like table soccer/foosball. Developed by a company called Satem out of France, this is the only product they have listed on the IPDB. I don’t know if it was the first head-to-head pinball game ever made, but almost all other soccer-themed games released between this and 1975 were also head-to-head games. That would also include a rare example of pinball to come out of Taito in 1967 called Crown Soccer Special. Sega then released Soccer, which was kind of a cross between a foosball & head-to-head pinball game. Sega would also put out the unique Motopolo, which was like soccer with motorcycles.
The 1970s
As a note, I am working hard on a history & trivia book about arcade games from the 1970s – kind of like this post, but expanded to most everything released that decade in terms of video games and pinball. Stay tuned for news on that, but I hope to have it ready before the Summer is over.
At the beginning of our industry in the 1970s, the limitations of TTL-chip technology meant that there wasn’t a huge variety in the types of games that were made available, with many falling under the “ball & paddle” genre.
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