As the FIFA Club World Cup unfolds, football’s biggest battle is no longer confined to the ground; increasingly, it is being fought across fantasy leagues, mobile games, esports tournaments, creator streams and virtual worlds, where fans don’t just watch matches but play, predict, compete and socialise around them.
Recognising this shift in engagement globally, FIFA has rapidly expanded its gaming ecosystem. Beyond its official FIFA Fantasy game, where users assemble 15-player squads to compete globally, the governing body has rolled out FIFA Play Zone, featuring prediction games, trivia and bracket challenges. It has partnered with Roblox, Netflix, Konami, Epic Games, SEGA Sports Interactive and others to create football experiences across genres, from arcade games and simulations to esports and virtual reality.
“Globally, fantasy football has evolved into a highly engaged and monetisable ecosystem, supported by platforms such as Fantasy Premier League, ESPN Fantasy Football, and Sleeper. These platforms benefit from mature football markets, deep fan engagement, and season-long participation,” said Chandrashekhar Mantha, partner and media and entertainment sector leader at Deloitte India.
The scale is already substantial. FIFA Super Soccer on Roblox has crossed one billion plays and attracts more than 10 million monthly active users. FIFA Rivals has surpassed 2.5 million downloads since launch in 2025, while FIFAe competitions through Konami’s eFootball have drawn more than 16 million players and generated over 1.1 billion views.
And India is increasingly becoming part of that digital playbook. As per an analysis by creator intelligence platform Qoruz, the FIFA World Cup Instagram account counts Indians as 10.21% of its 60.5 million followers, placing the country on rank 2, behind only Brazil. More than 100 million Indian viewers tuned into television, digital and social platforms during the opening weekend of the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup. Of these, 6 million viewers tuned in on OTT platform ZEE5, 25 million households tuned into television channel Unite8 Sports while social media platforms engaged the rest.
The rise in viewership is being mirrored by activity on gaming platforms, with fans extending their engagement long after the final whistle. Indrajit Ghosh, co-chair of the IDGS-CII Academia & Skills Council, sees the change at home. “As a parent of a 16-year-old who is an avid football gamer and a passionate follower of European football, I see firsthand how this generation engages with the sport,” he said. “Games like EA Sports FC and eFootball have become an extension of that fandom, allowing them to experience the sport rather than just watch it.
A teenager today may watch a Champions League match late at night, discuss it on social media, play with the same team in EA Sports FC the next day, and follow football creators on YouTube or Twitch. The boundaries between sport, entertainment, and gaming have almost disappeared.”
The English Premier League’s Fantasy Premier League (FPL) now has more than 11 million managers globally, including an estimated 180,000-200,000 from India. Before the ban on online real-money gaming last year, fantasy sports platforms such as Dream11, Mobile Premier League and My11Circle together had around 250 million registered users, although cricket accounted for nearly 85% of fantasy gaming revenues.
Pune-based Sen Thomas, who has been playing FPL since 2018, is part of a WhatsApp group of around 40 football fans who discuss transfers, statistics and tactics throughout the season. “There has been a huge rise in participation over the years,” he said. “People are constantly discussing stats, transfers and player performances.”
Football’s opportunity, however, extends well beyond fantasy contests. The most famous and globally renowned online football games in India are EA SPORTS FC Mobile (formerly FIFA Mobile) and Konami’s eFootball, having free-to-play mobile titles that allow users to build custom squads, compete in online multiplayer matches, and trade digital player cards across the country.
EA SPORTS FC Mobile recently introduced Hindi language support while expanding its online multiplayer modes. eFootball continues to build its esports ecosystem through FIFAe tournaments, and Dream League Soccer has found a following among users with lower-end smartphones. EA Sports FC Mobile has crossed 500 million downloads globally, while eFootball Mobile has surpassed 100 million downloads.
“Football gaming remains a niche compared to cricket, but it has built a highly engaged audience in India. The growth is being driven by younger, urban users who follow global leagues such as the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, and major international tournaments,” said Anurag Choudhary, founder and chief executive officer of game publisher Felicity.
The convergence of live sport and digital participation is reshaping fan behaviour.
“While cricket remains India’s most dominant sport, football has successfully established itself as a strong secondary sports category, particularly among urban youth and digitally connected audiences. For younger audiences, football is not consumed only as a 90-minute match. It is consumed through highlights, reels, fantasy conversations, jerseys, player fandom, memes, watch parties and esports content,” said Aditya Mani, IDGS-CII Delhi state panel chair and founder of YOLOgram Style, an avatar-based fashion and social app.
Rajan Navani, chairman of JetSynthesys, a digital entertainment and technology company, believes major tournaments have evolved into much larger engagement platforms. “They create a flywheel effect across viewing, playing, creating and sharing,” he said. “Video gaming increasingly serves as a natural extension of fandom.”
Industry executives say improvements in connectivity are broadening the audience. “Improved internet accessibility through widespread 5G adoption has significantly reduced barriers to discovering and following global football content,” said Yash Jain, founder of Grow Online.
“I used to play fantasy football on Dream11 until the ban,” said Animesh Chaki, a 34- year-old Gurugram-based software developer. “Once work took over, I started organising football nights twice a month where a bunch of my friends would play EA SPORTS on TV. Gradually, we all got into fantasy gaming. We never hit the jackpot, but it was fun. Now we’re back to our football nights, and the group is only getting bigger,” he adds.
Delhi-based Saurav Mishra (name changed on request) who works for an advertising agency, has played EA Sports football titles since his teens, recently bought EA Sports FC 26 during a Steam sale. “I bought EA Sports FC 26 on Steam for Rs 150. Otherwise, it would cost close to Rs 1,000,” the 29-year-old said, pointing to how digital distribution and frequent discounts have made premium football games more accessible.
“Despite this strong fandom, fantasy football in India has yet to achieve the scale, engagement levels and monetisation potential seen in fantasy cricket,” said Deloitte India’s Mantha. But several trends indicate growing potential. Unlike cricket’s event-led calendar, football offers a year-round cycle of domestic leagues, continental competitions and international tournaments, creating repeated opportunities for gaming companies to keep users engaged, said experts.
“Big sporting moments have always been growth moments for gaming. The FIFA World Cup creates the sharpest spike, but what’s more interesting is that football in India is no longer just a tournament-led sport,” said Kashyap Reddy, co-founder and chief executive officer of Metasports Interactive. “Millions of fans now follow clubs and leagues year-round. That shift from seasonal fandom to always-on fandom creates a much stronger foundation for football gaming.”
For FIFA, that evolution is precisely the point. Instead of watching it only on screen, it is increasingly something audience virtually play, manage, predict and share, making gaming an integral part of the sport’s growing digital economy. “The larger opportunity is not cloud gaming, cross-platform play, and creator-led content itself, but how the technology expands participation and reshapes fan engagement,” said Navani of JetSynthesys. “What is becoming clear across digital entertainment and esports is that audiences no longer want to be passive consumers. They want to play, create, compete, share, and participate in the communities they are passionate about. As these trends converge, the most successful platforms will be those that utilise technology to build communities and deepen fan relationships well beyond the whistle.”