Matchday Champions celebrates early access with a star-studded tournament

Since colossally shooting themselves in the foot with a bazooka and fumbling their deal with EA Sports, FIFA is no doubt scrambling for other games to plaster its name on to cover the financial blackhole they made themselves. Enter Matchday, with their officially licensed Matchday Champions recently launching in early access.

In Matchday Champions, you put together your dream squad of legends and send them onto the pitch to carry you to championship glory. Sounds like the basic formula of a sports game so far but there's a twist; you can use both men’s and women’s players. It would be fantastic to see Kevin De Bruyne setting up Sam Kerr, and this might be as close as we ever get.

Something this game has over others is its proprietary simulation engine. According to Matchday, this will ensure no two matches are ever the same by crafting unique narratives. I was under the impression that every football match was already unique, but it would be interesting to see how this actually works in play.

To promote this release, the developers are hosting an event; Copa Alexia x Céline. Here you will pick your side between two-time Ballon d’Or winner and UEFA Women's Player of the Year Alexia Putellas, or an influencer, Céline Dept. Truly a difficult choice with no easy answer.

When you have instantly chosen Alexia Putellas, simply head over to Matchday Champions and start playing games to earn points. By doing their you can win some neat in-game rewards to strengthen your squad and steamroll your early matches. Act quick though, as the tournament wraps up on September 29th.

After Putellas and everyone gets their beefed-up squads full of Haalands, you can turn your unstoppable dream team on the single-player mode. Or, if you are feeling feisty, take on your friends and see if you can’t prove yourself as the greatest armchair manager in history.

Matchday Champions is available to download from the App Store and Google Play.