More specifically, though, by playing some incredible football games. This is a feature about ten incredible football games, all easily playable right now, that you should get into to get ready for the big day on July 15th.

Without further ado, let’s jump right in!

FIFA 18

Let’s start with the most obvious choices first. And really, is there any choice more obvious than FIFA 18? EA Sports have refined their series’ gameplay to a ridiculous degree over the last few years, with FIFA 18 featuring even more refinements than its predecessor. With an entertaining career mode, the amazing narrative-driven The Journey, and the dangerously addictive Ultimate Team, FIFA 18 is a love letter to anyone who considers themselves a fan of the sport. On top of that, EA also recently released a World Cup update for the game, which is totally free. The perfect way to gear up for the festivities ahead.

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP SOUTH AFRICA

If you’re looking for something that’s even more dedicated to the World Cup than EA’s new update for FIFA 18 though, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa can scratch that itch. This was the last World Cup-specific FIFA game EA made, and it was absolutely brilliant. From its stellar presentation that captured the atmosphere of the massive competition that the World Cup is perfectly, to its moment-to-moment gameplay, which was bang in the middle of the period where EA Sports were making some of the best and biggest changes and improvements to their formula, 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa is the perfect side activity for football fans during the World Cup.

PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018

But of course, FIFA isn’t the only big name around when it comes to sports simulation video games- this is a two horse race, after all. Pro Evolution Soccer has been its massive and bitter rival for as long as anyone can remember. What the series lacks in shiny presentation and licenses, it makes up for its amazingly polished and fine-tuned mechanics, with many veterans of the genre even claiming that, as far as pure gameplay is concerned, PES has the upper hand over FIFA. Oh, and PES 2018 is also the last game in the series that will have UEFA licenses, so if for nothing else, maybe play it to hear that iconic song in-game once more.

FOOTBALL MANAGER 2018

While FIFA and PES battle it out year over year, every year, on the pitch for the crown of the best football simulation game, Football Manager consistently maintains its monopoly in the management simulation space. This is a game that is tailor-made for hardcore veteran fans of the genre. With a bevy of charts, graphs and stats to pour over, a ridiculous level of detail in systems, and micromanagement over every aspect of your team’s management like you’ve never seen before, Football Manager is easily a game you can pour literally hundreds of hours into.

NEW STAR SOCCER

If you’re looking for a lighter, more accessible football experience, then New Star Soccer, downloadable on iOS and Android devices, is the perfect game for you. New Star Soccer sees you playing as just one player, and it follows you on your journey from the lowest rungs of the football world to the very top. But it’s not just about football- when you’re not on the pitch, you manage your finances, you sign sponsorship deals, you buy stuff with your money, you manage your image with the media (and thus, the general masses), you improve your stats, hell, you can even participate in side activities (like betting on race horses, or playing blackjack). It’s a deceptively deep (yet still very accessible) experience that can pull you, and refuse to let go for dozens upon dozens – if not hundreds – of hours. The best part? It’s completely free.

SCORE! HERO

Score! Hero is yet another mobile football game, but unlike New Star Soccer, the focus here is squarely and solely on the on-pitch action. What sets is apart is how different, simple, fun, and addictive it is. Every time the moment arises to pass, cross, or shoot the ball, the action pauses, and you then have to chart the ball’s trajectory yourself, by drawing it on your touch screen. As we said, it’s very simple – you can basically play the game using just one finger – but it’s so, so good. On top of that, it looks great, and it’s also free.

FIFA STREET

FIFA is a series that has its fingers in many pies. There is, of course, the main series as well, but over the years, it’s also tried its hand at international-only games, management simulators, and street football. 2012’s FIFA Street brought back the fan favourite street football variation of the sport back into the limelight, and it’s fair to say that it wasn’t nearly as successful as its parent franchise. It has its issues, sure, but it’s also undeniably fun. You’re pulling off tricks, panenkas, and over-the-top flair shots in street environments with the likes of Rooney, Messi, and Ronaldo- how can it not be fun?

MARIO STRIKERS CHARGED

Okay, we’re getting into “weird football game” territory now, but Nintendo and weird basically go hand in hand, so it’s more or less unavoidable. The iconic Italian plumber has been a doctor, a kart racer, a tennis ace, and, well, a plumber. Mario and co, however, have also been weird, whacky football stars. Wii and Wii U title Mario Strikers Charged was an incredibly enjoyable game, mixing on-pitch football action with the trademark goofiness and over-the-top abilities and power ups that we all expect to see in any Mario game. Playing this game online against a friend is an absolute blast.

ROCKET LEAGUE

Is there any football game weirder than Rocket League? A bunch of monster trucks boosting around arenas, pulling off gravity-defying stunts, trying to jet an oversized ball into the opponent’s goal- who thought this was a good idea? Whoever it was deserves a medal, because Rocket League is a brilliant game. Mixing car combat with football? Absolutely genius. In spite of being three years old, Rocket League still remains hugely popular to this day, and that’s because it struck gold with its brand of bombastic gameplay.

DREAM LEAGUE SOCCER

You’d think delivering a proper, FIFA or PES-like experience on mobile devices would be next to impossible, but that is exactly what Dream League Soccer 18 does. In spite of being a free to play title, Dream League Soccer includes proper, full-fledged matches for you to play, as well as a meaty and addictive career mode to sink your teeth into, where you create your own team and pull it through the ranks to the very top. You upgrade your stadium, you buy new players- it’s the perfect blend of management elements and on-pitch action. Basically, as close to FIFA as you can get on iOS and Android.

Visually, World Cup just edges FIFA 10. Indeed, World Cup is, put brutally, little more than FIFA 10 dressed in new clothes – but they are some truly impressive threads. The presentation, as you’d expect from an EA Sports title, remains first class throughout; and it nails the colour and excitement that are integral to the tournament. It’s not just the menus that smack of class, awesomeness runs through the game itself.

FIFA has announced that, to save costs, the cup used from 2014 onwards will be chocolate covered in tin foil…

The atmosphere of match-day is incredible: air-horns, ticker-tape and the nauseating caterwaul of massed ranks of Vuvuzelas (which, thank Christ, can be switched off) that combine like Voltron to create an air of excitement that effortlessly exceeds previous offerings. Andy Townsend and Clive Tyldesley earn their money from the South African Tourist Board in the commentary box: preaching the virtues of the host nation at every opportunity and also bearing a generous amount of bespoke lines that help bring the action to life. This level of detail is maintained throughout the game. An attractive hub in the straight-up World Cup mode feeds in news from the virtual tournament, while off the pitch players are vulnerable to training injuries that all help make the game feel convincing and ensure that come victory or defeat it’s difficult not to feel attached to your chosen team.

Player likenesses for the top-drawer teams are fantastic. Smaller footballing nations aren’t quite so well presented however. And of course beneath that a-list sparkle lays a game that still stands as one of the very best takes on football – and it’s had a bunch of improvements of its own. Players are more composed when running onto through balls, meaning that fast-and-fluid aggressive football is now a much larger part of the game. This has had a significant impact on other areas too: crosses are now more often met with strong, well-directed headers or – more delightfully – well-struck volleys, meaning that goals now have a tendency to be suitably spectacular. It’s certainly FIFA 10’s beautiful game, but it’s had botox.

Why is Father Grigori playing for the Blue Team?

It’s had a subtle facelift too, and it’s one that goes a surprisingly long way. The pitch is the biggest beneficiary which, on paper, sounds underwhelming; but given that the grass holds the most real estate (pun intended) in a game of football, the new pitch textures make World Cup look a step beyond even the immediate predecessor, let-alone earlier incarnations. Player-likenesses are another area of improvement: England’s ranks, in particular, are eerily spot-on, though this does widen the gulf between the players that aren’t deemed worthy of some dedicated sculpting: lesser teams like Slovenia are swollen with clay-faced look-a-like orcs that could well have wandered in from Morrowind.

Penalties have been tweaked, and there’s now a pressure bar, which is trickier to nail during important moments in a match. 2010 FIFA World Cup is about more than refinement though. Old favourites like Captain Your Country (an offshoot of FIFA 10’s Be a Pro that lets you take a player from the bench to World Cup glory) make a return, but they’re joined by some new features. The most successful of these is Story of Qualifying. Scenarios from the preliminary stages of this year’s World Cup can be played: meaning the outcome of notorious matches like Ireland’s controversial exit thanks to Henry’s very own gesture moment is open to revision. The number of them included on the disc is impressive, and there’s even a few from pre-2006 in Germany. Should such a scenario involve penalties – and when England are involved it invariably does – 2010 FIFA World Cup features a slightly tweaked system. Pressure comes into play, with a moving needle that needs to be stopped at the right place before controlling the power of the kick with the shot button. It’s even possible to stutter a run-up, confusing the keeper at the expense of total control. It’s undoubtedly better than what’s gone before.

8/10 Americans think “Dutch” refers to a character from Top Gun.

Some of the new additions aren’t so welcome. The managers that patrol the touchline are cute at first but are overused and all too frequently the action is broken up so we can see a close-up of Fabio Capello sniffing his fingers. The dirty git Likewise, the crowds that the game cuts away to are poorly modelled: worlds away from some of the well-constructed player likenesses that make them ultimately look naff.

Then there’s the ‘Dad Pad’, a mode that reduces the control system to two buttons: Pass and Shoot. EA Sport’s beautiful game can’t withstand being so heavily blunted by a system that’s clunky and unreliable. Too often when attacking the system will cross the ball rather than lay it across the pitch, making it much harder to score when playing with the dumbed-down controls. It’s a well-intentioned attempt to open up the complexities of FIFA to a new audience, but sadly it doesn’t really work.

But the big question remains – does 2010 FIFA World Cup do enough to justify a purchase for owners of the already brilliant FIFA 2010? So yes, there are no club teams here, and the improvements it makes are incremental at best. But improvements they are – this is overall a better game than FIFA 10, and while it’ll inevitably be outstripped by FIFA 11 later this year, it still stands as the best take on the sport which is currently available.

This game was reviewed on the Xbox 360.