how it works
matchmaking
GOALS is designed as a competitive football game with a high skill ceiling. There are no catch-up mechanics, dynamic momentum systems, or hidden scripting influencing match outcomes. Results are determined by player performance.
Because of this philosophy, matchmaking plays a crucial role in creating fair and competitive games. Each game mode uses matchmaking differently depending on its purpose and desired player experience.
Below is a breakdown of how matchmaking works across all game modes.
Bot Games
Bot games do not use matchmaking since you are not facing another player. Instead, difficulty is determined by two factors:
1. AI Difficulty
The AI operates on three difficulty levels:
Level 1 — Easy
Level 2 — Medium
Level 3 — Hard
In Bot Practice, you can freely select the difficulty level.
In Bot Tournaments, difficulty typically increases as you progress. For example, early rounds may use Level 1 AI, while finals may use Level 3. The exact setup varies between tournaments.
2. Bot Team Rating
Bot teams also have player ratings, just like user-controlled teams. Higher-rated bot teams have stronger player abilities on the pitch.
Similar to AI difficulty, team ratings usually increase throughout a tournament — lower-rated opponents appear in early rounds, while stronger teams appear later.
Ranked
The Ranked game mode uses the strictest matchmaking settings. Its goal is to consistently match players of similar skill levels.
Matchmaking is based on MMR (Matchmaking Rating), which estimates a player's actual skill level.
MMR should not be confused with Skill Rating (SR):
- MMR determines matchmaking.
- SR determines rank progression and leaderboard placement.
We separate these systems because MMR can identify a player’s skill level more quickly and is less vulnerable to manipulation. Over time, a player’s MMR and SR naturally converge.
During a player’s first matches, they are placed in a separate calibration queue where new players primarily face each other. This helps establish an accurate initial MMR.
Quickplay
Quickplay uses the same matchmaking system as Ranked, but with looser constraints to prioritize faster matchmaking.
This means the acceptable MMR range is wider, allowing games to be found more quickly while still aiming for reasonably balanced matches.
Knockout
Knockout is our primary competitive game mode. Here, final placement is intended to reflect player skill rather than matchmaking assistance.
For this reason:
- Bronze Division: MMR is considered to ensure accessibility and encourage participation from players of all skill levels.
- Silver Division and above: Matchmaking becomes entirely round-based.
From Silver onward, you can face any player currently competing in the same division, regardless of MMR.*
This design ensures that progression reflects performance rather than favorable matchmaking. As players advance, overall difficulty naturally increases with divisions because opponents have also successfully progressed.
The toughest matches occur in the Knockout Division, where only players who reached the final stage compete against each other.
The best face the best — and only one player comes out on top.
*Based on liquidity round-based matchmaking could deviate from this
(Insert Knockout divisions overview)
Tournaments
Tournaments use a hybrid matchmaking system combining elements of Quickplay and Knockout.
Matchmaking is primarily round-based, meaning you face opponents who have reached the same tournament round*. However, MMR is also considered using a loose matchmaking setting.
This approach serves two goals:
- Maintain increasing difficulty as players advance through rounds.
- Ensure tournament remain accessible to players across skill levels, to not gatekeep tournament rewards to only the best players in the game.
If matchmaking were too strict in tournaments, each round would feel equally difficult because players would always face opponents of identical skill. By using a looser MMR range, later rounds still feel progressively more challenging.
We believe this hybrid approach balances accessibility with competitive progression.
*Based on liquidity round-based matchmaking could deviate from this
Friendlies
Friendlies have no matchmaking restrictions. You can play against any opponent regardless of MMR differences.
Because unrestricted matchmaking could enable challenge exploitation (for example, repeatedly playing the same opponent), certain limitations apply:
- Repeatable challenges are not available in Friendlies.
- The number of challenges that can be completed is limited.
However, Friendly matches still award points and XP, and occasional non-repeatable challenges may be available.
Technical Insights
Matchmaking Criteria
When two users are matched in any 1v1 game mode the matching is mainly based on the following criteria:
Skill: How closely matched are the players. How likely is it that the match is going to be even.
Latency: If both players can reach a common game server with good ping.
Wait time: The expected wait time to get a match.
The matchmaker constantly tries to optimize all three. When many players are searching, you get a skill-balanced match on a low-latency server with a short wait. When few players are searching, trade-offs become necessary — and what gets prioritized depends on the game mode.
MMR
MMR (Matchmaking Rating) is a hidden rating used exclusively for determining who you are matched against. It is designed to be a fast and accurate measure of skill — it adjusts more quickly than Skill Rating (SR) and is harder to manipulate.
SR is your visible rank. The two ratings converge over time, but keeping them separate means the matchmaker can stay accurate even when a player's SR doesn't yet reflect their true ability — for example, when they are new to the game or in the middle of a losing streak.
How the MMR Range To Match Is Determined
The MMR range that a user will match into is set to a range likely to produce a match within a reasonable time. This range is configured differently for different game modes — some modes prioritize faster matching with wider ranges, while others use narrower ranges and accept longer wait times.
The range is dynamically updated while searching, based on how many users are currently in the queue:
- How many players are currently searching who share overlapping game server locations with acceptable ping.
- The skill distribution across those searching players.
- Each player's platform and whether cross-play is enabled.
When more players are searching, the matchmaker becomes more selective, match quality improves before wait times shorten. When fewer players are available, trade-offs may be necessary depending on the game mode.
The MMR range does not expand the longer you wait. A player will not suddenly face opponents far outside their skill range just because they have been in the queue for a while. The only exception is if the wait becomes extreme (several minutes), in which case the range may widen to avoid indefinite queuing.
New Players
New players are matched against other new players where possible, during an initial calibration phase. This protects newcomers from immediately facing highly experienced opponents while their MMR is still being established. How effectively this works depends on how many new players are searching at the same time.
Latency and Game Server Location
Game server latency is measured directly from each player's client. This data feeds into both the matching decision and the server selection.
Step 1 — Matching
Matchmaking is global.
When evaluating potential matches, the system checks whether there is at least one game server location where both players have acceptable latency. If no common acceptable location exists, the two players will not be matched — regardless of how close their skill levels are.
There is also a latency threshold, there will be a match only if the players have a common game server location where both have latencies below this threshold (this also applies to Step 2 below).
For example: a player in Europe with 30ms to Belgium, 90ms to US East, and 220ms to Mumbai would have Mumbai excluded from consideration. That player will only ever be matched with someone who also has acceptable latency to Belgium or US East.
There are two exceptions:
- If a player has no location with acceptable latency, their lowest-latency location becomes the only viable location.
- In private matches, location restrictions do not apply — the best common location among all available servers is used, since both players have already chosen to play each other.
Skill difference and shared latency are weighted together during the matching process. The matchmaker seeks the combination that produces the fairest, most playable match — not simply the closest skill match or the lowest ping in isolation.
Step 2 — Server Allocation
Once two players are matched, the game server location is selected based on the latency measurements and current server availability. In the vast majority of cases, both players end up on the lowest-latency common server.
In rare cases, the preferred location may be unavailable — either because it filled up between the match being made and the server being requested, or because it was taken offline in that window. In those cases, the next best available location is used.
Cross-Platform Matching
Players can choose whether to enable cross-platform matchmaking. When cross-play is disabled, only players on the same platform are considered. This narrows the eligible pool considerably, which can affect both wait times and match quality — particularly in less popular game modes or off-peak hours.