The six best football games of the last decade

Football is a worldwide passion. The sport moves crowds, enchants passionate fans, provides exciting moments and is something very present and important in the lives of those who follow it faithfully. In video games, things are not much different, as football games often appear at the top of sales each year, boasting impressive numbers of players and, of course, offering good competition in the eSports scene as well.

As a football fan, my relationship with the sport started very early in video games. I must have played a title of the genre on all the consoles I had that had a game like this at their disposal. I went through Winning Eleven, PES, FIFA and even, the unofficial, patch bomb - famous PES modification -... after all, who never threw a patch bomb?

Football games have great space in the industry and this will certainly continue for a long time. PES and FIFA compete for the throne while no other title emerges as a new contender, so the clash is held annually between Konami and EA Sports. But after all, who took advantage in the last decade? In this article, we'll talk about the best football games in the decade that started in 2011 and ended last year.

THE BEST FOOTBALL GAMES OF THE LAST DECADE

The list won't necessarily show a title from each year, but it will cite the best games that came out between 2011 and 2020. It's worth remembering that lists like this can vary according to different personal opinions, so don't forget to comment which ones are your favorites!

FIFA 13

Although the list doesn't follow a specific order from the best to the worst, FIFA 13 comes first for being the greatest football game of the last decade. The title is the masterpiece of EA Sports, a game that delivers the most satisfying football experience of the seventh generation of consoles.

If the EA franchise was already consolidated and appeared at the top of sales, FIFA 13 arrived to place it in a level far above the competition. The game is, without a doubt, the pinnacle of FIFA and can be considered one of the greatest football titles in all of history, and it is even possible to say that it is the best of all time. With gameplay improvements, what was already good in the previous edition has become even better, with a much more real domination, as well as impressive physics and ball timing.

FIFA 13 brought many new features and improvements, such as improvements to Ultimate Team, new extremely fun exercises before matches and the online squad update system that accompanied the real lineups. Used until today, the system was a very interesting novelty that caught your attention when you noticed the lineups changing after each round of championships around the world, following what was seen on real lawns.

FIFA 13 is truly the best content EA Sports has ever delivered. The result was so impressive that not even the developer was able to repeat it, making the game remain to this day as the best FIFA ever released.

FIFA 14

Following a similar path to what was seen in FIFA 13, FIFA 14 kept the EA Sports franchise at the top. Despite not being able to reach the quality of its predecessor, the game also pleased many players and delivered enjoyable content. One of the main improvements in FIFA 14 was the change in artificial intelligence. This is perhaps the only aspect in which the game is superior to the previous year's title.

FIFA 14 didn't beat 13, but coming to eighth-gen consoles as well, the game was good enough to ensure that EA's superiority continued on the new consoles. The competition was again ruthlessly defeated. Konami at this point was already losing heavily.

FIFA 12

With a new collision system and the addition of online seasons, FIFA 12 was a huge step forward for EA Sports here in Spain. While in the FIFA world it already had the preference of many players, in Spain the fans still indicated a certain mastery of PES. However, what seemed a matter of time began to become reality in this edition of the EA game.

It was also in FIFA 12 that Ultimate Team began its journey to become the main mode of the game. The mode that was previously a paid add-on content, in the 2012 version - released in late 2011, following the pattern of all football games - UT is now free.

The online seasons, which arrived in a mode called Head to Head Seasons, brought more competitiveness to the game. Nowadays, without the old name, the seasons are still present in the franchise.

PES 2011

The decade started well for Pro Evolution Soccer fans, with a good game being offered by Konami. PES 2011 arrived at a time when EA was already showing itself to be the favorite of most players and was starting to take the throne of football games. In this scenario, the 2011 edition of PES had the mission to put Konami in the game, "touch the leader" and set the competition on fire.

PES was without identity. Each title seemed to follow a completely different path, while FIFA established itself as an excellent simulator. PES 2011 was also a game that presented many changes, but made them in the best possible way. With more precision and control in passing, crossing and shooting, Konami's game delivered a number of noticeable gameplay changes and pleased many players. Maybe it wasn't enough to beat the competition that year, but PES 2011 was certainly a quality title that made the contest between Konami and EA Sports more interesting. However, after this the franchise began to "fall down the table" while watching FIFA shoot the lead.

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PES 2016

PES 2016 brought what can be considered a pleasant surprise for players. If Konami's game was going through a rather disappointing long period while seeing the rival have great superiority, the 2016 edition has arrived to regain the franchise's honor.

Being the best Pro Evolution Soccer of the eighth generation of consoles, PES 2016 has had significant improvements in its gameplay. Dribbling has become a very useful weapon, being really effective if used in the right way. In addition, the game delivered a much freer and lighter experience, offering more satisfaction to players during their matches.

PES 2016 was not enough for the franchise to regain the throne that was its during the sixth generation of consoles, but it proved to be a good opponent for its rival.

FIFA 11

Even before the popularity of Ultimate Team, the online seasons and several other qualities and improvements that were presented by the titles that followed it, FIFA 11 offered a good experience to football fans.

If Pro Evolution Soccer started the decade well, the EA Sports franchise did as well and still forwarded the superiority that would be elevated in the following years. FIFA 11 is interesting for being a title that delivered a lot of quality even though it was a content released before the main features and improvements of the franchise were released, which makes it evident that EA Sports really was able to make players witness the golden age the franchise, with annual editions that have always maintained high quality, with many taking it to an even higher level.

FIFA dominance

As our list indicates, FIFA has had great dominance over the past decade. PES dominated the PlayStation 2 era and certainly outperformed the competition, but the game changed and the lead was taken by EA Sports' annual franchise. The seventh generation of consoles was the scene of absolute FIFA sovereignty.