Warm up for the World Cup

Yesterday’s World Cup qualifying draw in South Africa threw up some interesting match-ups, as the countdown to the biggest football event on the planet began (only 927 days, 11 hours, 38 minutes and 22 seconds to go). Of course, that leaves you plenty of time to practice your soccer gaming skills before all the ubiquitous World Cup 2008 titles are released.

Try out these top sims to get ready for the main event, or even act out your own country’s qualifying group. We’ve included some old favourites mixed with a selection of interesting freeware and shareware games:

• FIFA 08 – The grand-daddy of soccer sims with all the international licences
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 – Like FIFA, only better
• Sensible Soccer – The only game where players are named after candy bars
• New Star Soccer – 2D side-scrolling affair where footballers look like ants
• Sensational Soccer – Guide your favourite team to pixelated football glory
• Yoda Soccer – Free, open source game in the style of Sensible Soccer
• United Football – Unique online sim where you control a single player
• Addictive Football – Five-a-side fun on different playing surfaces
• Kickin’ Soccer (Mac) – Win the World Cup on your Mac
• The Match (Symbian) – Another Sensible Soccer clone for mobile phones