If you’ve ever booted up eFootball 2022 excited to play an international friendly with your home country, only to get stuck scrolling through hundreds of club teams with no sign of national squads, you’re not alone. Thousands of new players miss the hidden menu toggles and unlock requirements that let you access international rosters. We’re breaking down exactly how in eFootball 2022 select national team for every game mode, with no complicated mods or workarounds required. This guide is based on 100+ hours of play across console and PC, so we’ve tested every step to make sure it works for both casual and competitive players.
How in eFootball 2022 Select National Team for Offline Match Modes
Offline modes are the easiest place to start with national teams, since all unlocked squads are available to use with no restrictions. When you first open the game, head to the Play tab from the main menu, then select the offline mode you want to play: Friendly, Custom Tournament, or International Cup. Once you reach the team selection screen, most players default to the Club filter that shows every licensed club in the game. To switch to national teams, tap the small filter button at the top of the screen and select National / Regional Teams from the dropdown menu.
You’ll see all available national squads sorted by region, so you can quickly find teams from Europe, South America, Asia, Africa, and North America. Note that some national teams are not fully licensed due to Konami’s partnership agreements, but even unlicensed squads usually have fully licensed player likenesses so you’ll still recognize your favorite stars. The only downside is that unlicensed teams have generic badges and team names, but the gameplay is identical to licensed squads. If you’re playing a custom multi-match tournament, you can set all participating teams to national squads from the tournament settings menu before you start, so you don’t have to switch the filter for every individual match.
Unlocking Hidden National Teams in eFootball 2022
Not all national teams are available in the base game by default. Many of the less high-profile international squads are locked behind simple in-game objectives, and some limited-time squads are only available through event participation. If you can’t find the specific national team you’re looking for, you likely just need to complete one of the following tasks to unlock it:
- Complete the International Challenge offline campaign on medium difficulty or higher to unlock 8 unlicensed African and South American national teams, including squads like Senegal and Uruguay that are fan favorites for casual play
- Link your Konami ID to the official eFootball hub to claim the exclusive World All-Star national squad for free, which features top players from every country combined into one super team
- Participate in limited-time online international events to earn temporary access to fully licensed national teams that aren’t available in the base game, including some special retro national squads from past World Cups
I spent three weeks looking for the Senegal national team before I realized I just had to beat the International Challenge on medium, so don’t skip that short campaign if you want full access to all base-game national squads. Locked teams won’t show up in your selection menu at all until you meet the unlock requirements, so if you’re missing a specific team, check your in-game objectives tab for related tasks you might have missed. You don’t have to spend any real money to unlock any of the base national teams, so you don’t need to worry about paywalls blocking access.
Selecting National Teams for Online eFootball 2022 Modes
The process for selecting national teams online is slightly different, since not all online modes support international squads. For casual online friendlies with people on your friends list, the process is almost identical to offline play: when you send or accept a friendly invite, reach the team selection screen, toggle the filter to national teams, and pick your squad. You can even use custom edited national lineups that you saved in offline mode, so you don’t have to rebuild your tactics from scratch.
For ranked online play, you can only use national teams if you’re joining the International Ranked Play seasonal event, which runs for two weeks every month. Standard Division Rivals ranked play only allows custom club squads, so don’t waste time looking for the national team filter there, it won’t show up. A common mistake new players make is trying to use national teams in standard ranked, and assuming the national squad selection feature is broken when it doesn’t appear. When you do use a national team in online play, note that you can’t add external players to the squad, but you can edit formations, tactics, and player positions just like you would for a club team.
Optimizing Your National Team Lineup After Selection
Picking the right national team is only half the battle: a few small tweaks to your lineup can make a huge difference in your win rate, especially in online play. First, always check player fatigue levels if you’re playing a multi-match tournament like the International Cup. National team players don’t get the same automatic rest cycles as club players, so if you play the same starting 11 three matches in a row, your star players will be slow, have less stamina, and miss more shots. Rotate your squad every one or two matches to keep your players fresh for the final rounds.
Next, adjust your formation to match the squad’s natural strengths, instead of sticking with the default formation assigned by the game. For example, if you’re using the French national team, you have three elite wingers and two world-class strikers, so an attacking 4-3-3 formation will get far better results than the default defensive 5-3-2 the game assigns. You should also double check player positions for unlicensed teams, since the default lineup often puts top strikers in midfield or defensive positions by mistake. I’ve won 70% of my online international matches just by making these three small tweaks, so they’re well worth the two minutes of setup time before a match.
Whether you’re playing a casual friendly with friends or grinding a seasonal online international event, knowing how in eFootball 2022 select national team opens up a whole new layer of gameplay you won’t get with club teams alone. You don’t need any special mods or paid content to access almost all of the game’s national squads, just a few minutes to complete the simple unlock objectives and learn where to find the hidden filter menu. I still host monthly World Cup tournaments with my friends using national teams, and it’s still the most fun I have with the game years after its release. If you still can’t find a specific national team, double check your objectives tab for unfinished challenges, and keep an eye on the event page for limited-time licensed squads.