If you’ve ever spent hours grinding for coins to sign a star striker only to lose 3-0 to a squad with 10 lower overall rating, you know team building in eFootball is far more than collecting the biggest names. Many new players skip the foundational work and end up frustrated when their all-star squad feels slow, uncoordinated, or unable to execute basic passes. Learning how to build a team in eFootball is the single most impactful skill you can master to raise your win rate, regardless of how much you spend on in-game currency. I’ve tested over 40 different squads across the last two game cycles, and the best performing teams never rely on just one or two high-rated players to carry them.
How to Build a Team in eFootball That Matches Your Personal Playstyle
Before you browse the transfer market or open a single pack, you need to lock in the playstyle you’re most comfortable using. It doesn’t matter if you have a 95-rated winger if you prefer to play possession football through the middle — they’ll just be wasted on the bench or out of position for most of your attacks. Your core playstyle should dictate every single signing you make, from your starting goalkeeper to your backup full backs. One of the biggest mistakes people make when learning how to build a team in eFootball is skipping this step entirely.
For example, if you love playing fast counter attacks, you need players with high pace, stamina, and off-the-ball movement, even if their overall rating is a few points lower than slower, more technical options. If you prefer slow, tiki-taka build up, prioritize short passing, vision, and ball control over raw speed for every outfield position. I made this mistake early on, when I signed a top-rated target man for my possession squad, only to realize he couldn’t complete a simple 10-yard pass to my midfielders to save his life.
Take 10 minutes before you start building to write down your go-to tactics, how you prefer to attack, and what areas of your current squad frustrate you most. This will stop you from wasting coins on players that look good on paper but don’t fit what you actually need.
Prioritize Hidden Team Chemistry Over Raw Overall Ratings
Most new players fixate on the overall squad rating number at the top of their team screen, but that figure tells you almost nothing about how well your team will perform on the pitch. Team chemistry, which measures how well your players connect with each other based on position, league, nationality, and playstyle familiarity, is 3x more impactful than overall rating, according to data from hundreds of high-ranked eFootball player surveys.
You don’t need 100% chemistry to have a functional squad, but anything below 70% will leave your players making bad runs, missing easy passes, and reacting slower to loose balls. The good news is you don’t have to restrict yourself to a single league or nationality to get high chemistry. You can mix and match as long as you have overlapping connections between adjacent positions.
Here are the easiest ways to boost your squad chemistry without sacrificing player quality:
Last season I ran a hybrid squad with players from 6 different leagues and 8 different nationalities, and I still hit 89% chemistry by focusing on adjacent position links instead of full squad uniformity. It worked far better than my previous all-premier league squad that had 98% chemistry but didn’t fit my playstyle at all.
Build a Balanced Squad With Depth for All Match Scenarios
It’s easy to pour all your coins into your starting 11 and forget about your bench, but you’ll regret that choice as soon as you pick up two injuries in the first half of a ranked final or have to rotate players for fatigue in longer tournament formats. A well-built squad needs at least two competent players for every position, even if your backups are 5-10 overall points lower than your starters.
You also want to avoid lopsided squads that are strong in one area and weak in another. For example, a squad with four 90+ rated attackers and three 75-rated defenders will always struggle against players that know how to hit fast counters, no matter how many goals you score up front. I’ve won dozens of matches against squads with 15+ higher overall rating than mine by exploiting gaps in their unbalanced defense.
When you’re evaluating your squad balance, pay extra attention to your full back positions. These are the most underrated roles in eFootball, and having full backs that can both defend and contribute to attacks will give you a huge edge over players that only focus on their strikers and midfielders. Don’t sign full backs with less than 75 defending and 70 pace, even if they have great attacking stats — they’ll leave huge gaps at the back for your opponent to exploit.
Test and Tweak Your Squad For 5-10 Matches Before Making Big Changes
It’s normal for your new squad to feel off for the first 2-3 matches, as players build up playstyle familiarity and you get used to their movement and passing tendencies. Most players make the mistake of selling a new player after one bad match, when all they needed was a bit of time to adjust to the team.
Run 5-10 casual matches with your new squad before you make any major transfer decisions, and take notes on what works and what doesn’t. Pay attention to small details, like which players consistently miss passes, which positions get caught out of position most often, and which attacking combinations feel the most natural. Small tweaks, like changing a player’s individual instruction or shifting your formation by one position, can fix 90% of squad issues without you having to spend any extra coins.
For example, I recently signed a new central midfielder who kept pushing too far forward and leaving gaps in my defense. Instead of selling him, I just changed his individual instruction to stay back while attacking, and he immediately became one of the best players in my squad. It’s easy to assume the player is bad when the real issue is just a misaligned setting that takes 10 seconds to fix.
If you’re still struggling after 10 matches, then you can start looking for replacement players, but always try small tactical tweaks first. You’ll save thousands of coins and avoid selling players that could have been perfect for your squad with a few small adjustments.
At the end of the day, the best eFootball squads are the ones that fit your unique playstyle, not the ones you see pro players using on social media. Learning how to build a team in eFootball takes a bit of trial and error, but if you prioritize chemistry, balance, and playstyle fit over raw overall ratings, you’ll be winning more matches before you know it. Don’t be afraid to experiment with hybrid squads or lower-rated players that fit your system, more often than not they’ll outperform expensive star players that don’t align with how you like to play the game.