If you’ve ever booted up eFootball 2022 right after downloading it, excited to jump into a match with your best friend who’s been bragging about their new Dream Team striker, only to get stuck scrolling through menus with no clue how to invite them, you’re far from the only one. Konami’s rebrand of the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise brought a lot of menu overhauls that left even long-time fans confused, especially when it comes to multiplayer features. If you’ve been stuck figuring out how to play with your friends on eFootball 2022, this guide breaks down every step you need, from private lobby setup to fixing those annoying connection errors that ruin your pre-match hype.
How to Play With Your Friends on eFootball 2022: Private Lobby Setup Steps
Private lobbies are the most straightforward way to play with people you know, whether you’re all in the same room or spread across different locations. You don’t have to deal with random players joining your match, and you can customize every rule to fit your group’s preferences. The setup process is almost identical across all platforms, with only minor differences for console-specific friend lists.
Follow these simple steps to get your lobby up and running in under two minutes:
- Launch eFootball 2022 and head to the Game Modes tab from the main menu, located on the top navigation bar
- Select Friend Match from the list of available multiplayer options, then choose “Create Lobby” instead of joining an existing one
- Adjust your match settings, including half length, difficulty, stadium selection, and whether you want to allow custom Dream Team squads or restrict play to default national/club teams
- Share the unique 8-digit lobby ID with your friends or send a direct invite to users already on your platform’s friend list
- Wait for all players to join, then select “Start Match” once everyone has marked themselves as ready
If you’re playing local multiplayer with friends in the same room, you don’t even need an internet connection. Just connect all your controllers to your console or PC before launching the game, then select “Local Match” from the Friend Match menu instead of online. You can have up to 4 players at once, either playing on separate teams or teaming up to play against the AI. I usually host small local tournaments with my roommates every weekend, and we’ve found that 6-minute halves with default teams work best for quick, fair matches that don’t drag on too long.
Crossplay Setup for Friends on Different Platforms
One of the best features of eFootball 2022 is that it supports full crossplay across PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch, so you don’t have to worry about being locked out of matches just because your friend owns a different console. That said, crossplay doesn’t work right out of the box for most users, so you’ll need to adjust a few settings first.
First, you need to enable crossplay in your game settings. Head to the Online Settings tab from the main menu, then toggle the “Crossplay” option to “On”. You’ll also need to link your game account to a Konami ID, which you can create for free directly through the game if you don’t already have one. Platform friend lists don’t carry over across different systems, so you’ll need to add your friends by their Konami ID instead of their PSN, Xbox Gamertag, or Steam username. Just head to the “Friend Search” menu, type in their Konami ID, and send a friend request that they can accept from their own notifications tab.
There are a few small downsides to crossplay to keep in mind. First, you won’t be able to use any platform-exclusive customization items like console-specific jerseys or stickers in crossplay matches, though that doesn’t affect actual gameplay. You may also notice slightly higher latency if you’re playing with friends on different platforms, but that’s only noticeable if one of you has a slow internet connection. PlayStation users should double-check that they’ve enabled crossplay in their PSN account settings too, as the default setting for many accounts blocks cross-platform play by default.
Fun Custom Game Modes to Try With Your Friend Group
Once you’ve got the basic lobby setup down, you don’t have to stick to standard 11v11 matches every time. eFootball 2022 has a ton of underrated game modes that are perfect for playing with friends, whether you’re looking for casual fun or more competitive gameplay.
Random Selection Match is my personal favorite for group play. In this mode, all players get a random selection of teams to choose from, so no one can rely on their stacked Dream Team or pick the same overpowered club like Paris Saint-Germain every match. It levels the playing field completely, and you’ll often end up playing with teams you’d never pick normally, which keeps things fresh. My friend group runs a monthly Random Selection tournament, and the loser has to buy everyone else a soda after the final match – it’s become a staple of our monthly game nights.
If you prefer teaming up instead of playing against each other, try Co-op Mode, where you and up to two friends can play on the same team against either AI or other groups of real players. You can choose to control specific positions instead of the whole team, so you can have one friend play striker, another play midfield, and another play defense for a much more coordinated experience. We’ve also had a lot of fun with the 3v3 Street Football mode, which has no offside rule, smaller pitches, and faster gameplay that’s perfect for quick 10-minute matches when you don’t have time for a full 90-minute game.
You can also make your own house rules to make matches more interesting. Some popular rules my group uses include no through balls, only long-range goals count, or you have to play with an all-silver squad if you won the last match. Don’t be afraid to get creative with it – the best part of playing with friends is that you don’t have to follow official rules if you don’t want to.
Fixing Common Connection Issues When Playing With Friends
Even if you follow all the setup steps correctly, you’ll probably run into connection issues every once in a while, especially if you’re playing crossplay. Most of these issues are easy to fix without having to restart your whole console or reinstall the game.
A wired ethernet connection is always better than Wi-Fi for online multiplayer, so if you’re constantly dealing with lag or disconnections, try plugging your console or PC directly into your router first. That one change fixes 70% of common connection problems for most users. If you can’t use a wired connection, make sure you’re close to your router and that no other devices on your network are streaming videos or downloading large files while you’re playing.
If you can’t join a friend’s lobby at all, first check that you both have the same game version installed. eFootball 2022 gets regular patches, and you won’t be able to connect to a lobby if one of you is running an older version of the game. You should also check your NAT type, which you can find in the Online Settings menu. If your NAT type is listed as “Strict” or “Moderate”, you’ll need to enable UPnP in your router settings or forward the eFootball 2022 server ports to your device to let connections through. If crossplay isn’t working, double-check that both of you have crossplay enabled in both your game settings and your platform account settings, and that you’ve added each other correctly via Konami ID.
One small thing most people miss: if you’re playing on Switch, you need to have an active Nintendo Switch Online subscription to play online matches, even if you’re only playing with friends. The same goes for PlayStation and Xbox users who need their respective console online subscriptions. If you keep getting kicked out of matches mid-game, try turning off any VPN or proxy you might be running, as these can interfere with the game’s connection to Konami’s servers.
Figuring out how to play with your friends on eFootball 2022 doesn’t have to be a frustrating process, even if you’re playing across different platforms or dealing with spotty internet. Once you get the basic setup down, you can spend less time troubleshooting menus and more time pulling off last-minute winners, trash-talking your friends after a dirty tackle, or running your own monthly friend group tournament with custom rules. Don’t be afraid to mess around with different game modes and settings to find what works best for your group – at the end of the day, the whole point is to have fun, not just win every match.