To some, it’s an exciting fantasy football game. Collectors may look at it as the logical digital evolution of panini stickers and top trumps cards, while others will view it as a way to use your football knowledge to trade players, make money and earn rewards. Whatever category you fall into, the process of getting started on Sorare is roughly the same. In this Sorare guide for beginners, we’ll run through what to expect from your first few days, weeks and months on the platform.
We finish off with some handy tips and Sorare strategies that should help get your journey off to a successful start. This guide was fully updated in October 2024 following major gameplay updates for the 2024/25 season in Europe.
Signing up to Sorare
As outlined in our Sorare review, joining the platform is very simple and straightforward and you can do it anytime, given Sorare’s fantasy football competitions are weekly rather than seasonal affairs.
Given the vast majority of countries do not view this as a gambling platform, there are no long security checks to go through, no bank details to enter and no deposit is required to get going. You can play the free version of the game (known as Sorare Rivals) as long as you want.
Signing up is best done using an affiliate or referral link. Almost every Sorare content creator will have one and in truth it doesn’t really matter which one you use, as all come with the same basic offer (you may see older referral links promising free cards, but these are no longer valid).
You can sign up here for £/€/$50 of credits which will be activated once you have bought five cards via the primary market (auctions or instant buys). The credits can then be used within 30 days for a 50% discount on new cards on the primary market.
Starting your club
Once you’ve completed the sign up process, you can either opt to play Rivals or skip this and go straight to Sorare Pro. You can always return to Rivals at a later point should you wish. You can also play both the free and paid versions of the game at the same time.
You’ll soon get your first glimpse of the Sorare dashboard and the “My Club” screen which will look rather empty initially. You can customise some of the visuals to make things look a bit nicer by adding a logo and header.
Beneath that, you’ll see the “My Cards” section, possibly the most important part of Sorare as it shows all the players you own.
Once you start buying cards, they’ll appear here. Beneath that, you’ll also see the “Collections” section. By building collections of players from the same team in the same season, you can add small bonuses to your player scores of 1-5% when you field them in your fantasy lineups.
Above “My Club” in the left sidebar, you’ll see the “Market” tab. This is where you can go to buy cards, although you may find it simpler to search for the player you are interested in via the search icon in the top right of your screen.
Above the market (or next to it at the bottom of your screen if you’re using the mobile app), you’ll see the “Play” tab. This is where you go to set your five-man lineups and compete for rewards by entering fantasy competitions which commence each Tuesday and Friday.
At the top of your screen, you should also be able to see the wallet which displays your current balance and is where you can go to top up. There are a few other icons which are not of vital importance initially, but will become clearer as you progress along your Sorare journey.
You will also see some other tabs, including one for Rivals. There are also NBA and MLB versions of Sorare which can be played using the same account. For the purposes of this guide, we’ll solely focus on the Pro version of Sorare football.
Understanding scarcities, competitions & rewards
It’s important to understand the basic competition structure on Sorare, what rewards you can win, and what kinds of players you will need to seriously compete, before you dive in and start buying cards.
While it is difficult as a newbie to fully understand all of those things, doing some prior research and having some kind of strategy is highly advisable. It may also be wise to start small with your expenditure and target just one competition initially as you get a feel for the game. You can always buy more cards and target more competitions once you’re feeling more confident.
Card scarcities
These are the four scarcities on Sorare that you can buy cards of:
| Scarcity | Maximum number of cards issued per player per season |
| Limited | 1000 |
| Rare | 100 |
| Super Rare | 10 |
| Unique | 1 |
These scarcity cards are fundamentally different to free Common cards used in Rivals, in that they are actual digital collectibles and have a maximum number that can be minted in any one season. If you win or buy one, it is yours to keep and use as you wish. You can use it to play in tournaments, sell it to another manager for cash or maybe even exchange it for another manager’s card.
Given the supply is greater, Limited cards are the cheapest to buy while Uniques are the most expensive with only one minted per season.
Each scarcity has its own competitions, although higher scarcity cards can be used in lower tiers. That means, for example, you can field a Rare card in a Limited competition but can’t use Limiteds in Rare competitions.
For most new users on Sorare, Limited (these are gold-coloured cards) is the obvious entry point. Initially at least, you most likely won’t need to worry about the other three scarcities. Managers with a bigger budget could opt to skip Limiteds altogether though and target Rares or Super Rares where both the costs and rewards are much greater.
Competitions
Fantasy football competitions on Sorare are not just divided between scarcities, but also between In-Season and Classic. This is a really important difference to understand.
In-Season competitions at the Limited and Rare levels, require you to pick at least four cards from the current season, with one classic card (from any previous season, even if the player’s club has since changed) also allowed.
For Classic competitions, you can pick any card from any season. Some players have old cards dating as far back as the 2018/19 season and it’s generally easier and cheaper to buy Classic cards as opposed to In-Season ones.
Assuming you start with the lowest scarcity, you can therefore choose between whether you initially target Limited In-Season or Limited Classic competitions, although it is possible to play both.
In addition, you will want to figure out whether you are going to first target Champion, Challenger or Contender competitions. These are the three main competitions on Sorare most weekends and depending on where your player is based, they’ll only be eligible for one of those competitions:
| Competition | Covered leagues |
| Champion | Premier League, LaLiga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1 |
| Challenger | Eredivisie, Jupiler Pro League, English Championship, Portuguese Primeira Liga, Danish Superliga, Turkish Super Lig, Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A, MLS |
| Contender | Liga MX, Superliga Argentina de Futbol, Austrian Bundesliga, Scottish Premiership, SuperSport HNL, Swiss Super League, J1 League, Russian Premier League, Eliteserien, French Championship (D2), LaLiga HYPERMOTION, Serie B, 2. Bundesliga, K League 1, Primera Division de Chile, Ecuador Liga Pro, Primera Division del Peru, Chinese Super League, Colombian Primera A |
The cheapest cards are usually going to be in Contender. Therefore a budget-minded approach to getting started on Sorare, would be to compile an initial squad of players that will enable you to field a Limited Contender lineup each weekend. Prices and the value of rewards tend to be higher as you move up to Champion which covers Europe’s big five leagues.
Champion, Challenger and Contender competitions also feature divisions. As a new user at the Limited level, you’ll start in Division 5 and in theory will compete against managers with weaker collections. If your team performs well enough on any given matchday, you can win promotion and in the matter of a few weeks or months, you can potentially climb all the way up to Division 1 where the competition is tougher, but the rewards are much juicier.
As well as the main three competitions, there are also various extra options including Under-23 comps where only young players from any covered league can be fielded. There are also special weeklies which vary from week to week and include some midweek tournaments for Champions League, Europa League and Conference League matchdays.
If you’d rather focus on just one league, which may simplify things if you’re new to Sorare, you can also play Premier League, LaLiga and Bundesliga only competitions.
Rewards
When you go to enter your lineups via the “Play” tab, you can see the Prize Pool for any competition which outlines the rewards you can win by finishing high up in the overall rankings.
Rewards for In-Season competitions are solely cash prizes and reward boxes. You can typically win $1500 for finishing 1st in Division 1 Champion Europe for example, but there are usually thousands of cash prizes handed out on most weekends across the different competitions and divisions.
In Classic competitions, while podium positions can earn you cash prizes in some cases, it’s mostly cards and reward boxes that are handed out as prizes for the best performing managers. Card rewards are always In-Season ones, meaning you’ll be able to use them in In-Season or Classic competitions in future gameweeks, or simply list them on the market and try to sell them for cash.
While you’ll need to finish near the top of the leaderboard to win card or cash prizes, reward boxes are more attainable. These can include market credits (similar to the ones you get for signing up), card boosts or Essence capsules.
Essence can be collected over time and ultimately exchanged for a card once you reach certain thresholds. You can see how much Essence you have by clicking on the capsule tab in the top menu. Reward boxes appear to the left of that on the top menu and need to be clicked on and opened by you in order to reveal and benefit from what’s inside.
Deciding your initial strategy
There is no definitive right or wrong way to play Sorare and that’s partly what makes it such a fascinating game. It helps explain why thousands of managers around the world love playing it and believe it is much superior to more basic fantasy games like FPL where there is much less variation in terms of how you can approach it.
As with most things in life though, much depends on how much money you are willing or able to spend on building a collection. Your budget is perhaps the most important factor when it comes to deciding your initial strategy and we’ll look at some possible approaches you could take depending on that below.
Other factors to consider include where your own knowledge base lies. If you’re an expert on the club you support and they are a reasonably strong side with some players that tend to score well on Sorare, you could opt to simply build one collection and field your best five players each week.
As a fan, you ought to be well placed to know who is going to start and stacking (fielding a number of players from the same team) can be a very effective strategy on Sorare where it is possible to pick a lineup from just one team should you so wish.
Some managers opt to specialise in individual leagues, but given you could in theory compile lineups consisting of players from everywhere from the J-League to the Peruvian Primera Division, there really is a wide spectrum from which to choose.
You don’t need to be an expert in any one division or team to start playing Sorare, but it’s probably wise to decide a scarcity to target, decide whether you are going to mostly play In-Season or Classic competitions, and whether Champion, Contender or Challenger will be your initial focus.
Getting started on Sorare with £/€/$100
Given that you can get $50 of credits when you sign up to Sorare, an initial $100 budget can effectively be turned into $150. That’s not enough to be thinking about anything other than Limited cards, but it’s sufficient to at least make a start on the platform and build a small In-Season Limited gallery that should enable you to field one lineup each weekend which might be capable of winning cash rewards.
You won’t be able to pick up any of the elite European talents on that budget given, at the time of writing (October 2024), In-Season cards of the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lamine Yamal alone sell for more than $150.
However, it should be enough to find a starting goalkeeper in Champion, as well as perhaps a couple of strong, but not absolutely elite players in each of the outfield positions. While it only takes five players to field a lineup, you’ll want more than that to allow for the potential of injuries and suspensions, while also having more flexibility in terms of taking advantage of players who have more favourable fixtures.
Given you can’t use credits to buy Classic cards, it largely makes sense to initially target In-Season if you’re starting out on this kind of budget. Your money will go further in Challenger or Contender competitions where it may be possible to build a gallery that will enable you to field a couple of lineups each weekend, particularly if you’re targeting leagues that are nearing their conclusion.
For example, at the time of writing, you can pick up high-performing In-Season MLS or J-League cards on the cheap with the likes of Leo Messi selling for around $30. You’ll only have a short amount of time to use them before those seasons end though and they’ll become Classic cards next year.
Getting started on Sorare with £/€/$1000
Add an extra zero onto your budget and you’ll open up a much greater range of possibilities, as to how you might target your first days and weeks on Sorare.
Starting Sorare with $1000 would enable you to build a really strong Limited gallery that should enable you to field multiple lineups that have a genuine chance of competing for prizes each gameweek. You can field up to three lineups in most competitions, so you can increase your chances of winning prizes by fielding more teams, but the trade-off between quantity and quality is a fine balancing act.
If you were to just target LaLiga Limited cards for example and a mixture of In-Season and Classic, you could in theory field 12 lineups each week just from those (three In-Season LaLiga, three Classic LaLiga, three In-Season Champion and three Classic Champion).
However, in that case, doubling down on quality and just targeting the LaLiga competitions may yield better returns.
A starting budget of $1000 is also sufficient to at least get going if you want to skip Limited altogether and target the Rare scarcity (the red cards) where prize pools are more appealing and the competition is less.
However, given starting Champion goalkeepers alone typically cost over $100, there will still be limitations to what you can achieve in Rare with this kind of budget. It may not be sufficient for more than a couple of competitive lineups each weekend in In-Season competitions, although again much depends on which competitions you target and how good your research and decision-making is when compiling your squad.
Getting started on Sorare with £/€/$10000
Increasing your budget to $10000 is going to be well beyond the capabilities of most new managers on Sorare. Anyone spending this kind of money should certainly be aware that selling cards is more difficult than buying them, so you’ll really want to research the competitions and typical points scores required to win prizes, to calculate what your potential returns may be.
With a $10000 starting budget on Sorare, you should be able to build a really competitive Rare gallery, including a number of elite cards, even in In-Season Champion competitions where most of the best players in the world play.
You could even consider jumping up to Super Rare level (the blue cards) and trying to build a gallery that will enable you to field a lineup each weekend in one of those competitions which will have far fewer entrants, but offer big prizes. You should be aware that it’s not at all easy to sell Super Rare cards though with not many managers playing at that level.
If your starting budget is significantly more than this, you could even look at Unique cards (black cards) which attract some managers with gallery values that run into the hundred thousands or even millions of Dollars. Given the vastly reduced supply, getting the players you want is no easy task though.
Buying & selling cards on Sorare
To start buying cards, you can deposit funds into your wallet – Euros, Pounds, US Dollars are accepted, as is the cryptocurrency Ethereum. You can also pay for cards directly using a credit card each time.
Buying cards
There are three main ways to buy player cards on Sorare:
- Auctions
Sorare is constantly releasing new cards onto the market. These can be found by clicking on the “Market” tab on the left sidebar and selecting “Auctions”. The auctions usually run for around 24-48 hours and operate on a simple highest bidder wins basis.
You will initially see all the auctions that are nearing completion but there are a range of filters on the left-hand-side which you can use to locate targets. You can enter a “max bid” which will see you automatically better other bids on certain cards until that price point is reached.
Again, you may find it simpler to identify targets and go directly to their player page by using the search function. You’ll be able to see all the cards of that player currently on sale there and any ongoing auctions.
- Instant buy
This is the second way to buy cards from the primary market and use your credits. While you may end up paying a slight premium for the convenience of buying cards with one click, it’s the fastest way to pick up In-Season cards.
Sorare has an instant buy option for most players at Limited and Rare scarcity levels.
- Via manager sales
Other Sorare managers place the cards they are looking to sell up for sale and these are mostly what you’ll see when you go to a player page. If you have enough funds in your wallet, you can get any card by simply clicking the “Buy now” tab underneath it.
However, to get a better deal, most managers make offers below the list price which the other manager can then choose to accept, reject or make a counter offer. To make an offer, click on any card and then click on “Trade” which will open up a box where you can submit your bid.
It’s also possible to offer cards in exchange for the card you want to buy. You can do this by clicking “Add a Card” in the offer pop-up box.
Note that buying cards from other managers, although often a bit cheaper, has downsides in that there are small collection bonuses whenever you buy a card from auction or instant buy. If you’re planning to build an In-Season collection from one club, buying cards directly from Sorare rather than other managers is usually the best way to go.
Selling cards
You won’t need to know much about selling cards initially but will probably begin to see how it works from your experiences of buying your first Sorare cards. Depending on your strategy, it may not be too long before you need to sell some players.
If you’re more trading focused or are starting on a small budget, buying cheap undervalued cards and selling for a profit when they rise can help you build a bigger cash balance. Even if you’re not looking to do that, you may start to receive offers from other managers and will receive a notification should that happen.
If you’re actively looking to sell a card, you can significantly encourage these offers by listing your players as for sale. To do this, first go to “My Club” and then click on “See my cards”. To list a player, click on the card you are looking to sell, click “List my Card”, set your asking price and then it’ll be listed in the transfer market for between a day and seven days depending on your choice. You can simply relist him again if he doesn’t sell.
You’ll get a notification if someone buys the card or makes an offer on it. Before setting your asking price, you may want to go to that player’s screen and see what price other managers have listed him at. You’re unlikely to attract many offers unless you list your card at a competitive price, however go too low and you risk losing your card for below the market rate.
Setting lineups & entering competitions
Sorare differs from FPL and other fantasy games in that lineups do not roll over automatically from week to week. You will need to sign in, pick and submit your lineups ahead of each gameweek.
There are two Sorare gameweeks per week. The main one is the weekend gameweek which also covers Friday and Monday night matches. The deadline to submit your lineups for this is 16:00 CET on a Friday.
The midweek gameweek has a deadline of 16:00 CET on a Tuesday. Depending on which matches are on, you may not have enough active players to enter a lineup during midweeks, but can still submit training lineups which help to boost your players’ bonus (known as XP).
Lineups on Sorare always consist of five players – a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder, a forward and one extra outfielder of any position. You can also choose a captain who gets a 50% bonus in most competitions.
You can choose which competitions to enter and submit your lineups, via the “Play” tab from the left sidebar and by selecting “Pro”. This opens up the Match Centre where you can see how any live lineups are doing and select your lineups for the upcoming gameweek.
To do this, click on “Discover new competitions” and you’ll reach a screen detailing every competition that is active for that gameweek. There are usually some special events at the top, while In-Season and Classic competitions are listed below.
Initially, you won’t be in a position to enter most of these. When you have enough cards to enter a competition, first locate it and then click on “Add a team”. Once you’re selected your five players, choose your captain and click “Submit”. Your lineup is then saved and will be entered.
Depending on how your team does, you may receive a notification to collect any rewards around four hours after the gameweek closes.
Five quick Sorare tips for beginners
- Understand the Sorare scoring matrix – As with any fantasy game, it’s important to understand the scoring system. Sorare’s model is much more advanced than most with everything from completed passes to successful challenges contributing to a final score of between 0 and 100, although decisive actions like goals, assists and clean sheets (for goalkeepers) are still key. You can read the full Sorare scoring matrix here.
- Scout players & Use SorareData – By far the best tool for scouting and trying to value players is SorareData. It offers far more info on each player than you get on Sorare itself and you’ll be able to see what fantasy scores everyone has posted over the last 40 games and see every price they’ve previously been exchanged at. There are both free and paid tiers, but you can still get a load of useful info from the free version which should be fine for Sorare beginners.
- Find your edge – This is a global fantasy football game and if you are extremely knowledgeable about one of the less popular leagues, you can find a real edge. Few managers on Sorare are experts on the K-League or J-League for example but many still regularly buy and sell Asian players and field lineups with those players. Even if you’re not, you may wish to decide to really get into one of the smaller leagues, watch some matches, find the best sources for team news and educate yourself.
- Take advantage of short-termism – There is a large amount of short-term thinking on Sorare with managers often purely focused on ensuring they have the right cards to field teams on the next matchday rather than looking at the bigger picture. If you’re willing to play the longer game, buying players towards the end of their season, or merely those who are injured or out of form, is a strategy that can pay off. Typically, players significantly increase in value when they hit form. With proper scouting and research, you can really take advantage of these kinds of long-term trends.
- Train your players – Each gameweek, it’s worth entering up to six training teams. Even if they don’t have a match, they will still earn something called XP which adds a small percentage to your player’s score each gameweek which can make all the difference should two managers name very similar or identical teams. You can locate your training lineups beneath the other main Classic competitions via the “Play” tab.
It can take many weeks, months or even years before you truly start to understand the many different market and gameplay dynamics on Sorare. Take your time and don’t worry if you don’t understand everything straight away. There is a big worldwide community who will mostly be happy to answer any questions or doubts you may have.
As a more general point, patient Sorare managers are often the most successful ones so don’t feel as though you have to rush into buying a tonne of cards. Remember that any cards you do get are good to use for as long as a player is active in one of the many covered leagues, even if they transfer to another club. For a younger player like Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal, you could potentially be able to use his card in fantasy tournaments for the next 20 years, assuming Sorare is still around!
Get in touch via @sorarelaliga with any questions and if you’re yet to join Sorare, remember to activate our sign up offer (or another one – they’re all the same!) when you join.
This Sorare guide contains affiliate links to Sorare and was last fully updated in October 2024. Do your own research before putting any money into the platform!
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