NextBall is a top-down 2D football game. You control one round player; the ball is a real physics object that bounces, spins and rolls. Every control can be remapped in Settings, and phones and tablets get on-screen buttons for everything below.
Controls, curve, lob, headers and volleys
Everything you need to go from your first kick to scoring curled volleys. NextBall is free and runs in your browser on PC, Mac, phone and tablet.
NextBall is a top-down 2D football game. You control one round player; the ball is a real physics object that bounces, spins and rolls. Every control can be remapped in Settings, and phones and tablets get on-screen buttons for everything below.
Curve is the heart of NextBall. Tap Z (left) or tap C (right) and your next kick bends in the air. Hit the ball from its side and the spin carries it around a defender or a goalkeeper.
A faint arc shows the bend while the curve is armed. It switches off by itself after the kick, so you never shoot a curve by accident. Want the classic feel? Pick Hold in Settings and hold Z or C while you kick instead.
Tip: combine curve with a lob for a chip that dips around the keeper, or aim a curved pass behind the defence for a team-mate to run onto.
Tap Q to arm a lob. A lobbed ball rises over players, then drops. While it is high it flies over players, but a player it passes right over can cut it: press X at the right moment, just as it goes over your head, and the ball drops at your feet. Holding X down does not work, it has to be timed. As it comes down it can be blocked, controlled, saved or finished.
In Real Match, finishing a dropping ball is where the skill is. As it comes down to you a ring appears around it: kick on the green ring for a header (it goes where your movement keys point) or on the orange ring for a volley, the hardest shot in the game. Both get their own HEADER! and VOLLEY! tags on the goal banner.
Not ready to shoot? Run under the dropping ball without kicking. Your chest kills it and it drops dead at your feet.
Outside Real Match a lob cannot be aimed straight at goal: it is a playmaking tool for crosses and chips over a defender. In Real Match lob shots are allowed, keepers can catch a dropping ball, and a chip that is still too high sails over the bar.
Soft touch (hold Ctrl) pushes the ball a short distance so you can dribble past a defender instead of blasting it.
A first-time shot is a kick straight off a pass without stopping the ball. It is fast, hard to read, and earns a FIRST TIME tag when it goes in.
When the ball is squeezed between two players or a player and the wall it shoots out fast: that is a pinch. Good players use it on purpose to beat a defender at close range.
Special goals get their own label on the goal banner: CURVE, LOB, HEADER, VOLLEY, BANK, LONG RANGE and FIRST TIME. They are the fastest way to show everyone in the room how you scored.
Free, no download, no sign-up needed. Open a room and you are on the pitch in seconds.
›››Play NextBall free