The notebook
Soccer Stars is the giant of flick soccer. Miniclip released it in June 2014, it has passed 100 million downloads on Google Play, it holds a 4.5-star rating from 2.39 million reviews and it carries Google's Editors' Choice badge. If you have ever flicked a disc into a goal on your phone, there is a good chance it was there.
We made Toy Soccer Cup, a free flick soccer game with 3D toy footballers. So yes, we are biased — and that is exactly why every fact about Soccer Stars in this article comes from its own Google Play listing, linked at the end, and not from our opinion. Where Soccer Stars is better, we say so.
| Soccer Stars | Toy Soccer Cup | |
|---|---|---|
| Made by | Miniclip (UK), since 2014 | MAVA Games, 2026 |
| Play in a web browser | No — Miniclip closed its web portal in 2022 | Yes, free, nothing to install |
| Phones and tablets | Android, iPhone | Android, iPhone |
| Online against other players | Yes, by tiers, huge player base | Yes, 8 ranked arenas + a 32-player Weekly Cup |
| Two players on one device | Yes | Yes |
| Single-player content | Tournaments and cups | 57 national leagues, 858 clubs, 7 daily minigames, School of Tricks |
| Collection | Teams | 625 stickers in 25 national sets |
| Ads | Yes | Yes — at most one every 2 minutes, never before your first match |
| In-app purchases | From $0.99 to $99.99, including random items | One: remove ads (Android). No coins for sale, no random items |
| Paid boosters | Yes: "agents" active for 12 or 15 matches, seasonal "Galaxy Pass" | None |
| Languages | Multiple | 8, including Turkish and Portuguese |
Soccer Stars data: its Google Play listing, consulted on 21 September 2026.
It would be dishonest to pretend otherwise: Soccer Stars is a well-made game with a formula that works. You flick, the ball goes where physics says it goes, and within seconds you are playing someone on the other side of the world. That simplicity is a big part of why it has lasted twelve years.
Its real superpower, though, is not the gameplay — it is scale. Miniclip spent the 2000s running one of the biggest browser game sites in the world, then launched 8 Ball Pool, and used that audience to promote each new game. By 2016 8 Ball Pool had passed 300 million downloads and Soccer Stars 57 million. A crowd that size means you never wait for an opponent.
Look at what people type into Google: "soccer stars online", "soccer stars pc", "soccer stars poki", "play free online soccer stars game". They want to play in a browser, on a school laptop or a work computer, without installing anything.
Soccer Stars cannot do that anymore. Miniclip announced in April 2022 that it would focus on mobile and closed its web game portal that summer; only Agar.io and 8 Ball Pool stayed. On a computer, Soccer Stars now runs through the Google Play Games app, which you have to install first.
Toy Soccer Cup runs straight in the browser, on computers, tablets and phones: open the page and you are playing in seconds. Same game, same progress, same online matches as the app.
▶ Play Toy Soccer Cup in your browser
Soccer Stars is built around its online tiers. Toy Soccer Cup has those too, but it also has a long single-player side:
This is where the two games are most different, and it is all in Soccer Stars' own listing. Its in-game shop runs from $0.99 to $99.99: packs of coins and "bucks", a Golden Spin, Golden Goals, and "agents" that are active for 12 or 15 matches. The listing states that purchases include random items, and in September 2026 it added a paid Galaxy Pass for its new season.
Toy Soccer Cup works the other way round:
And yes, Toy Soccer Cup has ads — that is how a free game pays its bills. But the rules are written into the code: at most one full-screen ad every two minutes, never before your very first match, and reward videos only appear when you ask for them.
We design every screen with one question: would a ten-year-old understand it without help? That is why there are big buttons and a School of Tricks, why you only need to pick a nickname to play online, and why there is no free-text chat — players talk to each other with a fixed set of friendly phrases, so nobody can write anything nasty. If that matters to you, we wrote more about it in what makes an online game safe for kids.
Flick soccer did not start on phones. It comes from table football — Subbuteo in Britain, futebol de botão in Brazil, chapas in Spain — where you flick a player on a weighted base. Toy Soccer Cup keeps that feeling with 3D toy footballers on their bases, seven a side, and a physics engine where the ball curls, lifts and bounces off the side walls. There is even a whole article on the physics of the flick.
If those are what you care about most, Soccer Stars is a fine choice. If you want to play in a browser, have plenty to do alone and never be sold an advantage, give Toy Soccer Cup five minutes.
Free on your phone, with the same progress and the same account wherever you play.
Not officially. Miniclip closed its browser game portal in 2022 and kept only Agar.io and 8 Ball Pool. On a computer, Soccer Stars runs through the Google Play Games app, which you install first. If you want a flick soccer game that runs directly in the browser, Toy Soccer Cup does, for free.
Yes. It is free in the browser, on Android and on iPhone. It shows ads — at most one full-screen ad every two minutes — and on Android a single optional purchase removes them. There are no coin packs and no random paid items.
No. Coins cannot be bought, only earned by playing, and in live online duels both teams start equal.
Yes. Toy Soccer Cup has a 2 Players mode on one device, and so does Soccer Stars.
No. Both descend from the same tradition — table football such as Subbuteo, futebol de botão and chapas. Toy Soccer Cup uses 3D toy players on bases, original clubs, and its own modes: 57 leagues, a Weekly Cup, daily minigames and a School of Tricks.
It is designed for kids and families: there is no free-text chat, only preset friendly phrases, and you only need a nickname to play online.
→ All the alternatives in one place: games like Soccer Stars, compared
All Soccer Stars data comes from its Google Play listing, consulted on 21 September 2026: downloads, rating, Editors' Choice badge, in-game purchases and their prices, "includes random items", agents and the Galaxy Pass. The closure of Miniclip's web portal is documented by GamesRadar+ and Delisted Games; its growth figures, by PocketGamer.biz. Toy Soccer Cup figures come from the game itself.
Soccer Stars and Miniclip are trademarks of their owners. This article is an independent comparison and is not endorsed by Miniclip.
Free, in your browser, no download. Your first match starts in seconds.
