Based on the July 17 Early Access build. Controls are where a physics football game lives or dies, and they are also where misinformation spreads fastest in launch week. This page has two jobs: give you the verified picture of input support, and be honest that we have not yet documented every default keybind from inside the current build. When we verify the full default layout in game, it will be published here and dated.
The control philosophy: everything is yours
The official material is unambiguous: there is no scripted assistance anywhere in the loop. Dribbling, passing, tackling, and shooting are all fully player-controlled physical actions, and the store text promises that every outcome is a direct result of player input. In practice the action set you are learning includes:
- Dribbling, with real ball momentum, where your movement speed changes how far the ball runs from your feet. See the beginner guide.
- Passing with manual aim and power, no target lock. The hardest skill for new players and the one worth learning first.
- Shooting with trajectory shaped by power and body position, covered in the shooting guide.
- Tackling and jockey mode, the controlled-defending stance added in v0.78.0.
- Headers, added during the spring playtests.
- A separate goalkeeper mechanics set: the store page confirms goalies get extra mechanics of their own, which is why keeper plays like its own game.
Controller support: what Steam actually lists
This table is read straight from the Steam store page’s controller support data as of July 19, 2026:
| Input | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Keyboard & mouse | Supported | Standard input. The store page does not mark a gamepad as preferred. |
| Xbox controllers | Partial support | Steam lists partial (not full) Xbox controller support. |
| PS5 DualSense | Supported | Listed as supported, including over Bluetooth. |
| PS4 DualShock | Supported | Listed as supported, including over Bluetooth. |
Three details deserve translation. “Partial” Xbox controller support is Steam’s label for games where some interactions, typically menus or text entry, may still need mouse or keyboard; it does not mean pads are second-class in matches. PS4 and PS5 controllers are explicitly listed including Bluetooth. And the page does not mark the game as gamepad-preferred, which matches what you see in the community: plenty of high-level players on keyboard and mouse, plenty on pads.
Keyboard versus controller, honestly
There is no verified competitive consensus three days into Early Access, so treat anyone declaring a winner as guessing. The structural trade-off is the usual one for third-person sports games: a pad gives you analog movement, which helps subtle dribbling speed control, while mouse input gives fast, precise aim swings, which helps manual passing and keeper work. The game was built for both to be viable. Our advice is boring and correct: play three matches on each, then commit to whichever made your passing more accurate, because that is the skill that decides matches.
Defaults confirmed by official patch notes
A handful of default bindings are documented in the developer’s own patch notes, which makes them the only keybinds we will print today. Each row cites the note that confirms it:
| Action | Default input | Confirmed in |
|---|---|---|
| Jockey mode | Ctrl on keyboard, left bumper on controller | v0.78.0 (“defaults to CTRL / left bumper”) |
| Jump | F, rebound from an earlier default to avoid accidental jumps while rushing | v0.78.0 |
| Goalkeeper jump | Separate input from the regular jump, rebindable independently | v0.78.0 |
| Camera lock | Alt | v0.78.0 fix notes |
| Movement skill move | Has its own keybind; the default key is not stated in the notes | v0.82.0 |
| Jockey dash | Jockey mode plus jump together, dashes forward | v0.82.0 fix notes |
The keybind menu itself was cleaned up and bindings clarified in v0.82.0, so expect the in-game screen to be the tidiest reference. It lets you rebind keys, though how deep the remapping goes is still being documented; treat the table above as launch defaults, not law.
What we have not verified yet
- The full default keybind table. Beyond the patch-note-confirmed rows above, we do not publish keybind lists copied from forums or guessed from similar games. As we verify the complete default layout in the current build, this section becomes the full reference table, with the build number attached.
- Rebinding depth. How fully actions can be remapped in the settings menu is something we will document alongside the keybinds.
- Steam Input API.The store page does not list native Steam Input API support. The Steam client’s own controller layer can still remap pads at the client level, as with any Steam game, but native per-action configs are not advertised.
Which actions to learn first
Whatever your input, the action set has a sensible learning order, because some skills unlock the others. Movement and touch come first: until you can carry the ball at a controlled speed, nothing else matters. Passing is second and it is the game’s real skill check, aim and power with no assist. Jockeying comes third, since controlled defending keeps you useful even on your worst shooting nights. Shooting is fourth, and the goalkeeper’s separate toolkit is its own track whenever you are ready for it. Resist the urge to hunt for skill-move inputs in week one; many launch reviews note that lobbies are lost to bad passing, not to missing flair.
Setup quick checks
- Plug in or pair your pad before launching the game, the standard Steam habit.
- If a pad misbehaves, test it in Steam’s controller settings first to isolate game versus device.
- On keyboard, make sure nothing heavy runs on background hotkeys; a physics game punishes dropped inputs.
- Latency shows up in your touch, so wired beats wireless where you can manage it, for both pads and networks.
- Whichever input you pick, spend your first session on touch control, not on memorizing every action.