Taking over the world with England.
One of the most-requested starting nations in Football Conquest, put to the ultimate test: pick the Three Lions, spin the arrow, and try to conquer all 211 other countries on the map.
Full campaign by @Ghiellini. Below: why England is such a popular pick, how a world-conquest run actually plays out, and how to start your own.
Why start with England?
Football Conquest ranks every nation using public FIFA Men's World Ranking points, and England sits comfortably in the world's top tier. In a game where each match is simulated from those ratings, starting as a high-rated side matters enormously: your win probability against the vast majority of the map begins in your favour, which means the early game is less about survival and more about momentum.
But raw rating is only half the story. England's real advantage in a conquest run is geography meeting strength. The Three Lions sit in a dense, high-quality corner of the map — Western Europe — surrounded by nations that are strong enough to bank you serious Territory and Momentum bonuses when you beat them, but rarely strong enough to end your run. Clearing your own neighbourhood early gives you a fortified base and a rating snowball before you ever have to sail for tougher continents.
How a world-conquest run works
World Conquest is the game's headline mode. You choose one nation, and from then on the goal is simple to state and brutal to achieve: beat all 211 other teams and paint the entire map your colour. Every turn you spin the arrow to draw an opponent from the countries bordering your empire, simulate the match, and — if you win — absorb their territory into yours.
The catch is the loss rule. Lose three times to the same opponent and your campaign is over. That single mechanic is what turns a rating advantage into a genuine challenge. A run isn't lost to the world's best teams in a straight fight; it's lost to a mid-table side you keep drawing and keep dropping points against while your squad morale bleeds out. Managing who you fight, and when, is the whole game.
The three levers you're always pulling
Underneath every match are three numbers that decide it, and a good conquest run is really the story of stacking them in your favour:
- Territory. The more of the map you already hold, the bigger the flat bonus you carry into each new match. Conquest compounds — every country you take makes the next one slightly easier.
- Momentum. A win streak feeds a form bonus; a loss knocks it back. Stringing together victories is worth more than any single result, which is why smart runs avoid needless coin-flip matches when the map still offers easier borders.
- Aura & boosts. Banked Aura can be spent on one-match advantages — Park the Bus, All-Out Attack, Reinforcements — or gambled with Double or Nothing. Saving Aura for the handful of genuinely dangerous matchups (a fellow top-ten nation on your border) is often what separates a finished run from a stalled one.
Where an England run gets hard
The opening act is the fun part — Europe falls, the rating snowball starts, and the map begins to turn your colour. The difficulty curve arrives later, and it's rarely where new players expect. Three pinch points show up in almost every high-level conquest:
The South American gauntlet. Brazil and Argentina are perennial top-of-the-table sides. Drawing them before your Territory bonus is large enough is the classic way a promising run dies — not because you can't beat them, but because you might lose to them twice while a border refuses to give you an easier target.
The long tail of minnows. The final stretch of any conquest is a marathon of tiny nations you're overwhelmingly favoured to beat. It sounds easy, and mostly it is — but "mostly" is doing a lot of work across 60-plus matches. A single freak result against a micronation, drawn twice more, can still end a run that looked finished.
Your own nemesis. Because opponents are drawn from your borders, one unlucky side can resurface again and again. Watch the losses-to-opponent counter in the HUD. When it ticks to two against anyone, that match stops being routine and becomes the most important decision on the board — the moment to spend Aura, pick your tactic carefully, and stop taking chances.
Start your own England run
The best way to understand a conquest run is to attempt one. Football Conquest is free to play in the browser — pick England (or any of the 212 nations), spin the arrow, and see how far you can push before the map, or a stubborn neighbour, pushes back.
New to the game? Read the how to play guide, or browse more featured runs from the community.