We at Retrofootball are passionate about football. Our team has always been passionate about football cards and World Cup and Premier League collections since we were children. It is hard to forget the moment when you receive the last card in a collection and complete the album. I am sure that many of you remember the moment when you received the last card of the Italia 90 World Cup.

With this as a starting point, today we discover the world of digital football cards with blockchain support. To do so, we analyse 'SORARE', a game produced by the Paris-based company Ubisoft. The uniqueness of this platform resides in the idea of combining the most popular sports game, fantasy leagues (such as fantasy football) and blockchain technology, in particular Non Fungible Tokens (NFT). This means that players bought and fielded in matches by users are NFTs.

What are NFTs?

"Non-Fungible Token" means, in this case, "non-fungible assets". Non-fungible means not replaceable. The player cards I buy will be NFTs. The ownership of these purchased cards is then certified by blockchain technology, thanks to which the card has an economic value. 

How to play?

First of all, you need to create an account which will be used for future access to the platform. Then you will be able to customise your name, the name of your team and your badge.

Once you have completed your team, which must consist of five players (one for each position) with the addition of a fifth player who can be of any position except goalkeeper, you will have several leagues to play in. 

Each available league has different rules that will be explained during the formation of your team. In order to win a league, you have to reach a certain score, which match after match is calculated based on the performance of the players in the real world using the OPTA statistics platform. The process is therefore the same as we are used to with classic fantasy football.

The difference, however, is that the way in which the scores are awarded is much more detailed than in a normal fantasy football.

Most leagues have rewards in terms of money and also cards (players) that will be added to our team. The first league available for beginners is the Rookie Starter League where users will be able to field all 5 "common" players that will be provided when they register on the platform. 

What do "common" cards mean?
Cards on the platform are divided into "common", "rare", "super rare" and "unique".

• Common cards are those which are supplied at the start of the game. They are free, but have no economic value.
• "Rare" cards: only 100 cards are minted each year. They can be bought and used on the platform to enter certain leagues with better rewards.
• "Super rare" cards: 10 "super rare" cards are coined every year, where the price and value are higher than for common and rare cards.
• "Unique" card: 1 "unique" card each year that will be the most prestigious and valuable card. 

The rarity of these cards is certified by the blockchain, so there is no chance of errors or scams. The rarer the card, the higher the price to buy them and the more economic value it will have. Another key part of the platform is the possibility to buy cards at auction or directly from another user. 

A special feature of the SORARE platform is the possibility to obtain cards of legendary players such as Javier Zanetti, Ronaldo, Cannavaro, Platini, Maradona, Casillas and many others.

In addition to the economic value of the legendary card, once a month a special event is created where the legendary card will get the highest rating of the current player playing in the same club and in the same position as the legendary player.SORARE is therefore a rapidly evolving platform that attracts millions of football and technology fans. It is a brand that we have always liked and was born 100% in the digital world.

Afterwards, we will continue to publish more articles about the phenomenon of digital fantasy football linked to blockchain technology.