TOPGOAL's Footballcraft European Cup Airdrop: How to Participate and What You Actually Got

On June 14, 2024, over 191,000 people signed up for a free NFT drop tied to the European football championship. They weren’t betting on matches. They weren’t buying jerseys. They were trying to get into a game called Footballcraft-a Web3 football simulator built on blockchain, powered by AI, and backed by top crypto exchanges like Binance and OKX. This wasn’t just another crypto giveaway. It was TOPGOAL’s biggest bet yet: that sports fans, not just crypto nerds, would jump into blockchain gaming if the reward was big enough and the steps weren’t too messy.

What Was the Footballcraft European Cup Airdrop?

The Footballcraft European Cup Airdrop was a 17-day campaign run by TOPGOAL, the company behind the Footballcraft app. It gave away 10,000 special NFT mystery boxes to participants who completed nine specific tasks. Each box contained in-game items like player cards, skins, and boosts-nothing cashable, but valuable inside the game. The goal? To get real football fans to try out Footballcraft, a 12x speed AI-powered football simulation that lets you manage teams, play matches, and earn $GOAL tokens through gameplay.

Unlike typical airdrops that ask you to follow a Twitter account and call it a day, this one demanded effort. You had to join Telegram, Discord, download the app, link your wallet, get a unique code from CoinMarketCap, and retweet with three friends. It was designed to filter out bots and attract people who actually cared enough to stick around.

How to Enter (The Nine Steps)

If you wanted in, you had to do all of this between June 14 and July 1, 2024:

1. Go to CoinMarketCap and search for TOPGOAL.
2. Add TOPGOAL to your watchlist.
3. Follow both @TOPGOAL_io and @Footballcraft_io on Twitter.
4. Retweet the official airdrop post and tag three friends.
5. Join the official TOPGOAL Telegram group.
6. Join the Footballcraft Discord server.
7. Download the Footballcraft app from the App Store, Google Play, or visit footballcraft.io.
8. Get a Partner Code from CoinMarketCap’s Diamond Store.
9. Open the Footballcraft app, go to Settings > Partner Code, and paste the code.

That’s nine steps. Most people took 18 to 22 minutes to finish them, according to TOPGOAL’s own poll. For someone who’s never used a crypto wallet or joined a Discord server, this was a mountain to climb.

What Did Winners Actually Receive?

Winners didn’t get cash. They didn’t get $GOAL tokens directly. They got a mystery box-an NFT inside the Footballcraft app. Inside those boxes were randomized digital items: player cards, stadium upgrades, speed boosts, or exclusive skins. Think of it like opening a FIFA Ultimate Team pack, but on blockchain.

The value wasn’t in the NFT itself. It was in what it unlocked: early access to a game that promised to reward active players with $GOAL tokens later. The real prize was being among the first 10,000 users to enter a system that might one day let you earn real crypto by playing football matches.

Why Did So Many People Join?

191,499 people signed up. That’s 19 times more than the average Web3 gaming airdrop, which usually gets 10,000-25,000 participants. Why?

First, CoinMarketCap was behind it. With over 100 million monthly users, CoinMarketCap’s audience isn’t just crypto traders-it’s people checking prices, reading news, following trends. That’s a massive pool of potential sports fans.

Second, the timing was perfect. The UEFA European Championship 2024 ran from June 14 to July 14. The airdrop synced exactly with the tournament. Fans were already obsessed with football. All TOPGOAL had to do was say: “Here’s a game where you can play football while the real matches happen.”

Third, the rewards were visible. 10,000 NFTs is a lot. It felt exclusive. People believed they had a real shot.

What Went Wrong?

Despite the hype, the experience was messy.

Users reported:

• Partner Codes not registering in the app-even after copying them perfectly.
• Twitter verification delays, where follow/retweet actions weren’t counted for hours.
• Footballcraft app crashing during sign-up, especially on older Android and iOS devices.
• Confusing onboarding: “I didn’t know what a wallet was,” said one Reddit user.

Trustpilot reviews for Footballcraft averaged just 2.8 out of 5. The most common complaint? “Too many steps for something that’s supposed to be fun.”

Even worse, engagement dropped fast. Discord members jumped 387% during the airdrop. But within a week after it ended, daily active users fell by 63%. Most people joined for the free NFT. Once they got it, they left.

How Does Footballcraft Compare to Other Sports Games?

Sorare lets you collect digital player cards and build fantasy teams. Chiliz lets you buy fan tokens for real clubs like Barcelona or Bayern Munich. Both are established. Both have real team partnerships.

Footballcraft? It has no real teams. No official licenses. No players from real clubs. It’s a fictional football world built by AI.

That’s its strength and weakness. It doesn’t need to pay UEFA or FIFA. It can create any player, any league, any match. But without real teams, it’s hard to convince diehard fans it’s anything more than a game.

It’s also not “play-to-earn” like Axie Infinity. It’s “play-to-build.” You earn $GOAL tokens by playing matches, improving your team, and winning tournaments-not by grinding for hours. That’s a better model, but only if the game is actually fun.

Is It Still Worth Trying?

As of October 2024, Footballcraft is still available on iOS, Android, and web. The airdrop is over. But the game isn’t.

If you’re curious:

• Download the app. It’s free.
• Play a few matches. See if the AI-driven 12x speed gameplay feels engaging.
• Check if you like managing teams, upgrading players, and earning $GOAL through play-not just hype.

Don’t expect to get rich. Don’t expect to join a real football club. But if you like simulation games like Football Manager or FIFA, and you’re okay with blockchain being in the background, it’s worth a try.

What’s Next for TOPGOAL?

TOPGOAL’s roadmap says they plan to launch the full version of Footballcraft in Q3 2024-with better AI, more leagues, and official team partnerships. So far, no teams have been announced.

They also plan to expand into basketball and baseball simulations. And they’re working on “Personal Sports AI,” a feature that lets the game learn your play style and adapt your team accordingly.

But here’s the real question: Can they keep the 191,499 people who signed up for the airdrop engaged? The industry average for blockchain game retention after 7 days is 12.3%. TOPGOAL needs to beat that by a lot.

So far, they’ve spent over $3 million on this airdrop. That’s not charity. It’s a bet. The bet is that if they can make Footballcraft feel alive, addictive, and rewarding, then sports fans will stay-even if they don’t understand blockchain.

Final Verdict: Was It Worth It?

For the 10,000 winners? Maybe. They got a free NFT, early access, and a chance to be part of something new.

For the 181,499 who didn’t win? They spent time, energy, and maybe frustration on a process that felt more like homework than fun.

TOPGOAL didn’t just run an airdrop. They ran a social experiment. Can you bring non-crypto sports fans into Web3 by making them jump through hoops for a digital prize? The data says: maybe, if you have CoinMarketCap’s reach and a major event to ride.

But the real test hasn’t happened yet. The test is whether Footballcraft becomes a game people play because they love it-not because they got a free NFT.

Right now, it’s still early. The game is in Early Access. The team is still building. The $GOAL token is still growing.

If you’re still curious? Download it. Play it. See if it feels like football-or just another crypto gimmick.