A Winning Match: 10 Lessons That Football Can Also Teach Us About Online Dating

Online dating and the beautiful game have more in common than you might think.

Whether you like it or not, we are in the midst of World Cup mania. And the more tournaments you watch, the more you will realise that dating and football are actually very similar. It’s a game that we’re all playing, but the prize isn’t some flashy ring or the glory of winning the Coupe du Monde – no: it’s love. The ultimate prize.

Not interested in football? That’s fine, too. But there is much to learn from the beautiful game both on and off the pitch, which can also be applied to the dating game.

Here are ten lessons from the world of football which can, surprisingly, also be applied when it comes to finding your perfect match online.

1. Have a game plan

Each international manager for every World Cup team will spend months cultivating information in order to deliver their best possible performance, based on tactics. They invest time into researching the locations and conditions in which they will be playing, the potential formations that will be most effective for their team, and also do a stark analysis of the competition - so that they can use their own strengths in order to gain an upper hand. All this is in preparation for one game of football.

Now, we’re not saying that you need to fit finding your life partner into 90 minutes(!), because these things take time. However, you do need to ensure that you are participating in the right league. If you want to be involved at world class level, joining Tinder is like entering the playoffs for The National League (that’s the lowest league of the English football league system…) – you know you're worth more and should simply be aiming higher!

Of course, when looking for love, you need to have a clear idea of what you want, and what you need to do to get it in order to move forwards. Ver