What is 38-0?
38-0 is a free soccer roster-building game: spin for an era and a club style, sign a full starting XI of legendary footballers in a classic 4-4-2 — one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, two strikers — then simulate a 38-match league season. "38-0" is a perfect season: winning all 38 matches, dropping zero points. No real club has ever done it. It's part of a small "perfect season" genre of draft-and-simulate browser games — an original, independently built game, not affiliated with the Premier League, any club, or any other 38-0 game.
Has a real team ever gone 38-0?
No. The closest anyone has come is a full 38-game season unbeaten — Arsenal's 2003–04 "Invincibles" did exactly that, but even they won only 26 of their 38 matches and drew the other 12. Unbeaten is not the same as perfect: 38-0 means winning every single game, dropping zero points across the whole campaign, which has never happened in a top-flight season of that length. That's the bar this game sets.
How to play
Each round spins a decade of football — the 1960s through the 2020s — and a club style, then hands you a small pool of real, retired legends for a specific slot. You sign eleven, one per slot in the 4-4-2: goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, two strikers. Every round is locked to a real slot in the shape, so you can't just stack strikers. A limited number of rerolls are available if a spin leaves you with nothing that fits. Once the XI is set, a 38-match league season simulates automatically — wins, draws, and losses, ranked on points.
Chemistry that models real football
The game scores real football synergy that rival games ignore: a settled spine, a group of players who share a nationality (the national-team understanding lever), a balanced midfield with a genuine ball-winner, and whether your XI fits the era you're playing in. Get the chemistry right and a good XI plays above the sum of its ratings; get it wrong and a squad of names underperforms.
Why the era you spin matters
Each of the seven decades rewards a different style: physical, low-scoring 1980s football is a very different season from the high-pressing, high-scoring 2010s. Players carry their own era, and an XI built for the decade you're simulating earns an "Era Specialists" chemistry boost; a mismatched one is penalised.
Daily Challenge and leaderboard
Every player who loads 38-0 on the same day gets the exact same sequence of draft options. Submit your season to the live leaderboard — ranked by whether you went perfect, then unbeaten, then on points — with no account required. Every run also generates a shareable seed, so you can hand a friend the exact same draft for a head-to-head.
Frequently asked questions
What is 38-0?
A free browser game: spin for an era and a club style, sign a full starting XI of legendary footballers in a classic 4-4-2 — one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, two strikers — then simulate a 38-match league season. "38-0" is a perfect season: winning all 38 matches, dropping zero points. No real club has ever done it.
Is this 38-0 affiliated with the Premier League or any other game?
No. It is an independent, unofficial game, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by the Premier League, the English Football League, FIFA, UEFA, any club, or any other 38-0 game. No club crests, kits, league marks, or player likenesses are used.
Has a real team ever gone 38-0?
No. The closest anyone has come is going a full 38-game season unbeaten — <a href="/arsenal-invincibles-season/">Arsenal's 2003–04 "Invincibles"</a> did exactly that — but even they only won 26 of their 38 matches and drew the other 12. Unbeaten is not the same as perfect: 38-0 means winning every single game, which has never happened in a top-flight season of that length.
Have any other clubs gone a whole season unbeaten besides Arsenal?
Yes. AC Milan, Ajax, Juventus, Celtic and Bayer Leverkusen have all gone a full league season unbeaten in Europe's major nations. Celtic's 2016–17 side came closest of the modern era, winning 34 of 38 and drawing just four. But across all of them, only Rangers — 1898–99, 18 games — ever won every single match, a genuinely perfect season. See <a href="/invincible-seasons-in-world-football/">every invincible season in world football</a>.
Is 38-0 free to play?
Yes, entirely free, with no account required to play, save progress, or submit to the leaderboard. Progress and personal bests are saved to your browser only, and it works in any modern mobile or desktop browser — no app or download needed.
How many players do you sign?
Eleven — a full starting XI in a 4-4-2: one goalkeeper, four defenders, four midfielders, and two strikers. Each of the eleven rounds is locked to a real slot in the shape, so you can't just stack strikers.
Is there a Salary-Cap mode?
Yes. Flip the Salary Cap toggle on the welcome screen before you sign your XI and every candidate carries a salary based on their overall rating — roughly $4M for a role player up to about $55M for an all-time legend — and you have to sign all eleven under a fixed $319M budget. The draft always has an affordable option: if a spun trio would blow the budget, the cheapest eligible player for that slot is swapped in automatically. Classic (the default) has no cap — you sign the best player available at every slot, no budget to manage.
Are these real footballers?
Yes. The player pool is a curated set of roughly 250 real, retired and legendary footballers — names, positions, nationalities, and eras only. There are no club crests, kits, league marks, or player photographs anywhere in the game, and every opponent side is a generic, fictional archetype rather than a real club.
What difference does chemistry make?
A lot. The game scores real football synergy that rival games ignore: a settled spine, a group of players who share a nationality (the national-team understanding lever), a balanced midfield with a genuine ball-winner, and whether your XI fits the era you're playing in. Get the chemistry right and a good XI plays above the sum of its ratings.
Does the era I spin actually matter?
Yes. Each of the seven decades — 1960s through 2020s — rewards a different style: physical, low-scoring 1980s football is a very different season from the high-pressing, high-scoring 2010s. Players carry their own era, and an XI built for the decade you're simulating gets an "Era Specialists" chemistry boost; a mismatched one is penalised.
Is there a Daily Challenge and leaderboard?
Yes. Everyone who plays 38-0 on the same day gets the exact same sequence of draft options, and you can submit your season to a live, public leaderboard — ranked by whether you went perfect, then unbeaten, then on points. No account required, and it runs on its own separate board. The Daily Challenge resets at midnight UTC, when a fresh seed and leaderboard start for everyone.
Can I play more than once a day, or is there an archive of past Daily Challenges?
Outside the Daily Challenge you can start a fresh 38-0 run any time, as many times as you like — every game gets its own random era, club style, and draft options. There's no archive of past Daily Challenges to replay once the day has passed; only today's Daily Challenge seed and leaderboard are live.
Can I replay a friend's exact draft?
Yes. Every run generates a shareable seed. Enter someone else's seed on the welcome screen and you'll be put through the exact same sequence of draft options they had — make the same picks for a mirror match, or different ones for a real head-to-head.
Can I share my 38-0 result?
Yes. After a run, hit "Share" and your device's share sheet sends your record (perfect, unbeaten, or your final W-D-L and points) plus your seed and a link back to the game; if Web Share isn't supported it copies the same text to your clipboard instead. There's no image or screenshot export yet — sharing is text-and-seed, so whoever gets it can load your exact seed and replay your draft.
How is 38-0 different from SportsMonkie's other 'perfect season' games?
Same impossible goal — win every game, drop zero points — but a different sport and roster shape each time. 38-0 is soccer: an 11-player 4-4-2 over a 38-match league season. Try <a href="/games/82-0/">82-0</a> for an NBA five-man roster over 82 games, <a href="/games/17-0/">17-0</a> for a real NFL 17-game season, or <a href="/games/24-0/">24-0</a> for Formula 1. Each has its own draft pool, chemistry system, and Daily Challenge.
Unofficial-project disclaimer
38-0 is an independent, unofficial football (soccer) simulation game. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or licensed by the Premier League, the English Football League, FIFA, UEFA, any club, or any other 38-0 game. Player names and historical facts are used for informational and entertainment purposes only; no club crests, kits, league marks, or player likenesses are used.
