This season, Sofascore took one of its boldest steps yet. Our Sofascore Rating system, trusted by millions of football fans worldwide, went through a major upgrade. And yes, we knew it would spark a reaction.
“This autumn, we made a crazy move, maybe even a stupid one,” says Ivan Bešlić, Sofascore’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder. “We dared to apply the Gaussian distribution to football, and it brought us a lot of criticism, and even a few uninstalls.”
Why We Changed the Sofascore Rating
The goal was simple: make player performance ratings more objective. Football is a game of details, and we wanted those details to show.
“Our Sofascore live player rating algorithm went through a significant change. The goal was to take another step forward and become even more objective for thousands of players every week.”
Ivan Bešlić, Sofascore’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder
But objectivity doesn’t always mean popularity. Fans noticed that ratings below 7.0 suddenly felt more common, and some didn’t like it.
“Users didn’t hold back. They question every score below 7 (out of 10). The world has grown used to perfect grades, classes full of A students and footballers who all ‘leave their heart on the pitch’ and still end up with 9-10.”
Ivan Bešlić, Sofascore’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder
Putting the Algorithm to the Test
The feedback made the team double-check everything. Hundreds of ratings were manually reviewed. Matches were rewatched. Potential algorithm flaws were examined one by one.
“Every time a star player was rated as just average, our Slack channels and social comment sections went wild. But this week, we made a decision, we’re keeping it as it is. We trust ourselves. Gauss works beautifully.”
Ivan Bešlić, Sofascore’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder
It’s a statement of confidence. And faith in data over perception.
Objectivity Over Popularity
Some might say it’s risky to show football as it really is. But for Sofascore, that’s the whole point.
“Maybe we made our move too soon. Maybe everyone should always get fantastic scores. Maybe false success would get shared more often. But then everything we stand for would fall apart.”
Ivan Bešlić, Sofascore’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder
At the end of the day, Sofascore stands by its numbers, even if they’re not always flattering.
“The team executed this brilliantly. By the end of the season, we’ll know if we created something great or not. I’ll let you know.”
Ivan Bešlić, Sofascore’s Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder
Learn More About How Sofascore Ratings Work
Curious to understand how the improved Sofascore Rating algorithm really works and what goes into each number?
Read here: Sofascore Rating Improved: What Goes Into Calculations?