How to Move and Control Your Goalkeeper in FIFA 23

by Mike Alexander / FIFA 23, Game Guides / 17 May 2022

There are few positions in any sport that are as important and stressful as a soccer goalkeeper. At a certain point, the entire game can come down on your shoulders, and none of your teammates can help you. And with even a single wrong move, even a flinch, it can all be over.

That’s why goalies have to be at the top of their game, all the time. They have to try to anticipate where the ball will go from long distances, and sometimes that can be quite difficult. This is true of real-life goalies just as it is for digital ones in, say, FIFA 23, the world-renowned soccer simulator.

Unless you take direct control, however, your team’s goalie will be AI-controlled. In some cases this is fine, but even the game’s AI can’t make predictions and move like a human can. So, in order to take your team’s fate into your own hands, there is a process that needs to be followed.

At any point in a match, pressing and holding R3 on a PlayStation controller, or clicking and holding the right stick on an Xbox controller, will give you full control of the goalie. From there, you can use the stick that is held down to move the goalie in and around the goal. You can even move outside the goal to a point, though that kind of maneuver can be very dangerous by leaving your goal untended.

Using this method allows players to better prepare to defend against a shot on the goal by placing the goalie exactly where they think he needs to be. It’s not always a guaranteed save, but for FIFA power players who want as much control over their team as they can possibly get, this is the way to go.

Again, for FIFA players who aren’t at the top of the leaderboards, or perhaps newbies who are just getting into the game, predicting where the ball will go is the critical skill that you’ll use in these situations. It is something that will come with time and practice, so don’t get discouraged if you don’t nail those saves on the first couple of tries. Stick to it, keep trying, and you’ll be a power player in no time.

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.
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