Introduction
Football is not just a game of power — it also requires skill and intellect. Zidane would not be remembered the same way if he lacked the ability to create opportunities and see a vision before the moment arrived. A football API is structured the same way. Each endpoint exists for a reason. Each one feeds a different part of your platform. And if you know which one to call and when, you extract the best out of your football platform — the same way Zidane extracted the best out of every team he played for.
Entity Sport’s football API is built around eight purpose-built Football API endpoints. Each one covers a specific layer of the match lifecycle — from pre-match fixtures all the way through live events, player performance, fantasy scoring, team data, competition structure, and odds. This blog walks you through all eight: what each endpoint returns, what you would actually build with it, and which plan you need to access it.
If you are brand new to sports API integration, here is a full football API guide to get you up to speed before diving in.
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Football APIQuick Reference: All 8 Football API Endpoints at a Glance
For those who want the full picture before the details — here it is.
| Football API Endpoint | What It Returns | Delivery | Plan Access |
| Schedule API | Fixtures, results, upcoming matches | REST + JSON | All plans |
| Football Live Score API | Goals, cards, subs, real-time events | REST + WebSocket | REST: all | WebSocket: Gold+ |
| Player API | Profiles, career stats, in-match performance | REST + JSON | All plans |
| Roster API | Squad lists, positions, confirmed lineups | REST + JSON | All plans |
| Competition API | Standings, rounds, tournament structure | REST + JSON | All plans |
| Team API | Team profiles, history, season stats | REST + JSON | All plans |
| Football Odds API | Prematch & in-play odds, 60+ bookmakers | REST + JSON | Enterprise only |
| Fantasy Football API | Live fantasy points per player, mid-match | REST + JSON | All plans |
1. Schedule API
What Does the Schedule API Return?
The Schedule API is your fixture engine. It returns upcoming, live, and completed matches across all competitions covered under your plan — filterable by league, team, or date range. Every match comes with a unique match ID (mid) that connects to every other endpoint in the data feed.
What you build with it: Match calendar screens, fixture lists by league or team, results pages, pre-match landing pages, and any view that answers the question — what matches are happening today?
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Available on all plans, including the free Developer tier. |
A practical note: almost every football platform starts here. The Schedule API gives you the match ID — and that match ID is the key that unlocks everything else. Live scores, player data, lineup information, fantasy points — all of it ties back to the match the Schedule API told you about first.
2. Football Live Score API
What Does the Football Live Score API Return?
This is the live layer. The Football Live Score API delivers real-time match events — goals, yellow and red cards, substitutions, scorecards, and in-depth analysis — with sub-second update cycles. When something happens on the pitch, this endpoint is where it lands first.
What you build with it: Live scoreboard apps, second-screen experiences, real-time match centres, commentary tools, and any product that needs to keep users locked in while the match is happening.
| Delivery | REST (all plans) + WebSocket (Gold plan and above). WebSocket pushes events to you the moment they happen. REST requires you to poll. |
This is the one endpoint where your delivery method matters most. If you are polling the Live Score API every few seconds under a high-traffic match day, you will burn through your API call budget fast. The WebSocket connection on the Gold plan is a persistent push — no polling, no wasted calls, just a clean stream of events as they happen. If you are building anything genuinely live, that is the architecture you want.
3. Player API
What Does the Player API Return?
The Player API returns detailed player profiles, career statistics, and in-match performance data. Shots, passes, tackles, dribbles, interceptions, saves, player ratings, disciplinary records — across seasons, leagues, and competitions. It is the most granular player-level data available in the feed.
What you build with it: Player profile pages, performance comparison tools, form indicators, pre-match scouting views, stat-heavy editorial content, and the data backbone for any platform where individual player performance is the product.
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Available on all plans. |
One important distinction: the full granular stats — passing accuracy, dribbles, interceptions, goalkeeper saves — are only available for Level 1 coverage competitions. These are your EPL, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1, UEFA Champions League, FIFA World Cup, and similar. For Level 2 and below, the Player API still returns core event data, but the depth drops. If player analytics are central to your product, make sure the competitions you are covering are at Level 1.
4. Roster API
What Does the Roster API Return?
The Roster API returns complete team squads for every competition — squad numbers, positions, and current availability. It updates with confirmed lineups close to match time, giving you an accurate picture of exactly who is playing and who is on the bench.
What you build with it: Playing XI displays, squad screens, lineup cards, pre-match team sheets, and the squad picker on a fantasy platform.
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Available on all plans. |
The practical move is to pair the Roster API with the Schedule API. When a match is upcoming, you pull the match ID from Schedule, then call Roster to get the confirmed lineup for that match. For Level 1 competitions, lineups typically populate 20 to 40 minutes before kickoff. For lower coverage tiers, they may only be available post-match. Build your timing logic around that.
5. Competition API
What Does the Competition API Return?
The Competition API organises everything around a competition. Matches by round, group stage structures, knockout brackets, league standings and points tables, teams in the competition, and player stats aggregated at the competition level. If the Schedule API is match-first, the Competition API is tournament-first.
What you build with it: Tournament hub pages, league standings tables, group stage drawers, knockout bracket displays, points table widgets, and any screen that answers — where does this team sit in this competition right now?
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Available on all plans. |
The Competition API models the full tournament tree — competition (cid) down to rounds down to matches down to teams. It is how you build a Champions League group stage display or a Premier League table from a single competition ID. If you are building a tournament-specific product — a FIFA 2026 app, a Champions League tracker — this is the endpoint that gives it structure.
6. Team API
What Does the Team API Return?
The Team API returns team profiles, squad details, match history, and season statistics. Think of it as the team-centric view of the data feed — everything you need to build a complete picture of a club across time.
What you build with it: Club profile pages, season performance dashboards, head-to-head comparison tools, team form trackers, and any feature that lets users dig into a specific team’s identity and history.
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Available on all plans. |
The difference between Team API and Roster API is worth spelling out. The Roster API tells you who is in the squad right now — names, positions, availability for the next match. The Team API tells you who the club is — their profile, their stats history, their match records over a season. For a complete club page, you use both. Roster for the current squad. Team for the context behind it.
7. Football Odds API
What Does the Football Odds API Return?
The Football Odds API delivers real-time match odds from over 60 bookmakers for prematch markets and over 30 bookmakers for in-play markets. It covers prematch odds, in-play odds as the match unfolds, and final scores.
What you build with it: Sports betting platforms, prediction apps, odds comparison tools, prematch probability displays, and in-play odds feeds for platforms where the lines moving in real time are the product.
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Enterprise plan only. |
This is the only endpoint in the feed that is gated to Enterprise. It is not on Starter, Pro, Elite, or Gold. If odds are a core product requirement — not a nice-to-have, but the actual thing you are selling to your users — Enterprise is the plan you are building on. If you are on an earlier plan and want to evaluate what the Odds API looks like before committing, reach out to the Entity Sport team directly.
8. Fantasy Football API
What Does the Fantasy Football API Return?
The Fantasy Football API delivers live per-player fantasy points, updated in real time throughout a match. It comes with a pre-built fantasy points system and is designed specifically for Dream11-style platforms and real-money gaming. This is a first-class endpoint — not a bolt-on feature — and it includes support for custom points systems if you want to run your own scoring logic.
What you build with it: Fantasy sports platforms, live leaderboards, DFS contest scoring engines, player point trackers, and any match-day dashboard where user engagement lives and dies by how fast the points update.
| Delivery | REST + JSON — Available on all plans, including the free Developer tier. |
Most football data providers treat fantasy points as an afterthought — a derived field they calculate on top of match events and bolt on at the end. Entity Sport built it as a dedicated endpoint with its own update cycle. That difference shows up where it matters: accuracy mid-match, handling of substitutions, and how quickly a player’s points change when a VAR decision reverses a goal. If fantasy is your product, this is the endpoint you are betting the platform on.
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Football API CoverageHow the Football API Endpoints Connect: A Match-Day in Order
None of these endpoints live in isolation. On a real match day, they chain together into a single data pipeline. Here is what that looks like for a fantasy football platform running a live contest:
- Schedule API — pull today’s matches, get the match IDs
- Roster API — fetch confirmed lineups 30 minutes before kickoff
- Live Score API — open a WebSocket connection, stream goals, cards, and subs as they happen
- Fantasy Football API — process each event through your scoring engine, update player points in real time
- Player API — surface individual performance data for post-match analysis
- Competition API — update the league table and standings once the final whistle blows
Every endpoint feeds the next one. That is by design. The match ID from Schedule flows into Live Score. The player ID from Roster flows into Fantasy. The competition ID from Schedule flows into Competition. Once you understand how the objects connect — mid, pid, tid, cid — the whole feed starts to feel like a single, coherent system rather than eight separate calls.
Which Endpoint Do You Actually Need?
If you are building a specific type of platform and want to know which endpoints to prioritise, here is a practical guide.
| Platform Type | Primary Football API Endpoints | Delivery |
| Live score app | Schedule + Live Score | REST + WebSocket |
| Fantasy platform | Fantasy + Player + Roster + Live Score | REST + WebSocket |
| Sports media / news portal | Schedule + Competition + Player | REST |
| Prediction / analytics tool | Competition + Player + Team + Odds* | REST (*Odds: Enterprise) |
| Club / team profile site | Team + Roster + Player | REST |
| Tournament hub | Competition + Schedule + Roster | REST |
*Odds API is Enterprise only. All other endpoints are available from Starter upward. Fantasy Football API and Schedule API are also included on the free Developer tier.
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ConnectFrequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between the Schedule API and the Football Live Score API?
The Schedule API tells you what matches exist — fixture lists, results, upcoming games, filterable by date or team. The Live Score API tells you what is happening inside a match right now — goals, cards, substitutions, minute-by-minute events. Schedule is your fixture engine. Live Score is your live engine. You need both if you are building a live football product.
Do I need WebSocket to get live football scores?
No — you can poll the Live Score API via REST on any plan. But WebSocket is the smarter architecture for anything genuinely real-time. It pushes events to you as they happen, so you are not burning API calls with constant polling. WebSocket is available on Gold plan and above.
Is the Fantasy Football API available on the free development plan?
Yes. The Fantasy Football API is included on the free Developer tier, alongside the Schedule API, Live Score API, Player API, Roster API, Competition API, and Team API. The free tier limits you to 2 competitions and 2,000 API calls over 15 days — enough to build a full integration and test your scoring logic before going to a paid plan.
Which Football API endpoints require Level 1 coverage to return full data?
The Player API is the most affected. Full granular player statistics — passing accuracy, shots on target, dribbles, tackles, interceptions, goalkeeper saves — are only available for Level 1 competitions. The Live Score API and Competition API also return richer data (play-by-play commentary, detailed match events) for Level 1 competitions. Level 4 competitions return live tables and real-time scores only. Check the coverage page to confirm which tier your target leagues fall under.
What is the Odds API, and which plan includes it?
The Football Odds API delivers real-time odds from 60+ bookmakers for prematch markets and 30+ for in-play markets. It is the only endpoint gated to the Enterprise plan — it is not available on Developer, Starter, Pro, Elite, or Gold. If odds data is a core requirement for your platform, the Enterprise plan is the right conversation to have with the Entity Sport team.
Start Building
Eight Football API endpoints. One data feed. The same token gets you into all of them.
If you are still evaluating, Entity Sport’s free development API gives you full sandbox access — no credit card required — with 2 competitions and enough calls to build and test a real integration end to end. Read the Football API documentation.
The infrastructure is there. The endpoints are documented. The only thing left is knowing which ones to call — and now you do.
