Ahead of the World Cup in 2026, AnimoVamos has launched as a platform designed to connect football players, organize pickup games, and help venue owners fill unused pitch capacity in Portugal and beyond.
Developed in Portugal, the platform addresses a recurring challenge in grassroots and casual football: the difficulty of organizing games outside of formal club structures.
In many contexts, whether in smaller towns with limited player pools, at universities where football is not the primary sport among peers, or in new environments where individuals lack social networks, arranging a simple game can be inconsistent and time-consuming.
The company describes this challenge as a structural gap in how recreational football is organized, where coordination is typically fragmented across messaging apps, informal groups, and word of mouth, and takes time.
AnimoVamos brings field discovery, game organization, and player matching into a single platform. Users can locate nearby football pitches, view available games, and join matches within minutes. The objective is to reduce the friction between intent and participation, enabling players to access games without prior connections or coordinated planning.
In Portugal, AnimoVamos has established early nationwide coverage, with more than 750 football fields listed, including in cities such as Lisbon, Porto, and Braga, Filipe Figueira, who is behind the platform, told Portugal Startup News.
Globally, the platform reports more than 120,000 football fields listed across 36,000 cities worldwide.
AnimoVamos’ primary users are casual football players aged 18 to 35 who are not affiliated with formal clubs but wish to play regularly.
On the supply side, venue owners can list their pitches, manage availability, and receive bookings through a subscription-based model. Players access the platform free of charge.
AnimoVamos has positioned its launch in the context of increased global attention on football ahead of the 2026 World Cup, which will take place in Canada, Mexico, and the United States from June 11 to July 19.
The platform expects this period to drive higher demand for casual and local football participation and aims to serve as an infrastructure layer for organizing such activity.
“We are seeing a clear uptick in ‘campos de futebol perto de mim’ searches from Portugal as the World Cup approaches. Players are not just watching. They want to play,” Figueira noted.
Featured image: Photo courtesy of AnimoVamos
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