If you're still coping with the misery of yet another "gallant" Socceroos defeat, then here's the best possible thing to cheer you up: FIFA glitches.

THE WORLD CUP IS HERE AND I GOT THE FEVER BABY. IT'S A MONTH OF FOOTBALL WITH 64 MATCHES AND WHAT EVEN ARE VIDEO GAMES WHO CARES.

It's World Cup time, which means we'll be seeing a lot more soccer - and virtual soccer - than usual. But if you're feeling a bit patriotic when it comes to FIFA 18, you might notice that something looks a bit ... off.

Sports commentators will sometimes refer to athletes having "video game stats," numbers so impressive they seem to be produced in a virtual realm rather than the mortal. But even inside the polygon-and-pixel world of FIFA 18, some goals are purely transcendent.

Electronic Arts takes a lot of shit from a lot of people for many of its business practices. So its decision to just give away a big FIFA 18 World Cup update - something they used to charge for - is a pleasant surprise.

Loot boxes in FIFA 18, Overwatch and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive are now illegal in Belgium, with the country's legislators declaring today that if the games' publishers don't remove the offending microtransactions, people behind the games could face fines and even time behind bars.

FIFA is a series of soccer games that does its best to emulate professional football in the virtual realm. A bit of tomfoolery in a live pro match really drives home that sense of realism.

At the FIFA 18 Ultimate Team event in Barcelona, Kurt1 put a devastating game up on opponent MegaBit, highlighted best by this dribble around a buzzing hive of defenders that resulted in a goal.

Today on Highlight Reel we have an animal crossing cult, busted VR, Blitz kills and much more!

It's a cliche at this point: Every esports experience starts with you sitting in your DXRacer gaming chair, watching some Dota 2 footage in Windows Media Player, with a half-eaten pizza and several print magazines on either side. Then, a redheaded babe wearing a peaked cap and stiletto pumps rings your doorbell to deliver your VR headset.

The lowest possible rating a FIFA 18 player can have is 46 out of 100, and there are 10 players plumbing these depths. Nine of them, including Grimsby Town's Max Wright and Scunthorpe United's Leslie Sackey, are professional athletes. The tenth is a former youth goalkeeper roped in to get around an administrative loophole.

FIFA 18 is a good game of football with an absolutely incredible singleplayer mode. PES 2018 is a fantastic game of football wearing clearance rack kit.

Today on Highlight Reel we have neck pain, MGO grenades, CS:GO clutches and much more!

It's sports season, which means sports games, and also lovely sports game glitches.

Discounting the extra money you'll end up throwing at microtransactions in NBA 2K18, JB has a pretty solid sportsball Xbox One S bundle going this week.

You know what time of year it is: the week in the calendar where everything goes full sports, and old favourites re-appear. FIFA 18 drops on Friday, but for nostalgics it will be the release of the Mini SNES (and Star Fox 2) that has the biggest appeal.

Beyond that, it's a bit of a quiet week. There are some major titles before Friday though: a Total Warhammer sequel, Cuphead, Ruiner, another Danganronpa game, and One Piece comes to the Switch. Here's This Week In Games.

Everyone in the football universe is talking about Alex Hunter, from pundits Men in Blazers to Ronaldo himself.