Help Center

Team Balancing

Capo offers three ways to balance teams. Pick the one that suits your group — you can change method any time, even after balancing.

The three balance methods

Performance Balancing (recommended)

This is the default and works best for most groups. Capo looks at recent match history — win rates, goals, and which players perform well together — then builds teams designed to make the game as close as possible.

  • •Zero setup required — It works automatically from your match data
  • •Learns over time — The more matches you play, the smarter it gets
  • •Weights recent form — Last few weeks matter more than last year
  • •Works with uneven teams — 7v8, 8v9, no problem

Tip

Performance balancing needs about 5 matches of data before it becomes accurate. Until then, consider using Ability or Random.

Ability Balancing

If you know your players well, you can rate them on 6 attributes and let Capo balance based on those ratings. This is useful when:

  • •You don't have much match history yet
  • •You know players' abilities better than the stats suggest
  • •You want position-aware balancing (defenders, midfielders, attackers)

See Player Ratings for how to set up ratings.

Restrictions on Ability Balancing

Ability balancing requires equal team sizes (not 7v8) and at least 5v5. It's also disabled if you're using Fixed GK mode with just one goalkeeper.

Random

Just shuffles players randomly into two teams. Quick and simple — useful for casual games where fairness isn't critical, or when you want to mix things up.

How to balance teams

1

Add players to the pool

In your match, add all the players who are playing this week.
2

Tap Lock & Balance

This opens a modal where you choose your balance method.
3

Pick your method

Select Performance, Ability, or Random. If using Fixed GK mode, select your keepers first.
4

Review the teams

Capo shows you both teams with a "tornado chart" visualising how balanced they are.

Understanding the tornado chart

After balancing, you'll see a visual comparison of both teams across different factors. The closer the bars are to equal, the more balanced the teams.

For Performance balancing, it shows power rating and goal threat. For Ability balancing, it shows the position-weighted scores. Random doesn't show a chart (there's nothing to analyse).

Making manual adjustments

Not happy with the result? You can:

  • •Drag and drop — Move players between teams by dragging their name card
  • •Re-balance — Try a different method by tapping Re-Balance
  • •Unlock the pool — Go back to step 1 if you need to add or remove players

The tornado chart updates in real-time as you make changes, so you can see the impact.

Tip

If you re-balance after saving teams, players won't see the new teams until you save again. This lets you experiment without confusing anyone.

Tips for fair games

  • •Stick with one method — Consistency helps Capo learn your group
  • •Enter accurate results — Goals and scores feed back into future balancing
  • •Mark no-shows — Don't record results for players who didn't turn up
  • •Use Fixed GK mode — If you have dedicated keepers, this improves accuracy

Related articles

Player Ratings →Match Control Centre →Fixed Goalkeeper Mode →How It Works: AI Balancing →