International Victory Goal was Sega's first attempt at a 32-bit soccer game outside the Japanese market, one of the first Saturn sports games released and the predecessor to Worldwide Soccer 97 and 98 .
Focused on national teams (12, including Italy, Spain, Denmark, Netherlands, England, Argentina, France, USA, Germany, Romania, Belgium and Brazil), the game offers a 2.5D environment (polygonal stadium and sprites for players) and three camera angles (back, isometric and side) with four zooming levels. Modes include Exhibition, World League (either single or double, with 44 matches and a grand final to crown the Grand Champion), S-League (just one round, 11 matches), cup knockout and penalty shootout, the game keeping track of statistical information of each competition. The gameplay is regular arcade, with simplicity being privileged over tactical knowledge or complex controls, offering three types of controls to choose from.
Other options include choosing a difficulty level, half-length (3, 6 or 15 minutes) and weather conditions (fine, rain or random).