Api Football vs Strava MCP

A side-by-side look at the Api Football and Strava MCP MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.

Api Football logoApi FootballSports · Local subprocess (stdio)API-Football MCP — comprehensive soccer/football data56GoodAuth: api key requiredStrava MCP logoStrava MCPSports · Local subprocess (stdio)A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that connects to Strava API, providing tools to access Strava data through LLMs67GreatAuth: oauth 2.0

Verdict: choose Api Football for sports work as a local process; choose Strava MCP for sports as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.

Which MCP server should you choose?

Api Football logoChoose Api Football when

  • You need dedicated capabilities in the Sports domain.
  • You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
  • Its auth model fits you: API key required.
  • You want tools like fixtures, standings, team_search.
Explore Api Football

Strava MCP logoChoose Strava MCP when

  • You need dedicated capabilities in the Sports domain.
  • You prefer a local stdio subprocess transport.
  • Its auth model fits you: OAuth 2.0.
  • You want tools like get-athlete-profile, get-athlete-stats, get-activity-details.
Explore Strava MCP

Feature & specification comparison

Rows where the two servers differ are marked.

SpecApi Football logoApi FootballStrava MCP logoStrava MCP
CategorySportsSports
Quality signal56/100 · Good67/100 · Great
Install commandConfirmedConfirmed
TransportLocal subprocess (stdio)Local subprocess (stdio)
AuthAPI key requiredOAuth 2.0
PricingBYOK (pay the provider)BYOK (pay the provider)
Required env varsNone listedNone listed
Verified ownerCommunity listingCommunity listing
GitHub stars0500
Directory activity 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes
Tools924

Tools & capabilities

Api Football tools 9

  • fixturesGet match fixtures (upcoming + recent) by league, team, or date. Use league=1 for FIFA World Cup, league=39 for EPL, league=140 for La Liga. Returns kickoff, teams, score (if played), venue, status.
  • standingsCurrent standings table for a league. Returns rank, team, points, goal difference, form. Use league=1 for World Cup.
  • team_searchLook up a team by name + country to get its team_id for use in other tools.
  • league_searchLook up a league/tournament/competition by name to get its league_id.
  • predictionsAPI-Football's own match-outcome predictions. Returns home/draw/away win probabilities, advice, h2h context, form. Use for "who will win" research on specific fixtures.
  • football_injuriesCurrently injured and unavailable football players for a club or a league — who is out, the injury or reason, and whether they are ruled out or merely doubtful. Covers Serie A, the Premier League, La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and other competitions worldwide. Use for questions about which playe…
  • football_squadThe current player squad for a football club — every player with shirt number, position, age and nationality. Use for questions about who plays for a club, squad lists, and a team roster.
  • h2hHead-to-head record between two teams. Returns last N matches with scores.
  • api_football_statusAPI-Football account status for the key in use: subscription plan name, whether it is active and when it ends, requests used today against the daily limit, and the per-minute limit the vendor reports in its rate-limit headers. The vendor does not count this call against the quota. Use it to tell a…

Strava MCP tools 24

  • get-athlete-profileFetches the profile information for the authenticated athlete, including their unique numeric ID needed for other tools like get-athlete-stats.
  • get-athlete-statsFetches the activity statistics (recent, YTD, all-time) for a specific athlete using their ID. Requires the athleteId obtained from the get-athlete-profile tool.
  • get-activity-detailsFetches detailed information about a specific activity using its ID.
  • get-recent-activitiesFetches the most recent activities for the authenticated athlete.
  • list-athlete-clubsLists the clubs the authenticated athlete is a member of.
  • list-starred-segmentsLists the segments starred by the authenticated athlete.
  • get-segmentFetches detailed information about a specific segment using its ID.
  • explore-segmentsSearches for popular segments within a given geographical area.
  • star-segmentStars or unstars a specific segment for the authenticated athlete.
  • get-segment-effortFetches detailed information about a specific segment effort using its ID.
  • list-segment-effortsLists the authenticated athlete's efforts on a specific segment, optionally filtering by date.
  • list-athlete-routesLists the routes created by the authenticated athlete, with pagination.
  • +12 more on the listing page

Ready-to-paste client configs

Paste either block (or both) into your client config, e.g. claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json. We only show a config when the install command is confirmed.

Api Football

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "api-football": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@pipeworx/mcp-api-football"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Strava MCP

mcpServers (Claude Desktop / Cursor)
{
  "mcpServers": {
    "r-huijts-strava-mcp": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": [
        "-y",
        "@r-huijts/strava-mcp-server"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Frequently asked questions

Api Football is categorized under Sports and uses a local stdio subprocess. Strava MCP belongs to Sports and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Api Football for sports work and Strava MCP for sports.

Copy the mcpServers block from the config section on this page into your client's config (for example claude_desktop_config.json or ~/.cursor/mcp.json), then fully restart the client.

Api Football is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key required. Strava MCP is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: oauth 2.0. If a server needs environment variables such as API keys, define them under the env key in your client's MCP config.

Yes. MCP clients support multiple servers: add api-football and r-huijts-strava-mcp as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.

On AllMCPs, Api Football has a quality signal of 56/100 (Good) with 1 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars. Strava MCP has 67/100 (Great) with 2 views, 0 installs and 500 GitHub stars.