Sports MCP Server vs Api Football
A side-by-side look at the Sports MCP Server and Api Football MCP servers: transport, auth, tools, quality signals, and the config to install either one in Claude, Cursor, Windsurf or VS Code.
Verdict: choose Sports MCP Server for sports work; choose Api Football for sports as a local process. You can also run both side by side in one mcpServers block.
Which MCP server should you choose?
Choose Sports MCP Server when
- You need dedicated capabilities in the Sports domain.
- Its auth model fits you: No auth required.
- You have the keys it needs:
MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPE, MCP_LOG_LEVEL. - You want tools like
sports_find_team, sports_find_player, sports_get_scores.
Choose 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.
Feature & specification comparison
Rows where the two servers differ are marked.
| Spec | ||
|---|---|---|
| Category | Sports | Sports |
| Quality signal | 49/100 · Fair | 56/100 · Good |
| Install command | Not confirmed yet | Confirmed |
| Transport | — | Local subprocess (stdio) |
| Auth | No auth required | API key required |
| Pricing | Free | BYOK (pay the provider) |
| Required env vars | MCP_TRANSPORT_TYPEMCP_LOG_LEVEL | None listed |
| Verified owner | Community listing | Community listing |
| GitHub stars | 2 | 0 |
| Directory activity | 1 views 0 installs 0 upvotes | 2 views 0 installs 0 upvotes |
| Tools | 8 | 9 |
| Full listing | View Sports MCP Server | View Api Football |
Tools & capabilities
Sports MCP Server tools 8
sports_find_teamResolve a team name or partial name to canonical records and source IDs across providers.sports_find_playerResolve a player name to canonical TheSportsDB records with ID, team, position, and bio fields.sports_get_scoresLive and final scores for a league on a given date, optionally filtered by team.sports_get_gameGame metadata, period scores, team totals, provider top performers, and paged scoring plays.sports_get_scheduleUpcoming and past fixtures for a team or league over a date range.sports_get_standingsCurrent standings or league table for a league and season.sports_get_teamTeam detail combining metadata, roster, recent results, and upcoming fixtures.sports_get_playerPlayer details from TheSportsDB — biography, team, position, and physical stats.
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…
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.
Sports MCP Server
No confirmed install command for Sports MCP Server yet — follow the setup steps linked from its listing page rather than a guessed package name.
Api Football
{
"mcpServers": {
"api-football": {
"command": "npx",
"args": [
"-y",
"@pipeworx/mcp-api-football"
]
}
}
}
Frequently asked questions
Sports MCP Server is categorized under Sports and uses an install path we have not confirmed yet. Api Football belongs to Sports and uses a local stdio subprocess. Pick Sports MCP Server for sports work and Api Football 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. Sports MCP Server has no confirmed install command yet — follow its own setup instructions.
Sports MCP Server is listed as free. Auth: no auth required. Api Football is bring-your-own-key: usage is billed by the API provider you supply a key for. Auth: api key required. 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 sports-mcp-server-2 and api-football as separate keys in the same mcpServers object, and your assistant will call tools from either one.
On AllMCPs, Sports MCP Server has a quality signal of 49/100 (Fair) with 1 views, 0 installs and 2 GitHub stars. Api Football has 56/100 (Good) with 2 views, 0 installs and 0 GitHub stars.