[6] Its trackball control system contributed significantly to its gameplay which was relatively speedy and exhibited a fluidity something akin to ice hockey, with as little as 3 seconds required to score from kick-off.

Two-player action could be highly competitive, with players facing each other across the game space while using sweeping arm movements reminiscent of table tennis.

It was developed shortly after the American football game Gridiron Fight, released earlier the same year, with several of the same team members working on Tehkan World Cup.

[7][8] The game was planned and designed by Shin-ichiro Tomie[9] with Kazutoshi Ueda (who previously worked on titles such as Space Panic, Lady Bug, Mr. Do!

[8] In Japan, World Cup was listed by Beep magazine as the seventh top-grossing arcade game of November 1985.

[3] Game Machine magazine later listed World Cup on their February 15, 1986 issue as being the third most successful table arcade cabinet of the month.

[14] Mike Roberts of Computer Gamer magazine gave Tehkan World Cup a generally favorable review upon release, noting the "very good graphics" and trackball controls.

[5][18] Its use of a top-down overhead perspective was predated by Alpha Denshi's Exciting Soccer (1983), but Tehkan World Cup was responsible for popularizing the format.

[5][19][18] Hare referred to MicroProse Soccer as an "arcade conversion" of Tehkan World Cup,[20] but said it was not "a carbon copy" as they also added their "own elements" to the gameplay.