To invite an opponent to play against you in Madden, you must first launch Madden on your Xbox. Once you are in Madden, navigate to the “Exhibition” menu item. Select this by pressing the “A” button.  

Next, move to and select the “Online Head to Head” option. You will be taken to the “Online Hub” menu. From here move to and select the “PLAY A FRIEND” box. The Invite to Game menu will appear, displaying a list of your friends. If a friend is online currently, a green circle appears to the left of their Gamertag. A red circle means your friend is not online. 

When playing in a Rival match, Rival automatically inserts your opponent’s new Gamertag into your "Friends" list. Rival automatically removes it again after your Rival game. You will receive a notification from Rival with the Gamertag you have been matched against for your next Rival game. You can also find your opponent’s Gamertag inside the Rival app on your mobile device or on your dashboard when logged into the Rival Games website.  

Move to and select your Rival opponent’s Gamertag from your Friends list by pressing the "A" button. Their Gamertag will now appear on the right side of the screen, under “Friends to Invite”. Now you are ready to “Create Game” by pressing the “Menu button”. The menu button has three horizontal lines on it. This is a smaller button located below the Xbox logo button. This brings you to the “Create Game” screen and allows you to customize your game settings.  

Each Rival game has specific instructions for the game's settings and can be found in both the Rival app and your Rival website dashboard. Use the left joystick to toggle options on and off to select and match your game options to the Rival game settings. Once your screen options mirror the Rival instructions for the game settings, press “A”. This sends an invite to your Rival opponent’s Xbox for them to accept and start your game.  

Once on the “Team Select” screen, choose your team, jerseys, and plays. To select a team, move the left stick up and down. This cycles through all available teams. Stop on your team of choice and press “A” to confirm your team selection. This brings up a menu where you can customize play calling, playbooks, team jerseys, and more. Use the left stick on your controller to cycle through your customization options. Once you have customized your team, move back to the “Ready” line on the menu, and press “A”. 

That is it, you are done! 

When your opponent is finished with their team setup as well, your game will load and automatically start.  

Good Luck!