Super Sidekicks 3 has 64 player-selectable teams divided into eight geographical regions: Europe A, Europe B, Europe C, Asia A, Asia B, America, South America and Africa. Each region has eight national teams to select from, each ranked according to five attributes: speed, kicking power, technique, attack and defense.
After choosing their team, players can then choose to compete in either regional continental tournaments or in a world tournament against all the other national teams. Then players can select one of a number of power-ups before the game. Players can choose to have their entire team powered up, upgrade the team speed, defense, attack, technique or teamwork abilities, or apply power-ups to the star striker or goalkeeper.
When on offense, players can pass the ball in one of three ways. Pressing the A button passes the ball on the ground, while pressing the B button passes the ball through the air. Both pass types target a specific friendly player. Pressing the C button results in a short forward pass that's not specifically targeted. When near the opposing goal, pressing the A button results in a goal attempt instead of a pass.
Defensive players have the ability to slide tackle or shoulder bash opposing players to regain control of the ball. If the move is performed too roughly, the referee can call a penalty, resulting in a free kick. If a team incurs several penalties, the opposing team may get charged up, resulting in a temporary increase in abilities. Super Sidekicks 3 gives players manual control switching defensive players. By pressing the C button while on defense, control is switched to the closest defender to the ball.