diff --git a/modules/matching/include/openfdcm/matching/matchstrategy.h b/modules/matching/include/openfdcm/matching/matchstrategy.h
index 2c0a2a0..b503f64 100644
--- a/modules/matching/include/openfdcm/matching/matchstrategy.h
+++ b/modules/matching/include/openfdcm/matching/matchstrategy.h
@@ -45,6 +45,15 @@ namespace openfdcm::matching
 
     inline bool operator<(const Match& lhs, const Match& rhs) noexcept{ return lhs.score < rhs.score; }
 
+    inline void sortMatches(std::vector<Match>& matches) {
+        std::sort(std::begin(matches), std::end(matches));
+    }
+
+    inline void sortMatches(std::vector<Match>& matches, size_t maxNumCandidates) {
+        std::partial_sort(std::begin(matches), std::begin(matches) +
+        std::min(maxNumCandidates, matches.size()), std::end(matches));
+    }
+
     // ************************************************************************************************************
     // Concepts
     // ************************************************************************************************************
diff --git a/tests/matching/src/matchstrategy.test.cpp b/tests/matching/src/matchstrategy.test.cpp
index d9f504a..1509452 100644
--- a/tests/matching/src/matchstrategy.test.cpp
+++ b/tests/matching/src/matchstrategy.test.cpp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ void run_test(float scene_ratio, BS::concurrency_t num_threads) {
         LineArray scene = transform(tmpl, scene_transform);
         const Dt3Cpu& featuremap = buildCpuFeaturemap(scene, Dt3CpuParameters{depth, coeff, scene_padding}, threadpool);
         auto matches = search(matcher, searchStrategy, optimizerStrategy, featuremap, {tmpl}, scene);
-        std::sort(std::begin(matches), std::end(matches));
+        sortMatches(matches);
         
         Mat22 best_match_rotation = matches[0].transform.block<2, 2>(0, 0);
         Point2 best_match_translation = matches[0].transform.block<2, 1>(0, 2);