EA Sports FC 26

Did You Know?

• The Ultimate Edition allowed players to access the game 7 days earlier than the Standard Edition and included 6000 FIFA Points.
• FC 26 Showcase, a free preview version, was released on 26 September 2025 and included Kick-Off, Learn to Play, and Clubs modes.
• In Mexico and the United Arab Emirates, a limited version of Ultimate Team was available in the FC 26 Showcase.

Gameplay

EA Sports FC 26 introduces a complete overhaul of dribbling mechanics, enhanced artificial intelligence for player positioning, and more lifelike goalkeeper animations. Two gameplay presets are available: Competitive, for faster-paced action in Ultimate Team and Clubs, and Authentic, for realistic behaviors in Career Mode. Manager Career adds Manager Live Challenges, where players choose specific objectives like winning the Treble, and Unexpected Events that simulate real-life scenarios such as players being home sick. Player Career introduces Archetypes, allowing players to select a specific path or playing style for personalization. The positions LWB and RWB were removed and replaced with a Wingback role.

Features

FC 26 includes over 20,000 licensed players across more than 750 clubs, 35 leagues, and national teams. Fully licensed competitions include the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Women's Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, UEFA Conference League, and UEFA Europa League, as well as the Premier League, LALIGA EA SPORTS, Bundesliga, and Barclay's Women Super League. The Brazil national team returned after a multi-year licensing partnership announced in May 2026, while Japan remained absent. Inter Milan, A.C. Milan, Atalanta, and Lazio are absent and appear as Lombardia FC, Milano FC, Bergamo Calcio, and Latium. At release, the game contained 28 male national teams, with New Zealand dropped, and 17 women national teams, with Mexico, Poland, and Denmark added. An update added the Saudi Arabian national team. New icons available for pre-order until August 26, 2025 include Alex Morgan, Zlatan Ibrahimović, Marcelo, Andrés Iniesta, Caroline Seger, Francesco Totti, Toni Kroos, Oliver Kahn, Giorgio Chiellini, Cha Bum-kun, Sissi, and Steffi Jones. Several stadiums debut, such as Everton's Hill Dickinson Stadium, Stadio Diego Armando Maradona, and the Allianz Arena returns. Thai League 1 club Buriram United was added on April 7, and the Indonesia national team was added later.

Ultimate Team

Ultimate Team in FC 26 includes a new Playstyles Lab for certain card types, five-game tournaments called Gauntlets where players must change their team each game, and a token store for exchanging tokens earned from objectives. The first Red Bull Mystery Ball Live Event was introduced, offering themed Evolution Consumables and Packs as part of the Trophy Titans promotion, alongside Ultimate Gauntlet, Flash Rush events, and a limited-time tournament.

Reception

Critics gave FC 26 a generally favorable reception, with 83% of reviewers recommending it on OpenCritic and a similar score on Metacritic. The game earned nominations for Best Sports/Racing Game and Innovation in Accessibility at The Game Awards 2025, plus a Sports Game of the Year nod at the 29th D.I.C.E. Awards, but took home no wins. It topped UK sales charts upon its September 2025 debut, and by October had moved over 12 million copies worldwide. Of those, 8 million were on PlayStation systems—88% on PS5 and 12% on PS4.