FC 26 Players

When EA released the World Cup update for EA SPORTS FC 26 at the last minute in late May, many players thought the football game giant, long criticized for its lackluster performance, was finally going to redeem itself with its national team content.

However, when players actually entered this supposedly significantly expanded version, they were greeted not with the expected World Cup excitement, but with a complete disaster, from chaotic lineups to numerous bugs.

Severe Licensing Gap

Although the number of national teams in FIFA 26 World Cup has increased significantly, many of the newly added national teams have licensing issues.

Algeria, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, and several other Middle Eastern countries lack both official team crests and authentic World Cup jerseys. Japan cannot use its official jerseys and crest because another company holds the license; only other teams have complete licenses.

The lack of these licenses makes FC 26 World Cup update feel like a hastily produced, unfinished game.

Forced Internet Connection

The most perplexing design flaw in this FC 26 World Cup update is that even in the purely offline Tournament mode, players must maintain a constant internet connection and be linked to EA's servers to access and play.

If a player loses internet access or the servers crash, the game displays an error message, fails to load any World Cup content, and may even crash, resulting in a garbled interface when returning to the main menu.

This means that two or three years after FC 26's release, if EA shuts down the game's servers, players will permanently lose access to any mode of 2026 World Cup, completely eliminating the possibility of saving the game or replaying it for nostalgia.

Function Missing and Incorrect Lineups

If players want to experience the World Cup in FUT 26 through Career Mode, they must choose Manager Live Challenges or Live Start Points, but this requires a constant internet connection.

Furthermore, players cannot manage a national team independently; they must first bind to a club before jumping directly from the end of the season to the summer when the World Cup begins. Regarding the rosters, the official claim is that they used the final rosters announced by each team, but in reality, many players are missing.

Furthermore, players have virtually no control over their national team call-ups. In Live Start Points or Tournament modes, team rosters are completely locked; you cannot replace players as you would in the main game settings, or even remove obviously unsuitable players and add real stars.

Tournament Mode is Unrealistic

First of all, EA FC 26 did not even follow the most basic, realistic World Cup schedule.

The real-life opening match is Mexico vs. South Africa, but in the game it's Mexico vs. South Korea.

Regarding stadiums, no real World Cup stadiums are included; Estadio Azteca stadium, which appeared in FIFA 22, is not included.

The match ball, trophy, and scoreboard are all generic, poorly designed purple models, lacking any of the solemnity and atmosphere expected of the World Cup.

Even without official authorization, FC 26 development team could have easily compensated by creating more refined graphics, but they didn't even make that effort.

Fatal Bugs

EA FC 26 World Cup also suffers from a series of unbearable bugs.

Once the knockout stage begins, all World Cup group stage statistics in the game are completely erased. You can't review points, goals scored, goal difference, or any other information from each group; only a single knockout stage tree remains.

The most serious bug in the knockout stage is the incorrect penalty shootout ruling. If you win a match in a penalty shootout, the game system might register it as a loss, resulting in your elimination.

This bug has existed in Career Mode and Tournament Mode for years and remains unfixed, directly causing players to be inexplicably eliminated in crucial matches.

Even if you eventually win World Cup, the celebration scenes are exactly the same as in any other game like Community Shield, offering nothing new. There are no unique World Cup victory animations or award ceremonies, no post-match awards, and no social media or news recaps.

After choosing to end Tournament, players simply exited, as if nothing had happened.

National Team Coaches Not Updated

This 2026 World Cup update added almost no new national team coach faces.

Carlo Ancelotti of Brazil was absent, as was Mauricio Pochettino of United States and Jesse Marsch of Canada. The Italian coach, on the other hand, had a strangely shaped, patchwork-like face.

Furthermore, many newly added national teams still use generic coach assets from ten years ago, with serious errors in coach allocation and a lack of updates.

From this perspective, we can see that FC 26's World Cup is almost entirely devoid of sincerity.

A Few Remaining Advantages

Of course, this FUT 26 World Cup update isn't all bad.

Players can replace or randomize the entire World Cup participating teams, such as manually getting Italy into the finals or randomly generating entirely new group stage draws, providing some customization and endless simulation possibilities.

Some players also have exclusive 2D avatars and faces in World Cup mode, adding subtle detail.

In addition, FIFA 26 development team fixed a bug in previous versions where the national anthems played before matches; now both teams can play their respective national anthems completely.

However, these minor improvements cannot compensate for the numerous systemic flaws, bugs, licensing issues, and perfunctory attitudes mentioned above.

Overall, this FC 26 World Cup update is a belated gift for console players eagerly awaiting World Cup content. Hopefully, the development team can gradually resolve the various problems exposed, making The World's Game truly worthy of its name.

The spotlight for this Friday through next week will be on EA FC 26's Festival Football Path to Glory Team 2, with several high-value cards entering the promotion from Friday onward. In addition to the officially announced Path to Glory Team 2 squad, a number of SBCs and new Icons have also been leaked.

For these leaked cards, the official team has only confirmed a portion of their stats so far, without verifying which Playstyle+ upgrades they will receive. Even so, that is already enough to excite players.

Free Icon

95 OVR Samuel Eto'o Icon ST

• Pac: 94
• Sho: 92
• Pas: 82
• Dri: 91
• Def: 48
• Phy: 83

Legendary striker Samuel Eto'o will arrive next week. He will not be an SBC player but rather a reward from Gauntlet mode. This mode starts next Monday, and players must win five consecutive matches using five different squads. The challenge allows for losses, but only a perfect run will earn Eto'o.

According to the leaks, this card will most likely come with only three Playstyle+ traits instead of the 4 many hoped for. However, given his elite shooting, his exceptional pace, and the fact that he is completely free, this is still a pleasantly surprising reward.

Leaked SBCs

94 OVR Aaron Wan-Bissaka RB

• Pac: 93
• Sho: 70
• Pas: 87
• Dri: 90
• Def: 95
• Phy: 95

Aaron Wan-Bissaka will receive an SBC next week. The stats on this card are very impressive: as a full-back, he boasts excellent defending attributes, great physicality, and superb speed. The leaks do not yet include his Playstyles, but the official team will likely give him Bruiser and Quick Step.

Nevertheless, his biggest drawback is the national team he represents: Republic of Congo. That side is not a strong contender in World Cup, so unless they unexpectedly advance through multiple rounds, this card's upgrade potential remains very limited. For this reason, SBC's value is also limited, and its expected fodder cost is around 50k to 60k FC 26 coins. While he may not be a top-tier option in the current meta, he can still serve as a solid evolution candidate.

96 OVR Alexia Putellas CM

• Pac: 91
• Sho: 95
• Pas: 95
• Dri: 96
• Def: 89
• Phy: 88

This is an End Of An Era SBC, created for Alexia Putellas as she prepares to leave Barcelona Femení and transfer to an English club. Previously, Barcelona Femení won UEFA Women's Champions League, and Putellas already received a 96 OVR UWCL Road to the Finals tradeable card. This SBC version has extremely similar attributes to that tradeable one, with even slight improvements in some categories.

The tradeable 96-rated Putellas card is currently worth around 500k coins on the market. If SBC's construction requires roughly 250k to 300k coins in fodder, then it will be well worth completing.

94 OVR Pedro Neto RM

• Pac: 97
• Sho: 92
• Pas: 89
• Dri: 94
• Def: 53
• Phy: 86

The first SBC arriving this Friday with EA FC 26 Path to Glory Team 2 squad is Pedro Neto. This dynamic card already has excellent base stats. More importantly, Portuguese national team is very strong in this World Cup, with a realistic chance of reaching the semi-finals or even the final. As Portugal advances each round, this card will receive upgrades. Should they make it to the final, Pedro Neto's stats would become truly lavish.

Considering that a similar Cody Gakpo SBC cost around 300k-400k coins in fodder, Neto's SBC will likely be in the 500k coins range. Even so, players can accumulate fodder cards without too much difficulty, so this is almost a must-complete SBC for everyone.

94 OVR Alexis Mac Allister CAM

• Pac: 93
• Sho: 94
• Pas: 95
• Dri: 94
• Def: 93
• Phy: 91

This Alexis Mac Allister SBC has virtually no weaknesses: his lowest attribute is 91 Physical, while every other stat is 91 or above.

As the midfield core of Argentinian national team - another tournament favorite - Mac Allister already boasts a strong base card. With upgrades, this SBC card will be one of the very best in Path to Glory Team 2. If Neto's construction costs 500k coins, Mac Allister's will only be higher. Any Argentina fan would likely not want to miss this SBC.

Other Leaked Players

Besides SBC leaks, there are some other leaked players whose specific stats are currently unknown, but they could be very strong:

• 95 OVR Noni Madueke (RW) - National Pride Red (Token Reward)
• 95 OVR Kim Min Jae (CB) - National Pride Red (Token Reward)
• 95 OVR Maghnes Akliouche (CAM) - National Pride Red (Token Reward)
• 94 OVR Giorgian de Arrascaeta (CAM) - Path to Glory (Token Reward)
• 94 OVR Djibril Sow (CM) - Path to Glory (Token Reward)
• 94 OVR Sadio Mané (LM) - Path to Glory (Token Reward)

These are the main leaked SBCs and new players for the second week of EA FC 26 Festival Football Path to Glory. Most of them are dynamic cards, so their stats have room to improve further. Choose the team you trust the most, and go complete those SBCs.