FC 26 Players

In EA FC 26, your through balls are frequently intercepted because of defensive positioning, opponents' high pressing, and the game's AI sometimes being set to force interceptions.

Fortunately, in the developers' recent November update feedback, they explicitly stated that CPU AI will be reworked in FC 26 v1.1.3, improving its ability to track off-the-ball runs, make quick decisions, and maintain formation, while reducing the previous tendency to aggressively push forward to intercept offside players.

So, for now, external AI factors are being eliminated. To improve your through ball success rate and dominate Weekend League, you must change your passing style, especially against strong opponents. But don't worry, here we share three through ball techniques to quickly break through the opponent's defense and accurately pass to the target position. Let's take a look!

Add Curve To Your Passes

First, the technique we'll discuss is adding a curve to your through balls. This is highly effective when the opponent anticipates the through ball opportunity and intercepts the pass.

Simply put, to execute this technique, hold down L2/LT button before charging the pass. This instructs your player to add a curve to the pass, making the ball go around defenders, much like a curved shot goes around the goalkeeper.

Therefore, instead of passing a predictable straight ball, aim to get the ball around obstacles, i.e., moving attacking players. This technique is even more effective if your player has Incisive Pass Playstyle.

Furthermore, this technique works when there are defenders between the passer and the target player, as a straight pass is too risky. Curved through balls can also be very effective when attacking players are making diagonal runs into the backline, allowing you to send the ball along their running path instead of forcing it through the wall, reducing the risk of interception.

In crowded central areas, a curved pass to the flanks can create excellent opportunities that standard through balls cannot reach - a point many players overlook.

Dinked Pass

Next, we'll introduce Dinked Pass, feared by all defenders today. Simply double-click the through ball button.

At first glance, it seems no different from a regular through ball, but you won't realize the enormous difference until the very last moment when your player gently lifts the ball.

Instead of skimming across the grass like a typical through ball, giving defenders a chance to slide or intercept, the ball bounces off their legs, creating a fantastic opportunity for your attacking players to chase it down.

This Dinked Pass is especially important when the defense pushes forward aggressively, leaving space. The curved trajectory allows the ball to easily bypass sliding tackles and tackles. This pass is perfect for lobbing the ball behind full-backs or center-backs, allowing your running players to make runs.

The reason Dinked Pass is so efficient is that it doesn't fly high like a lob; it just bounces gently, which is why it reaches the attacking player's feet faster and avoids interception.

This type of pass is very effective at close range, especially inside or near the box. If you can use Dinked Pass correctly inside the box, you can create volley opportunities.

In FIFA 26, the success rate of this type of pass is extremely high, but it requires relatively high reaction and ball control stats from the player executing the pass. Therefore, if you want your through balls to be more effective, you can buy FC 26 coins to invest in suitable players. More importantly, coinciding with the Thanksgiving and Black Friday double celebration, IGGM is offering a limited-time lucky draw to reward users, giving you a 100% chance to win a large coupon and save money when buying coins!

First Time Through Balls

Finally, let's talk about the most underrated method in the through ball mechanic: First Time Through Balls. This is an excellent way to quickly break through the opponent's defense, especially effective in a three-man backline.

For this tactic to work, you need three players: one in the center, one running down the flank, and ideally a striker in the attacking third who will act as your link-up.

When you have your central player dribbling the ball, point the left stick at the winger and tap L1/LB button. This will trigger his run, and he will begin exploring the space ahead.

At this point, you need to pass the ball to your striker while observing the winger's run. However, be careful not to try to control the ball with the striker.

While the ball is still in flight, accelerate and deliver a regular pass or a lobbed pass to the winger. Before the opponent can react, you've completed the breakthrough. Timing is crucial when executing this tactic.

Additional Tips

Finally, I'd like to remind you that for these three types of through balls to work, you need to keep the receiving player actively running, because the ball will travel along their running path, not their current position. If they remain stationary, these techniques will not work.

At the same time, you can still control the ball with the player currently dribbling, but the key is to observe the runs. If the running player can safely break through the defense, you can try a through ball.

In short, successfully executing these through ball tactics requires a lot of practice in matches. You must also understand which shooting method will lead to a goal in crucial moments, which is very important in one-on-one situations with the goalkeeper.

Not only FC 26, but many previous FC games have released new Team of the Week (TOTW) squads weekly after release, giving you the opportunity to continuously upgrade your club roster and always have the strongest players.

Only players who have performed exceptionally well in real-world leagues over the past week can be selected for TOTW, and the game releases a Best of TOTW squad once a certain number of TOTW squads have been accumulated.

For example, this year's EA FC 26 Best of TOTW compiled a list of the best squads based on the squads from the previous ten weeks, and it was released during TOTW 11 and Black Friday Thunderstruck campaign.

Based on this, we will introduce the ultimate FUT 26 TOTW 11 and this year's Best of TOTW squads, as well as strategies for obtaining these cards.

FC 26 TOTW 11

This lineup was added to Ultimate Team Pack at 6 PM on November 26th. You have a chance to obtain them by redeeming packs or playing the game until the release of TOTW 12 next Wednesday.

We previously predicted the players selected for TOTW 11, but the final official lineup is as follows:

• Lavelle - OVR 89
• Karchaoui - OVR 88
• Eze - OVR 87
• Cristiano Ronaldo - OVR 86
• Ait Bouldal - OVR 86
• Ane Azkona - OVR 86
• Pickford - OVR 86
• Ferran Torres - OVR 85
• Barnes - OVR 84
• Soulé - OVR 84
• Undav - OVR 84
• Fabio Abreu - OVR 84
• Losada - OVR 83
• Karl - OVR 83
• Savona - OVR 83
• Álex Febas - OVR 83
• Pobega - OVR 83
• Laborda - OVR 83
• Shiozaki - OVR 83
• Naujoks - OVR 83
• Ekeroth - OVR 83
• Armstrong - OVR 83
• Skytta - OVR 83

How about it? Does this list overlap with your predictions? If there are any you like, hurry up and get them!

FC 26 Best Of TOTW

This event uses Team of the Week players from the past 10 weeks of FIFA 26's release as a database. It selects some popular or outstanding players with an OVR of over 85 and brings them back to the game, giving you a chance to win the players you're missing.

The release time for Best of TOTW is the same as TOTW 11, but it lasts for nine days, expected to end on December 5th. The complete list of relevant players is as follows:

• Salah - OVR 92
• Alexia Putellas - OVR 92
• Haaland - OVR 91
• Bellingham - OVR 91
• Vini Jr. - OVR 90
• Kane - OVR 90
• Shaw - OVR 90
• Vitinha - OVR 90
• Mapi Leon - OVR 90
• Debinha - OVR 89
• Buhl - OVR 88
• Lavelle - OVR 88
• Rice - OVR 88
• Caicedo - OVR 88
• McCabe - OVR 88
• Maignan - OVR 88
• Harder - OVR 87
• Messi - OVR 87
• Reijnders - OVR 87
• Bruno Guimaraes - OVR 87
• Berger - OVR 87
• Calhanoglu - OVR 87
• Mateo - OVR 86
• Gakpo - OVR 86
• Chawinga - OVR 86
• Polkaj - OVR 86
• Aubameyang - OVR 86
• Pulisic - OVR 86
• Laurent - OVR 86
• Yeremay - OVR 86
• Weir - OVR 86
• Pedro Goncalves - OVR 86
• Walsh - OVR 86
• Grimaldo - OVR 86
• Diaz - OVR 86
• Rodrygo - OVR 86
• Dabritz - OVR 86
• Laia Aleixandri - OVR 86
• Ruben Neves - OVR 86
• Stanway - OVR 86
• Gravenberch - OVR 86
• Oberdorf - OVR 86
• Joao Neves - OVR 86
• Gvardiol - OVR 86
• Alvaro Carrera - OVR 86
• Inigo Martinez - OVR 86
• Pavard - OVR 86
• Eder Militao - OVR 86
• Ballard - OVR 86
• Marcos Llorente - OVR 86
• Carpenter - OVR 86
• Oyarzabal - OVR 85
• Berardi - OVR 85
• Gnabry - OVR 85
• Nusa - OVR 85
• Mahrez - OVR 85
• Antony - OVR 85
• Kumagai - OVR 85
• Stiller - OVR 85
• Konsa - OVR 85
• Modric - OVR 85

It has to be said, this is a truly massive lineup! This also means your chances of getting TOTW players through card packs will be significantly higher, unless you only want one or two specific players.

How To Get New Or Returning TOTW Players?

Time is limited, but there are many players to acquire, so FC 26 offers several ways to obtain TOTW players, which we will list for you one by one.

Trading In The Transfer Market

This is probably the simplest and most direct method. Simply consume coins to instantly find player cards that others are selling but that you happen to lack by filtering for specific players or player positions.

However, if you don't play many matches or have a low win rate, resulting in insufficient coins, it's best to get FC 26 coins for sale as soon as possible and trade to redeem your desired players in time to avoid missing out.

Obtaining And Opening Packs

Once TOTW 11 and Best of TOTW lineups are activated, they will be added to all gold card packs in the game. In addition, special promotional card packs released by FC 26 during Black Friday will also contain TOTW players, with a higher drop rate.

We generally recommend checking the pack drop rates displayed in the shop before farming for packs to plan your farming strategy more effectively. As for how to obtain FIFA 26 packs, the main methods currently include:

• Earning packs with coins or in-game credits.
• Completing daily, weekly, and season objectives, as well as specific milestone challenges.
• Leveling up Season Progression to unlock pack rewards at different tiers.
• Playing Division Rivals and Squad Battles for ranking rewards.
• Participating in weekend leagues and achieving specific rankings.
• Completing available SBCs.
• Participating in Moments mode to earn stars and redeem them for packs.

It‘s worth noting that other events launching on November 26th alongside TOTW 11 and Best of TOTW include rewards that can earn you packs, such as the new SBC Pre-Black Friday Challenge 1.

This SBC will last for 3 days, and completing the following related challenges will reward you with a non-tradable Prime Gold Players Pack:

• Player Nationality: At least 3 different nationalities.
• Players from the same league: Up to 5 players from the same league.
• Players from the same club: At least 4 players from the same club.
• Player rarity: Minimum Gold quality.
• Player OVR: Minimum 80.
• Team chemistry: Minimum 31.
• Squad size: Exactly 11 players.

More Black Friday deals will be available next week, making this the perfect time to complete all new SBCs to earn packs and unlock more TOTW players!

It's worth mentioning that IGGM Black Friday sale also started on November 26th at 08:00 UTC! You can win shopping discounts or coupons every day until the same time on the 30th!

That's all for this time. Hopefully, you can fully utilize in-game events to further expand your FC 26 squad before 2026 arrives! Have fun!