FC 26 SBCs

Since you started playing FC 26, you may have grown accustomed to focusing primarily on Ultimate Team mode; however, this year's World's Game update, released to coincide with the World Cup, might just change that dynamic.

This is because Career Mode, another core gameplay pillar, has also received significant enhancements through this update, including the addition of the International Men's Tournament and other new content.

Below, we will provide a detailed breakdown of the specific changes World's Game update brings to Career Mode, and analyze whether it is worth diving into over the coming months.

Career Mode changes overview

Of all the content introduced by World's Game update, the most significant addition is the eponymous new tournament mode, which allows you to experience the thrill of a virtual World Cup within the game by taking control of your favorite team.

Interestingly, Career Mode has also gained access to International Men's Tournament, operating in a manner largely identical to the standalone World's Game mode.

If you are familiar with that mode, you will recognize this as a substantial expansion of content compared to previous iterations!

Furthermore, this update introduces new season-end live start points to Career Mode. This means you now have the option to either load a save file from just before the tournament begins, or utilize a new starting point to select a national team and jump straight into the competition.

Additionally, Festival of Football itself is a series of campaigns available within Ultimate Team, running from June 5th through July 24th and featuring the release of five distinct events during this period.

Building upon this, FC 26 has also added Festival of Football-themed ICONs and Heroes to Career Mode, designed to complement the new national teams introduced by the tournament.

Moreover, throughout Festival of Football campaign, weekly Manager Live Challenges with matching themes will be released specifically for Career Mode.

Finally, the objectives available for completion within Career Mode have also been updated, for instance, by requiring you to complete a specific number of particular challenges or to finish a match while managing a specific national team.

New teams analysis

The arrival of this tournament signifies the addition of a vast array of new national teams and players, arguably the most exciting feature this update brings to Career Mode.

To be more precise, while FC 26 Career Mode previously featured only 29 national teams, this update has caused that number to skyrocket to 60. Moreover, the vast majority of these national teams possess full official licensing.

However, Japanese and Egyptian teams are somewhat unique exceptions: while they feature licensed players, their kits and crests utilize unlicensed assets.

Additionally, there are five national teams in the game that currently still rely on unlicensed data; their inclusion in FC 26 is solely due to the fact that they successfully qualified for the current World Cup tournament.

However, given that the World Cup itself has expanded to 48 teams for this edition, it is entirely understandable, as FIFA 26 seeks to introduce a massive influx of new teams, that the licensing rights for one or two squads might not have been successfully secured.

New player analysis

The vast majority of players on these newly added teams feature authentic data, meaning you will encounter a large roster of new players who have never previously appeared in FUT game mode.

Many of the standout stars among these new additions hail from Brazilian league, such as Uruguay's Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Hugo Souza, as well as the star Paraguayan defender Gustavo Gómez (who plays for Palmeiras), among others.

Furthermore, the roster includes Luis Henrique and José Córdoba, both of whom have delivered impressive performances in Russian league, and James Rodríguez, who makes his return to the game representing Colombian national team.

New stadiums

Although the game previously featured several stadiums designated as World Cup venues, FC 26, building upon World's Game update, introduces three additional playable stadiums to the game.

These include Gillette Stadium (home of New England Revolution), BMO Field (home of Toronto FC), and the entirely fictional Central Maw Stadium.

Visually, Central Maw Stadium appears designed to replicate the real-world MetLife Stadium, the very venue slated to host the final match of the current World Cup tournament.

How to play the new tournament in Career Mode?

When configuring your initial game settings, you are free to select any national team of your choice; simply designate a head coach, and you can immediately begin playing.

To be honest, the integration of national team management alongside club management feels somewhat disjointed.

This may be due to the development team needing to rush production, or perhaps because they assumed that players would likely cease playing that specific Career Mode save once the World Cup had concluded.

In terms of structural format, this tournament mode serves as a complete replica of the World Cup currently taking place, mirroring details such as the 48-team participant pool, as well as the rule allowing certain third-place teams within their groups to qualify for the knockout stages.

Is the revamped Career Mode worth playing?

First off, EA FC 26 has truly done an excellent job of accurately replicating tournament formats; at the very least, compared to previous iterations, this Career Mode update undoubtedly represents a positive step forward.

Although some of the menu interfaces within Career Mode still retain the old International Cup moniker for the new tournaments, the overall atmosphere of the competition experience feels completely revitalized compared to its predecessors.

Interestingly, while FC series has historically tended to be rather perfunctory during standard release cycles, it consistently manages to deliver a satisfying gameplay experience whenever a World Cup is on the horizon.

Therefore, one hopes that FIFA 26 and future titles will use this update as a springboard to continue prioritizing the refinement of international football content within Career Mode, rather than simply casting it aside once the current World Cup concludes.

The globally anticipated World Cup is set to kick off in June, and no football fan would want to miss this grand event. As one of the finest football games available, EA FC 26 will also introduce corresponding activities for World Cup.

During World Cup, FC 26 will start a new mode called World's Game. Although the game lacks official licensing from FIFA, this update will bring a World Cup tournament mode along with plenty of additional content for Ultimate Team.

Overview of World's Game

At its core, World's Game features an international tournament mode involving 48 teams - essentially FC 26's version of a World Cup mode. However, note that while the update package named World's Game has already been released, the tournament mode itself will not officially open until June 4th.

Because World's Game is an unofficially licensed World Cup mode, the game will not include the official World Cup match ball, trophy, or associated brand logos; instead, it will feature an original generic trophy.

The game will offer 53 fully licensed and playable national teams, including 41 that will take part in this summer's tournament. If some real-life participating teams are missing, you can replace them with nations that failed to qualify.

Furthermore, after the server update on June 4th, players can roll back and fully reset Evolutions in their clubs. If a reset player was originally tradeable, they will revert to being tradeable, allowing you to sell them again and recover FC 26 coins.

World's Game Mode

Starting June 4th, players can experience this standalone 48-team tournament mode. The competition fully mirrors the real-life format, featuring three rounds of group matches. The top two from each group advance directly, and additionally, the eight best third-place finishers across all groups will also secure a spot in the knockout stage. From there, the tournament proceeds through the round of 32 all the way to the final.

You can choose traditional powerhouses like Brazil, England, or France, or explore emerging football stories such as Cabo Verde and Uzbekistan. Some teams, like Bosnia and Herzegovina and Democratic Republic of the Congo, will initially use generic kits at the time of June 4 update, but these will be replaced with authentic kits in a later update.

Full List of Authorized National and Regional Teams:

• Argentina
• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Brazil
• Cape Verde
• Canada
• Colombia
• Democratic Republic of Congo
• Croatia
• Czech Republic
• Denmark
• Ecuador
• England
• Finland
• France
• Ghana
• Haiti
• Netherlands
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Italy
• Ivory Coast
• South Korea
• Mexico
• Morocco
• New Zealand
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Republic of Ireland
• Romania
• Saudi Arabia
• Scotland
• Senegal
• South Africa
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Tunisia
• Turkey
• Ukraine
• United States
• Uruguay
• Uzbekistan
• Wales

Other Unauthorized Teams with Real Players:

• Egypt
• Japan

Factions Using Universal Teams:

• Algeria
• Curaçao
• Iran
• Iraq
• Jordan

Some newly added national teams, such as Algeria, do not have 100% full licensing. Their default squads are not composed of real player names. However, the solution is simple: you can manually adjust the lineup by bringing in real players like Morris and Nori. With just a little time, you can restore the authentic squads for these national teams.

Ultimate Team Mode

World's Game update also brings a range of seasonal content to Ultimate Team mode. Players who log in and play FC 26 between June 5th and July 24th will receive a free 93 OVR Festival of Football ICON Pelé, along with three "Choose Your Journey" Evolutions.

Additionally, World's Game update introduces over 100 new international players and adds two new Icons: Rivelino and Mario Kempes. In FUT 26, Festival of Football PlayStyles Lab, Journey of Nations, and other features will be available for players to earn tokens. You can acquire Festival of Football Tokens by playing multiple modes during the event:

Modes where you can obtain tokens:

• Rivals
• Squad Battles
• Rush
• Live Events
• Select Objectives
• Select SBCs

During the event, the developers will also open Foot Champions Store, where you can trade items using Foot Champions Tokens. The developers will not sell token packs; you can only acquire them by playing various modes in FC 26.

Balance Adjustments

Balance adjustments have been made to Bruiser and Bruiser+ PlayStyles to better align the relationship between PlayStyles and player attributes. Now, players without Intercept PlayStyle but with an Intercept attribute of 90 or higher can use the same animations as those who have that PlayStyle.

Career Mode

World's Game also introduces new nations and teams in Career Mode. When you start Career Mode from the beginning, you can choose these teams and lead your players in "World Cup."

For example, if you choose to take over Norway, the timeline will advance to the summer of 2026. The fixture schedule will be fully synchronized with reality: you will face Senegal, then France, and then Iraq. However, note that the complete schedule and squads will only be fully implemented in the final squad update on June 4th.

In summary, despite lacking official licensing, World's Game update for FC 26 recreates 2026 World Cup as faithfully as possible through its extensive roster of national teams and complete 48-team tournament structure, ensuring that no player has to miss out on this grand event.