So, you’ve finally picked up College Football 26 in early access. It’s been a long wait, and you can’t wait to get into the game and start playing. But upon trying to start a head-to-head match in Ultimate Team or one of the other various multiplayer modes, you come across an error.
Unfortunately, many College Football 26 players have been complaining of desync issues since buying the game, which has made playing online extremely difficult for some and virtually impossible for others. But what is a desync error, what causes it, and can it be fixed?
Every CFB26 game I’ve played so far has been a desync
— 𝙑𝙖𝘾𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮㋛␈ (@VaChilly_) July 7, 2025
What Is Desync In CFB 26 And What Causes It?
To put it simply, desyncing in online gaming is when the player-owned client (or game) is out of sync with the game’s servers. This can lead to the game’s video output displaying the wrong information. For instance, let’s say I’m playing College Football 26. I’m on defense and trying to guard against the pass. On screen, my opponent is shown to drop a pass, only for it to actually register as a pass and for the game to resume about a second later. MLB The Show players are well familiar with this as desync issues can often show players in wrong positions or force bad pitches, even when getting perfect timing in pinpoint.
So, now that we know what desync is, what’s causing it in College Football 26? Given the number of reports, it seems to be an issue of the game’s servers not being able to handle the volume of players that are simultaneously trying to play Ultimate Team.
The next question is probably whether or not it can be fixed. And honestly, it depends.
In some cases, desync — especially at this scale — is often down to faulty servers or game engines not staying in sync with one another. This is likely what’s happening with College Football 26 and until a patch arrives, you pretty much have to wait it out.
But problems with desync can also be down to one’s individual internet connection. Ways to troubleshoot desync on your end are to do any of the following steps:
- Use a wired internet connection. Even high-speed wireless connections have hiccups.
- Make sure you’re connected to the nearest server. Desync can be caused by you matchmaking with a player who is far from you, hurting the game’s performance. If you live on the east coast, make sure you are matchmaking with people on the east coast.
- Turn off cross-play. Sometimes, matchmaking with someone on a different platform can creat desyncing issues.
