Another year has passed, and we’re now marching into the next chapter of the FC franchise with EA FC 26.
September has held a special place in my life after I started my digital football journey with FIFA 08 nearly two decades back. And while this year's launch might feel routine, it's anything but that. After all, FC 25 didn't leave many fond memories; most of my 1,400 hours across the game's 11 months were more about frustration rather than enjoyment.
July made it clear I wasn't alone in those sentiments when EA Sports let us know that the team was listening. The first FC 26 trailer made grand promises, and then came its beta. It's one thing to make a promise and it's another to deliver on it, and in 2025, game studios making promises and subsequently failing on them isn't uncommon. But for EA Sports and FC 26, the early days are looking very positive.
FC 26 is the game we all deserved
When you first look at FC 26, you'll think it resembles FC 25. After all, it's the same game engine and has the same core fundamentals and gameplay mechanics. But the moment you kick the ball, you notice a key difference. First, it's just a pass. Then comes a tackle attempt, and you can see how the same animations feel just that tiny bit different.
Animations have never been the franchise’s strong point, and I’ve always felt that they slowed down the gameplay at the cost of realism. FC 26 feels and moves like the fastest and smoothest among all annual launches of the last five years. It's not as arcadey as FIFA titles from the previous decade, but most of the animations no longer feel like a hindrance. If you’ve played FC 25, you'll feel the difference from the first minute of its successor. If you haven't—well, the gameplay is still going to feel more enjoyable.
I’ve long maintained that a good FC title with great gameplay will always incentivize the community to keep playing. That has been my exact experience with Ultimate Team; whether it was the competitive modes or against AI, I continuously craved “just one more game" even after a long session.
A large portion of my time with FC 26 went into the Ultimate Team. With new in-house modes, I finally got to spend more time outside Rivals and Squad Battles. The slower power curve truly hits home with reduced rewards, but it's not a bad thing. The value of your cards and the grind are intriguing. Getting an 84-rated Tchouameni feels like receiving a walkout, which is such a rewarding feeling for someone with over 1,000 hours in Ultimate Team last year.
Next comes Manager Career, which is arguably the most improved mode in FC 26. When I played FIFA 08, I loved managing my beloved club. Over the years, however, the mode lost its shine as the emphasis gradually shifted to Ultimate Team. The best addition to the Manager Career mode is the arrival of the Live Events. Instead of sticking with the same boring starts, you can replicate reality. I’m waiting to find out what EA Sports has planned for us, but the beginning couldn't have been brighter.
It's the same with Clubs after the introduction of Archetypes. In fact, there's a similar theme; the core content for every game mode has been retained, but something new has been introduced. Unlike last year, I didn't have to focus entirely on Rivals and Squad Battles to entertain myself or build my club aimlessly in Manager Career.
At the end of the day, having different game modes is one thing, and having enjoyable gameplay is another. Without good gameplay, having more modes seems redundant to me. That's where the most significant area of improvement comes in.
I can play FC 26 for hours without caring about the rewards
Who doesn't love a good dopamine hit? Luckily for prospective players, the rewards you get across game modes do just that. It didn’t take me long to lose interest in playing FC 25, but the rewards weren’t the problem. Instead, it was the gameplay that made me always play with half motivation. And when I say that FC 26 is better, there are many reasons behind it.
Movement
As someone who watches football (or soccer, for all you American folks) matches almost daily, I could never make sense of what happened in FC 25. This year, things look much clearer. The AI moves better across every position on the field. While your defense stays in shape more tightly, it's the offense where the difference is more apparent.
It's not just about your allies making better runs, either. They seem to do so at a higher frequency and in better fashion. In fact, the runs they now make are much more logical than in the closed beta. For starters, the amount of proactiveness is noticeably higher. During the beta, my attackers would often run into an offside position. That problem seems to have been fixed, and the runs are also smarter relative to the opposition backline’s position. This is also universal, irrespective of the formation and tactics you're using.
Passing and Shooting
If you were fed up with conceding goals from green-timed Trivelas, there's relief in FC 26. Shooting, like your player movements, feels more reasonable, although I’m not in favor of the nerf to the low-driven shots from what they used to be. That said, the current balance of shooting precisely and scoring goals is in a good spot.
One area that improved massively is the passing. Unlike older games, passes happen quicker, and this results in better gameplay. Now, you can either try to beat your opponents with your skill moves or open them up with swift passing. Through passes are back in the meta big time, and it will be key to enact Tiki Taka against your opponents.
Defending and AI
I’m unsure if anyone liked the AI defending for them in the higher ELO games. But that seems to be no longer the case, as you'll have to come out and defend bravely. While AI will still aid you in defense, and playstyles like Anticipate, Bruiser, and Intercept will keep your backline secure, manually timing your tackles has never felt more important.
This change might seem negative to some, but it creates a skill gap. The new defensive meta will require you to learn the art of RS-switching, jockeying, and most importantly, when to tackle. This also affects how you can press the RB to use another defender for the second-man press. Naturally, I could enjoy spending some time with the ball without having to worry about being pick-pocketed by someone simply abusing the AI-based defending, which was prevalent in FC 25.
Playstyles and Roles
I’ve never been a fan of Roles, and they're far less influential this year. This also results in better movement, which I mentioned earlier. Yes, Role++ and Role+ work sharper, but players will still move reasonably well as long as they're played in their familiar positions. It's a positive change in my books, and something the community will appreciate.
While EA Sports did say a player's performance will be more reliant on their stats, I still felt playstyles have a bigger impact. Playstyles are more weighted, and this could affect your enjoyment of the game to some extent. Whether the situation changes in the future depends on what updates EA rolls out in the next few months.
All these improvements combine well when you’re challenging yourself against another human. Server responsiveness and “heavy” gameplay could be a thing of the past if the current performance can continue in the future. While the ping at the start of a match was the same from FC 25, the responsiveness behind every action on the pitch was quicker and sharper.
The most crucial aspect of any FC/FIFA title has always been the gameplay, and that's where FC 26 shines the most. The fact that it comes right after the horrid FC 25 experience makes it feel sweeter. There's faster gameplay, more game modes, and much to explore. Ultimate Team, which is likely going to be the biggest game mode, has a slower power curve than everyone wanted, and EA Sports has promised much more.
There will be a lot more to watch in the future. The gameplay at the time of this guide is delightful and what I would love to have in an FC title. Whether it's online games or against the AI, games are smoother, much more exciting, and rely heavily on your skill level. But future updates will decide how the gameplay evolves, what kind of rewards we get, and most importantly, if EA Sports can refrain from making the same errors they did with the last few FC/FIFA titles.
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