The job of assigning accurate ratings to athletes for sports video games is a challenging one regardless of the sport, and a game like EA FC 26 comes with an extra level of challenge due to the massive number of players to assess in such different league circumstances. Here are seven players where developers were just a bit too low on their prospects at the start of the year who will likely be looking much better next year.
David Raum (82 OVR, 322nd Highest Rated)
Leading things off, we begin with some players who are highly-regarded enough to have value in your team but who still don’t quite live up to the level they are performing at in real life, starting with Red Bull Leipzig fullback David Raum. Raum is a solid option in EA FC 26, but in the real world, he has been one of the better players in the world this season, according to average matchday ratings compiled by WhoScored, where he is currently the 12th best player in the big five leagues and second best-performing left back in the world.
The EA FC OVR world is not the only one where Raum may be looking forward to an upgrade in the future. While a bump to his attributes is certain if he keeps this up, he’ll be more concerned with the big clubs rumored to be swirling around in pursuit of him now.
Antony (81 OVR, 522nd Highest Rated)
What a difference getting the heck out of United can do for a player’s confidence. While Antony looked to go down as yet another in the long line of players to come to a post-Fergie Manchester full of hope and expectations only to seemingly lose his ability to play football at all, a loan rescue from Real Betis has proved to be just what the Brazilian needed.
After the successful loan, Antony made things permanent, and his time in Spain has continued to prove to be a career relaunch. Antony has seven goal contributions in the league and sits halfway to double digits in the goals department before the new year. Another bump to reflect his return to form not being a blip but a trend could be in his future.
Nick Woltemade (79 OVR, 933rd Highest Rated)
In the offseason, all the talk in the Premier League was around which big-name strikers would end up where and who would be the most successful. With Viktor Gyokeres ending up at Arsenal, Benjamin Sesko at United, and Alexander Isak at Liverpool, the big winner through the first few months of the season has been Newcastle United, who cashed in on Isak and brought in Woltemade as a less-heralded replacement.
All the big German has done is outscore all three of his larger-name peers, by a wide margin for all but Gyokeres. With seven goals, Woltemade sits joint-fifth in the Premier League in goals and has shown the ability to do it in big games, too, leaving Toon Army excited for what’s to come.
Olivia Smith (79 OVR, 946th Highest Rated)
The signing of Olivia Smith from Liverpool had Arsenal fans excited at the time, but the folks responsible for player ratings at EA FC were obviously less sold on her being ready to be a serious contributor for the reigning Champions of Europe. While still young and with plenty of room to develop, she’s already showing why she was such a prized buy by the Arsenal.
Her most recent case for a bump has seen her terrorizing Merseyside, scoring bangers against both her old club and her old rival, Everton, this month. She’s now nominated for WSL Player of the Month as a sign of her growing stature and performance levels.
Igor Thiago (75 OVR, 2,322nd Highest Rated)
If Woltemade is overperforming for Newcastle, then Igor Thiago is proving to be the most underrated goal scorer in FC 26. While carrying a 75 OVR will make him unusable in any club vying for the biggest trophies in the game, he is tearing things up in the real world.
As the Premier League moves toward its midpoint, Thiago is separating himself from the field in the race to claim the coveted title of Top Scorer Not Named Erling Haaland. While the big Norwegian has a staggering eight goals of breathing room to Thiago in second, the Brentford man has moved three goals clear of third-place scorers Antoine Semenyo and Hugo Ekitike, showing his FC ratings are criminally low.
Herve Koffi (73 OVR, 3101st Highest Rated)
Keepers can be a difficult position to judge on the game-to-game level due to the potentially limited opportunities to impact the game, making such drastic swings in impression, but over the course of the season, trends become clearer. One extremely clear trend is that Herve Koffi is on a run so far this season.
Just a 73 OVR in the game to fall outside the top-3000 players, Koffi has a WhoScored average match rating that makes him the top keeper in the big five seasons. The numbers back it up, as he sits in the 94th percentile for crosses stopped percentage, 98th for save percentage, and 99th percentile for Post-Shot XG-to-Goals Allowed, saving just over a half-goal against expected per match.
Yan Diomande (66 OV, 10,182nd Highest Rated)
Diamonde’s and his teammate bookend this list, and as his place at the bottom implies, Diomande was not rated as someone capable of contributing in a top league at all this season. While his year may have taken a little time to get going properly, he has steadily earned his place of importance on the Leipzig team sheet, and he’s begun to reward that faith with end product.
Now sitting on six goals and two assists as Germany nears its winter break, Diomande’s big breakout came earlier this month in a match with Eintracht Frankfurt, where he cut the Champions League opposition apart with a hat trick. He will be much more highly regarded next year.
