EA SPORTS FC™ 26 | FC 26 Launch Update

Hey everyone,

EA SPORTS FC™ 26 is nearly here, and this year brings a refreshed approach to Live Content across Football Ultimate Team™, Clubs, and Career Mode. 

From day one, the experience is designed to set a clear direction, celebrate football’s biggest stories, and deliver more variety and balance across modes. These Pitch Notes outline what you can expect at launch, how we are shaping progression and rewards, and the strategy guiding Live Content throughout the season.

Table of Contents

• Intro and Launch Dates
• Power Curve and Chemistry Styles
• Early Access Content & Cornerstones
• FC 26 Seasons: A World Tour Through History
• Season 1: England 66
• World Tour: Silver Superstars
• Live Events: Tournaments & Gauntlet
• Game Mode & Reward Changes
• Evolutions
• ICONs and Heroes
• Pre-order Content
• Returning User Rewards and Graduated Access
• Updated Match Outcomes In Football Ultimate Team
• UT RUSH Match Outcomes / Matchmaking Delays
• EA Play Rewards
• Club Member Rewards
• Preseason Rewards
• Responsiveness
• Gameplay
• Clubs
• Career Mode
• Path to FC Pro

Intro and Launch Dates

There’s nothing like that new season feeling, so here are some key dates to help you start planning your first days in FC 26.

• Companion and Web App: Web app launches September 17. Companion App refresh goes live on September 18.
• Early Access: Ultimate Edition players can start at midnight local time on September 19 on Console and September 18, 1 PM BST on PC. EA Play members can access a 10-hour early access trial, while EA Play Pro members on PC get unlimited access. For more information on EA Play please visit ea.com/ea-play. 
• Worldwide Launch: Standard Edition opens at midnight local time on September 26 on Console and September 25, 1 PM BST on PC.

Early Access & Cornerstones

To celebrate the return of Tournaments in Football Ultimate Team™, Early Access will feature a Daily Knockout Tournament. You can compete daily to earn rewards and qualify for a one-time Early Access finale tournament on the final day of Early Access. More on that in the Live Events section below.

Early Access will also include the following:

• Team of the Week 1 and 2
• Evolutions
• World Tour and Squad Foundations releases
• Flashback SBC
• Showdown SBCs
• Opportunities to earn Season Points

The first campaign after Early Access will be Cornerstones. This campaign shines a spotlight on the players that teams are built around, dependable leaders, pivotal long-term signings, and young talents who’ve stepped up to become central to their clubs’ success. 

Cornerstones will provide permanent upgrades and enhanced +2 Club chemistry links, strengthening their role as the central pillar of your Ultimate Team. 

Keep an eye out for more new FUT Campaigns, as well as the return of some spooky favourites. 

Power Curve

We’ve heard your feedback on the pace of the FC 25 power curve. In FC 26, we’re deliberately slowing down the curve and pacing out upgrades more gradually.

What This Means in FUT

• Base Items: Rare Golds, ICONs, and Heroes will set the benchmark for top squads deeper into the year. From day 0, content is structured around this philosophy. For example, more of the Season 1 campaign player items will be tuned with upgrades that are more lateral to base items. In addition, you won’t see August POTM Player SBCs in Early Access this year and Showdown Player SBC winner upgrades will also be adjusted for Season 1 to a +1 OVR and Role++ upgrade.
• Weekly Campaigns: You’ll still see new campaign squads most weeks, but the boosts to those campaign items will be more lateral on average. Of course, the bigger campaigns, like Black Friday, Team of the Year, and Team of the Season, will still deliver items with significant stat boosts. However, in between you can expect more measured boosts and lateral upgrades that are focused more on expanding the pool of squad-building options.
• Rewards: Rewards from Champs, Rivals, Squad Battles, SBCs, Evos, Seasonal ladder, offers in the Store and more are tuned to match this new pacing. More on that below. 

In summary, FC 26 slows the pace of progression. Squads will generally be slightly lower rated at the same point compared to FC 25, and weekly campaigns drops will feature smaller attribute boosts on average. Rewards and paid offers are also tuned to match this steadier curve.

Chemistry Styles Refresh

To support this slower curve, Chemistry Styles have also been rebalanced in FC 26 helping to keep upgrades feel satisfying without letting any single Chemistry Style disrupt the overall balance of Items:

• New Boost Model: Styles now use a 3/6/9-point boost system instead of 4/8/12, narrowing stat gaps and keeping balance tighter.
• Pace Trade-Offs: Pace-heavy styles are now more of a choice. Boosting speed comes with trade-offs in other areas, so not all Items become pace-focused. 
• More Diversity: Non-pace styles have been tuned to emphasize key attributes like Composure, Reactions, and Stamina, encouraging different builds across your club.

FC 26 Seasons: A World Tour Through History

In FC 25, we introduced Seasonal content like the World Tour alongside campaigns, adding new dimensions to rewards and squad building. In FC 26, Seasons take another step forwards, tying football’s greatest stories directly into Football Ultimate Team™.

Football is about stories, and international football provides the biggest stories of all. To celebrate, FC 26 Seasons will take you on a journey through the eras, revisiting legendary tournaments with A World Tour Through History.

Each Season will center on a historic international tournament, culminating in Season 8: The Festival of Football. Along the way, host nation and winning nation players will appear across the Season Ladder, SBCs, and Objectives, while the most influential stars from each tournament will be honored through a brand new seasonal Player Program.

Season 1: England '66

Our journey begins with England ‘66, known as the year football came home.

• Theme: English, Premier League, and Barclays Women's Super League focused content to celebrate the triumph of the Wingless Wonders.
• Rewards: Earn Packs, Player Picks, Player items, Stadium Customization, Evolution Cosmetics in Ultimate Team and more across Clubs & Career
• Seasonal Excellence: Close the Season with a One Nation Tournament where you’ll test your English squad.

Season Pass content requires gameplay to unlock. Premium Pass content also requires the Premium Pass (sold separately)

World Tour: Silver Superstars

We’re bringing back a fan favorite with a new twist to celebrate international football! Each Season we’ll be releasing Silver-level ICONs and Heroes from the highlighted tournament, featuring illustration-style Action Shots for added flair and to differentiate them from base and campaign ICONs.

• Balance: Each Item will be created at Silver level, with ratings that reflect tournament performance, on an alternate progression path. This lets us deliver fun, accessible Items while preserving the core FUT power curve. 
• How to earn: Complete themed long-term Season Objectives to earn Silver Superstars. Objectives vary in difficulty, with rewards that match the challenge.
• Live Events: Each Season ends with a Silver-only match-limited League where you can unleash your Silver Superstars for unique international-themed rewards. Other more relaxed Silver Events may appear throughout each Season and the cycle. 
• Note about Evolutions: In Season 1, Evolutions will exclude entry of World Tour Silver Superstars. Entering a Silver Superstar into an Evolution may change OVR or rarity, making them permanently ineligible for Silver Events

Live Events

In FC 25, you told us there wasn’t enough variety in game modes and that many experiences didn’t feel accessible enough.. Live Events in FC 26 are built to change that. They bring new formats, fresh ways to play and earn, and rewards that scale to the level of competition you take on, whether you want a lighter, casual experience or matches where every win counts.

Three Event Types

• Tournaments: Classic knockout competitions, ranging from formats with lighter rewards to battles where every match matters and rewards are more meaningful.
• Gauntlets: Gauntlets are multi-squad challenges that test your Club depth across several rounds. In each round, you’ll field a new squad, meaning you can’t rely on the same eleven and bench throughout. There’s no elimination - you’ll always play through the full Gauntlet - but the more rounds you win, the better your rewards.
• Regular Events: An evolution of Friendlies featuring themed competitions. These include unlimited-attempt Exhibitions for a casual experience, and match-limited Leagues for a more competitive feel. They add custom rules, themed Objectives, and structured rewards to keep things fresh.

Key Launch Moments

Daily Knockout Tournament (Early Access):

• Celebrating the return of Tournaments, a Daily Knockout will run during Early Access.
• The Early Access Elimination will refresh every day, allowing Tournament winners to re-enter the next day. Winning once will qualify you for a one-time Early Access finale tournament on the final day of Early Access.
• Note that tournaments won’t always appear weekly, we're keeping them special so they feel impactful.

Ultimate Gauntlet:

• Debuting after Worldwide Launch Weekend and returning every two weeks in Season 1, this flagship format challenges you to build up to three unique squads across different rounds. You will have 1 attempt every day throughout the week with no specific Squad requirements so you can decide your first, second and third squad
• Each squad requires 11 starters and 7 bench players, so you’ll need 18 players per round and as many as 54 across three rounds. Test the depth and versatility of your entire Club, along with how you strategically spread your players across squads to maximize performance. 
• Rewards scale with results, including Packs, Players, and Evo Consumables. The number of rounds will change in future seasons.

You can expect one or two Live Events each week, with a focus on quality over quantity. Our goal is to make every Event feel meaningful.

Some will lean more casual, offering unlimited or near-unlimited attempts with lighter rewards, while others will be  hard fought battles where every match counts and the rewards scale up accordingly. More on rewards below. 

Most Events will be available to preview in advance so you’ll know what’s coming up. Rewards, however, will only be shown ahead of time for select Events. They’ll be revealed when the Event goes live otherwise.

Game Mode & Reward Changes

In FC 26, we’ve made changes based on your feedback while introducing new features to keep gameplay fresh. Live Events bring new formats like Gauntlet and the return of Tournaments, while core modes like Rivals and Champions have been reworked to be more accessible and better balanced for all players.

Champions

• More Accessible: Champions Playoffs are removed, Champions Qualification Points can now be earned from Division 7, and you’ll auto-qualify at Division 6 once you have enough points. This lowers the barrier to entry and is in response to your FC 25 feedback around the desire for greater accessibility to Champions
• Expanded Tiers: Ranks expanded from 10 to 15 tiers, with rewards granted for every win. This makes sure that every win counts, with milestone tiers now available at 12 and 14 wins.
• Challengers: A new version of Champions for Division 7 and below, with its own format and rewards. This lets more players experience the Champions environment, while lighter rewards preserve the prestige of top-tier Champions.

Rivals

• New Bounties: Seasonal challenges that differ by division add variety and reward players with items such as Champions Qualification Points, Coins, Season Points, Weekly Reward Points, Division Ladder Skips, and Packs/Picks. After every Rivals match, players have a chance to receive a new Bounty, keeping Rivals progression fresh and rewarding across all skill levels.
• Win Streaks: Streaks now accelerate both division progress and progress towards weekly rewards, reducing the time required to progress through gameplay.
• Reduced Points Requirement: Lowered from 35 → 30 in response to FC 25 feedback that players wanted a lower the match threshold for rewards. With added points from Win Streaks and Bounties, players should need about 5 fewer matches per week to reach the upgraded tier.
• Limited Checkpoints: Introduced to reduce friction from situations where players promote and then immediately drop back down. Checkpoints make progression smoother while still allowing relegation, ensuring players don’t get stuck in divisions above their skill level.

Squad Battles

• Expanded Match Limit: In response to players asking for more depth in Squad Battles in FC 25, players can now play up to 18 matches per week (increased from 14) that count towards their weekly point total. This gives offline players more meaningful matches each week.

Draft

• Rewards: Rewards have been rebalanced to feel more consistent across all tiers, addressing FC 25 feedback that you wanted more consistent Draft reward outcomes, especially for players finishing 4/4 wins.
• Scaling Rewards: In previous years, Draft did not see any changes to their rewards throughout the year. In FC 26, we’ll be updating Draft rewards regularly, similar to other game modes. This ensures rewards feel meaningful throughout the year.

Rewards & Economy

Reward Progression: As outlined in the power curve section, rewards in FC 26 are tuned to provide more measured progression and a more stable transfer market. As an example, below you can find the Rank 1 rewards for FUT Champs Finals for Season 1.

Rank 1 FUT Champs Finals Rewards – FC 26 (Season 1)

• 85,000 Coins
• 2x current Campaign Guarantee (Untradeable)
• 3x 83+ TOTW Player Pack
• 3x 88+ Rare Gold Player Pack
• 10x 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack
• 10x 83+ Rare Gold Players Pack
• 10x 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack (Untradeable)

Advanced SBCs

• Rebalancing:. Advanced SBCs such as the League & Nation Hybrid set have evolved over time, and in FC 26 they’re aligned more closely with other Challenge SBCs at launch. In FC 26, they’re tuned to support a smoother build-up that better matches the early pace of the game.
• Timed & Scaled Releases: Advanced SBCs will now drop gradually across the cycle, aligned with key seasonal moments, with requirements and rewards that scale to the state of the game. The first Season 1 set will be themed around England ‘66. 
• Challenges Tab: Advanced SBCs now sit in the Challenges Tab, set apart from Foundation SBCs to highlight their greater difficulty.

Evolutions in FC 26

Evolutions in FC 26 are meant to give players  greater control over their Squads through more accessible and personalised ways to upgrade Player Items.

• Power Curve: In FC 26, Evolutions will be more focused on boosting the level of bottom and middle tier items of your squad rather than consistently creating the items with the highest stats, though they’ll still do that occasionally. In addition, Evolutions upgrades will be delivered in smaller, iterative steps - many of which will be fueled by repeatable Evolutions. This approach means Evolutions will push the top end of the curve less, but provide more depth and customization, complementing rather than overpowering Campaign Items.
• Club Depth: Many Evolutions will be designed to help support building multiple squads, aligning with new experiences like Gauntlet where squad depth is key.
• Repeatable Evolutions: Select Evolutions can now be repeated. Each comes with a set number of repeats and a cooldown that begins only after completing the previous run. This is intended to help create a steady rhythm of progress and strategic choice, whether to invest in one standout player or spread upgrades across the squad.
• Visuals: Most Evolutions that provide incremental upgrades will no longer change your Item Design, allowing you to preserve the original look and feel of your player items. Evolutions that deliver larger upgrades or are tied to a Campaign will still update your item design.

ICONs and Heroes

ICON and Hero content expands in FC 26 with additions that span Football Ultimate Team™ and Career Mode.

• New ICONs: Zlatan Ibrahimović, Francesco Totti, Andrés Iniesta, Cha Bum-kun, Toni Kroos, Giorgio Chiellini, Oliver Kahn, Marcelo, Alex Morgan, Caroline Seger, Sissi, and Steffi Jones join the Class of 26.
• Career Mode Availability: ICONs and Heroes remain available beyond Football Ultimate Team™ and feature in Career Mode. Details below.
• Heroes: New FC 26 Heroes arrive through FUT Campaigns across the cycle, starting in Season 2. This includes the Bayern Hero Vote winner!

Pre-order Content

We want Ultimate Edition owners to understand exactly what to expect and when to expect it.

Pre-Order specific:

• Debut ICONs: Players who pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition by August 26th will get their Debut ICON when they start Football Ultimate Team™ for the first time. This pack with the Debut ICON will be available to open starting September 19 at 6 PM UTC. The Debut ICON will then graduate to the Champion ICON version on November 27. The Debut ICONs will be added to the Ultimate Team pool of items on 29 November.
• Premium Ladder: Ultimate Edition pre-orders get the premium ladder of the Season 1 Pass.

All Ultimate Edition Users:

• FC Points Delivery: Ultimate Edition users get 2,000 points at first login, 2,000 on the same or closest day the following month, and 2,000 the month after. Example: Start on 19 September and receive on September 19, October 19, and November 19.
• Ultimate Edition EVO Slot: This will let you upgrade two Evolution players in standard evolutions at the same time from launch - the Training Camp Evolution limit will remain one. Available to claim at first Football Ultimate Team™ login.

Graduated Access / Football Ultimate Team Transfer Market

Limiting transfer market access for new accounts safeguards the FUT economy while actual new players are introduced to FUT at a more measured pace.

• Graduated Access: We covered some of the details of Graduated Access in FC 26 in our FUT Deep Dive Pitch Notes, but essentially, players/accounts new to FC will not have Transfer Market access until they complete the Foundation Objective Group ‘On Your Way’. Once this Objective Group has been completed, full FUT Transfer Market access would be granted in 48 hours for players on PC, and within 24 hours for players on the other platforms.
  • During the 24/48 hour period, players will have access to list Items on the Transfer Market, but will not have access to search the Transfer Market and Bid/Buy Now actions until the time period has elapsed.
  • The specific details listed here may be adjusted in the future as we monitor player behavior.
• Skip for Returning Players: Eligible players returning from EA SPORTS FIFA 23, EA SPORTS FC™ 24, and EA SPORTS FC™ 25 in good standing skip Graduated Access and get direct Transfer Market access, in-game and on the Companion and Web App.

Updated Match Outcomes In Football Ultimate Team

In FC 26, we’re making some changes to address your feedback around match outcomes when a match ends early in a draw.

• Quits & Disconnects In A Draw: We touched on the changes we are making to match outcomes in FUT in a previous Pitch Notes, but in short, you can receive a win when your opponent either quits or disconnects (including dashboarding) from the match when the score is a draw. This applies when certain conditions are met, and when playing Live Events, Rivals, and Champions.
  • At FC 26 launch, one of these conditions must apply in order for a win to be awarded.
    • 45 minutes (in-game time) has passed
    • The quitting / disconnecting player concedes a penalty kick.
    • The quitting / disconnecting player has received a red card.
  • In addition, at launch, a player can only receive a win from this 5 times a day, with the limit resetting at 00:00 UTC daily.
  • Reiterating what we have said previously, this is a complex space. When we change how players get wins, draws, or losses, exploits can be unintentionally introduced, so we must be careful about how we make these changes. What is listed here may change, based on whether our analysis and/or observations indicate that these changes are negatively impacting your experience. We may also loosen the restrictions if we are able to do so safely.

FUT RUSH Match Outcomes / Matchmaking Delays

We know that the best RUSH matches are built on the experiences you have with your teammates.

• Matchmaking Delays: To encourage teammates in FUT RUSH to keep fighting until the end of the match, we are introducing matchmaking delays in FUT RUSH for players who consistently leave matches early.
  • Players who consistently quit or disconnect from FUT Rush matches will first experience a 15 minute matchmaking delay. If following that delay, they continue to leave matches early, the delay will escalate up to an hour.
    • Completing FUT Rush matches will remove that matchmaking delay.
  • We will also be closely monitoring feedback on this, as it’s a new space for FC, and we may need to make adjustments as we see how it impacts your experience.

Returning Player Rewards

We want returning players to feel welcomed back. Eligible players coming from FC 25 receive early rewards to curate a squad and complete SBCs.

EA Play Rewards

EA Play members receive content across modes during the FC 26 cycle.

• Football Ultimate Team™: EA Play Welcome Pack with three 85+ OVR Loan 1 of 5 Player Pick Items for 10 matches each. Includes Attacker, Midfielder, and Defender Player Pick Items. Also includes one FUT Draft Token.
• Clubs: The World’s Game Dark Blue Headband.
• How to Qualify: Maintain an active EA Play subscription during the FC 26 cycle. You must log into the Ultimate Team mode in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 with an EA Account associated with an EA Play or Game Pass Ultimate Account between September 18, 2025 – October 30, 2025 to receive the EA Play Welcome Pack.

Club Member Rewards

Founders and Club Members can unlock customisation and progression benefits.

• Founder Rewards: Founders kits and crests in Football Ultimate Team™. Founders TIFOs to showcase legacy.
• Club Member Rewards: In Football Ultimate Team™, branded Kits, XL TIFOs, and Crests. In Clubs, Gloves, Boots, Arm Sleeves, and AXP Multipliers. In Career, new Legendary Items and accessories.
• How to Qualify: Founders are those who played FC 24 before 1 November, 2023. To obtain a FC 26 Club Membership, you’ll need to play FC 25 and FC 26 before 1 November, 2025*.

Pre-season Rewards

Carryover rewards from EA SPORTS FC™ 25 Football Ultimate Team™ arrive in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 beginning October 14, 2025.

• Availability: Rewards become claimable starting October 14, 2025 in EA SPORTS FC™ 26 Football Ultimate Team™.
• How to Claim: Log in to EA SPORTS FC™ 26 Football Ultimate Team™ using the same EA Account and platform family used to earn the rewards in EA SPORTS FC™ 25. For example, PlayStation rewards can be claimed only on PlayStation.
• Timing: It may take some time for all rewards to appear in your account.

Responsiveness

Following up on our recent Gameplay Responsiveness Update, we’ve been working on some exciting changes to make FC 26 feel more responsive.

• With help from your feedback during Closed Beta, we’re launching an improvement to better synchronize the client and server.
  • This aims to reduce the average input round trip latency by approximately 12ms improvement per input and improves frame-to-frame consistency.
• Essentially, this means your input is more responsive, and you’re more likely to have your online input respond in time for your desired action to be successful.
• This is a reduction of latency on every input, and when testing this with core players, we’ve noticed a meaningful improvement to competitive play.

Gameplay

We’ve also seen your feedback about Finesse Shots from outside of the box and are making changes to keep the trajectory realistic and less exploitable for Early Access.

Before and After

Using your feedback, we noticed Finesse Shots were sometimes easily lobbing the keeper from outside of the box.

Starting in Early Access, we’ve reduced the top spin on these shots to ensure they can’t be overused to score a goal. Here’s what this will look like.

Here’s a closer look at the curve trajectory before the change.

And here’s what Finesse Shot trajectories will look like for Early Access.

We’re excited to hear what you think about this and other gameplay updates in FC 26. Please continue providing feedback with the new FC Feedback Hub.

Clubs

Clubs in FC 26 expands with deeper progression, more competitive variety, and a clear rhythm of play across the year. Chapters and Seasons guide your journey with new Live Events and progression refreshes, ensuring the mode evolves alongside you throughout the Seasons.

Archetypes

Archetypes define how you grow your Pro and unlock unique PlayStyles and Perks to compete on the pitch.

• Introducing Archetypes: 13 new Archetypes inspired by iconic footballers. From launch, you can progress from level 1 to level 50, with new level caps added during the year.
• Progression: Play Clubs to earn Archetype XP. Unlock Attribute Points for core stats, Signature PlayStyles for identity, and Signature Perks for extra edge.
• Learn More: Discover all 13 Archetypes, Signature PlayStyles, and Signature Perks in the Clubs Deep Dive.

Consumables

Consumables are designed as a catch-up tool for players who join Clubs later in the year. They provide another way to progress your Archetypes alongside matches and Skill Games, but they don’t replace natural progression. Safeguards like level caps and purchase limits ensure Consumables accelerate growth without upsetting balance.

Consumable Types

• Archetype XP (AXP) Multipliers: Boost AXP earned in matches for a set number of games.
• Direct Apply AXP: Instantly grant AXP to your active Archetype. (Capped at Level 25 to keep balance - this cap rises as Archetype Level Limits increase.)
• Archetype Unlocks: Unlock any locked Archetype directly from the Archetypes Screen.
• Archetype Resets: Lets you reset  Attribute Points for redistribution.

Consumable Limits & Safeguards

• Direct Apply AXP is capped below max level to ensure it supports catch-up, not endgame skipping.
• Store purchases have defined limits that refresh only when new Consumables are added.
• Rewarded Consumables (from Objectives or the Season Pass) are limited only by how they’re distributed.
• Consumables can be saved indefinitely. Store expiry applies only to purchase windows, not usage.

How to Unlock Consumables:

• Available in the Club Store with FC Points or Clubs Coins.
• Earnable through Season Pass rewards.

FAQs & Balance Notes

• AXP Multipliers apply across all Clubs modes: League, Playoffs, Friendlies, 11v11 Drop-In, Rush, and Live Events.
• Only one Multiplier can be active at a time. Activating a new one replaces the old one.
• Direct Apply AXP carries over even past the Consumable Level Cap.
• Unlocks and Resets can also be done with Clubs Coins or FC Points 
• Consumables only provide AXP already available through play.
• The Consumable Level Cap scales upward as Archetype Level Caps increase during the year.

Clubs Competitive Experiences We are adding more ways to compete and climb together.

• Leagues and Playoffs: Climb Divisions, qualify for Playoffs, and battle for promotion.
• Clubs Rush: Race to Elite Rank through ten Divisions. You can now play true 5-a-side Rush with Be-a-Goalkeeper enabled.
• Live Events: Fresh formats all year. Start Season 1 with the Designated Shooter Event and build toward the End of Chapter Cup in Season 3.

Clubs Objectives Objectives in Clubs reward you at every stage of your Pro journey.

• Foundations: Learn the ropes and kickstart your Pro’s career.
• Archetypes: Track mastery of each Archetype.
• Seasonal, Weekly, and Daily: A steady flow of fresh rewards.
• Live Events: Earn rewards that tie your Pro to your biggest moments.

Clubs Season 1: Live Events and Tournaments Here’s what to expect at launch.

• Designated Shooter Event: Each team will have a designated shooter, randomly rotated throughout the match, whose goals count double.
• Debut Cup: Open to all. Unlimited attempts. Survive three knockout rounds to reach the final.
• Origin Cup: A multi-stage Tournament. Stage 1 performance sets your Stage 2 tier. Second-chance retries open after cooldowns.

Career Mode

We are excited to go into more detail around Career Mode including Manager Live Challenges and changes to how you can earn ICONs and Heroes in Player Career and Manager Career on FC 26.

Manager Live

We’re really excited at the batch of Launch Challenges we have lined up in Manager Live. We've tried to add variety in terms of Challenge restriction, simulation time required to complete, and what teams are compatible with each Challenge. 

At launch, we have three Starter Challenges designed for a familiar and relaxed route into Challenge life. These are focused purposely on established and popular actions we know players already enjoy within Career Mode, engaging with the transfer market, pre-season, and starting the domestic season strongly. From there, the choice is yours, but here are some personal favourites:

• Top at Christmas; take control of any team in the top five European leagues and be top of your domestic league at Christmas
• Road To Glory; achieve a promotion, domestic league title and UEFA Champions League win within three seasons
• European Royalty; either replicate Paris Saint-Germain’s UEFA Super Cup win, or change the course of history with Tottenham Hotspur, going on to reach a UEFA Champions League Final, being active in the transfer market with both ins and outs, and go on to win another UEFA Super Cup within three seasons

Successfully completing Challenges earns Season Points for the Season Pass, and completing some Challenges - such as European Royalty above - also unlocks licensed retro kits for you to use with that club in future Manager Live saves, or on your Create Your Club team.

In FC26, we’ll be adding multiple live Challenges directly into the Manager Live Hub weekly during the new season. We’re really happy with how in-depth we can make Manager Live Challenges, and are looking forward to creating Challenges that replicate or reference the real world of football, but also bend reality with exciting ‘what if?’ moments.

ICONs in Player Career & Manager Career

In FC 26, ICONs remain a feature in Career Mode, available beyond Ultimate Team. Player Career will kick off in Season 1 with a rotating set of ICONs, starting with four options such as Fernando Torres and Marinette Pichon. These ICONs will only be available for a limited time before being replaced by new selections as the season progresses.

Ultimate Edition owners or players who pre-ordered the Standard Edition of FC 26 will permanently unlock ICONs both in Player Career and Manager Career, with Zlatan Ibrahimović, Toni Kroos, and Alex Morgan available from day one.

Additional ICONs and Heroes can be unlocked in Manager Career through both the Premium and standard of the Season 1 Pass, featuring names like Luis Figo and Kelly Smith. In addition, one Icon can be unlocked for Player Career specifically in the Standard Tier of the Season Pass every Season, with David Beckham available as the reward for Season 1. All ICONs and Heroes unlocked through the Season Pass in Career Mode are permanent additions, including in Player Career

Path to FC Pro

As mentioned in the FC Pro Deep Dive, FC Pro Live Events is a brand-new mode in EA SPORTS FC 26 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S that makes accessing the Path to Pro easier than ever. The FC Pro tab will appear in the Ultimate Team Play Menu whenever an FC Pro Live Event is active. Once you reach Division 4 in Rivals, you’ll be able to jump in, compete against top players, and earn exclusive cosmetics to showcase your accomplishments, along with progression toward FC Pro competition.

There’s no need for external registration for initial qualification, everything is handled directly in-game, including matchmaking, just like Rivals or Champions. Players compete on regional leaderboards ranked by Elo rating, which shifts based on your results and the strength of your opponents. The top performers in each region, based on peak Elo during the ladder period, will advance to the next stage.

Please note: only PlayStation 5 competitors are eligible to qualify for FC Pro Open Regional Qualifiers, while both PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players can earn in-game rewards.

Pre-orders are now available for EA SPORTS FC 26, which will launch on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Amazon Luna, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2. EA SPORTS FC 26 will be available worldwide to play on September 26, 2025, with early access through the Ultimate Edition beginning September 19, 2025*.

Thanks to those who’ve provided and continue to provide feedback. Throughout the course of the EA SPORTS FC 26 season, we'll provide you with more information and updates if and when they become available. Be sure to follow @‌EASFCDIRECT on X and to check out the EA SPORTS FC Tracker for the latest news and updates. Stay in the conversation on all things EA SPORTS FC™ by joining our official Discord, following us on our official X, Instagram, and YouTube, and participating in the official EA SPORTS FC Forums.