In January, the traditional Team of the Year was released. EA Sports surveyed fans of the FC 26 simulation game and compiled men’s and women’s squads featuring the 11 best footballers in the world. Who received the most coveted cards in the game?
FC 26 Men’s Team of the Year
● The top three strikers in the world are Ousmane Dembélé of PSG (97), Kylian Mbappé of Real Madrid, and Erling Haaland of City (96 each). This sounds fine, but there’s a real injustice here: Harry Kane is missing. The English striker was far and away the second-highest scorer of the year (48 goals in 51 matches), significantly ahead of Erling Haaland, who scored just 37 goals for City. Kane also leads in terms of goals-to-game time: it takes him 84 minutes to score, compared to Haaland’s 94.
The attackers became available on the evening of January 16.
● The midfield is even more interesting. PSG’s Vitinha, Barcelona’s Pedri (95 each), and Arsenal’s Declan Rice (94) all received TOTY cards. Last season’s best players – Lamine Yamal, Rafinha, and Mohamed Salah – participated in this year’s midfield voting and somehow missed out. The Brazilian and the Egyptian weren’t quite as good in the autumn, but the Spanish wonderkid’s absence defies all logic. How so?
● The best left-back is Nuno Mendes of PSG (97), in the center are Virgil van Dijk (95) and William Saliba (94) from the Premier League, and on the right is Jules Kounde (94). All positions except the Portuguese are questionable. Van Dijk is gradually losing speed and had a controversial year with Liverpool, Saliba is unlikely to be superior to his defensive partner Gabriel (but could form a reliable center with him), and Jules Kounde is clearly inferior to Achraf Hakimi. The Moroccan was included in every possible national team, including the even more controversial FIFA team .
Gianluigi Donnarumma is the simulator’s top goalkeeper. The Italian earned this status thanks to his impressive Champions League victory with PSG and was the team’s most anticipated player. The only other option was Arsenal’s David Raia.
● Kylian Mbappé was named captain of the TOTY team. The Frenchman didn’t win anything, but he scored consistently throughout the year and earned the love of the fans.
FC 26 Women’s Team of the Year
● The top TOTY cards belong to the winner of the latest Ballon d’Or, Aitana Bonmati from Barça, and the winner of the Champions League with Arsenal, Alessia Russo (97 each). The Catalan’s main rival at the Golden Ball, Mariona Caldentey, stopped just behind (96).
● Barcelona Women lost the final of the main club tournament, but still dominates the FC 26 Team of the Year. Here are Polish striker Ewa Pajor (96), the best female footballer of the early 2020s, Alexia Putellas, and the nightmare of all FIFA players, Claudia Pina (95 each). The Spaniard finished last season as the Champions League’s top scorer and received a cheating skill for low shots in the new football simulator. Oh, how they feared her in the fall!
● Hannah Hampton was the most unlucky of all. The goalkeeper conceded fewer goals than her colleagues and won the championship with Chelsea, then saved a penalty shootout in the Euro 2025 final against England, but lost her place to her Lyon colleague. Hannah’s teammate Lucy Bronze became captain of the women’s TOTY.
The full Team of the Year will be released on January 23. You can see which players were the best in football in 2024 and 2025 here .