EA Sports FC 26 Cheat Sheet: Everything you need to know about this year’s biggest game

Another year, another chance to lob the controller on the floor and storm off into the kitchen in a huff when your mate bags a last-minute winner. Yes, EA Sports FC 26 is here – the third chapter in EA’s post-FIFA life – and it’s bigger, slicker and full of fresh reasons to lace up your digital boots once again. 

You already know you’ll be sinking (and we’re being charitable here) “amounts of time” into Football Ultimate Team, screaming at referees in Clubs mode and maybe, just maybe, winning something respectable in Career mode. But this year’s edition is stacked with all that, plus a whole lot more. 

Just remember: online modes – and there are loads in FC 26 – don’t forgive stuttering WiFi. With a Virgin Media broadband package for gamers, your through-balls arrive on time, your tackles land when you time them and your excuses for losing are limited to “no, no, no, remember, we said this was a practice game”.

EA Sports FC 26 is available from Friday 26 September on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2.

To get ready for its release, this is your no-nonsense cheat sheet for FC 26. The game. The modes. And the reasons why a decent connection is as important as a decent defence. Think of this like Ruben Amorim’s tactics board (actually, please don’t).

If FC 25 was EA Sports flexing that it could survive without the FIFA branding, FC 26 feels like Hugo Ekitike stretching his legs as he latches on to a loose ball before bearing down on goal.

Each year, the series evolves. But FC 26 has overhauled gameplay and doubled down on what matters most: how the football feels. FC 26’s revamped gameplay is powered by community feedback, meaning that players actually play the way you want them to. Dribbling is quicker and more responsive, AI positioning is sharper, and movement across the pitch feels explosive. Even keepers have been given a glow-up, reacting with more natural animations and smarter positioning.

On top of that, new Playstyles and Player Roles give you greater control over how your team takes shape. Fancy a midfield enforcer who crunches into tackles for fun? Or a winger who lives for cutting inside? FC 26 makes it possible.

It all adds up to a smoother, sharper, more lifelike match experience. Whether you’re pinging passes around like Barcelona in their pomp or smashing long balls into the mixer, FC 26 feels like football at full throttle.

Think of the classic FIFA games. Like a Sam Allardyce side at every club he’s ever managed, you knew how they were going to play, year in year out. But unlike watching an Allardyce team, familiarity was one of the joys of the games: you knew what you were getting, and you could jump into each edition with a small learning curve and a few new features, all encased in updated graphics. 

But for the first time this year, FC 26 introduces two distinct gameplay presets, tailored to the way you like to play. Competitive is all about fast-paced, head-to-head action – think sharper passing, quicker rebounds and direct control that rewards instant reactions. It’s perfect if you spend most of your time playing Ultimate Team or Clubs.

Authentic, meanwhile, aims for the realism purists crave in modes like Career. We’re talking positionally responsible defenders, plausible goalmouth scrambles and realistic set-piece success rates. Fortunately, Authentic draws the line at players posting Instagram stories saying how unhappy they are. Maybe that’ll be in FC 27?

What this means is that no matter how you like to play, even if you’re Sam Allardyce (we promise, that’s the last dig at the “former England manager”, ahem), you get the football experience you want.

Fans of Clubs – the multiplayer mode where you create and control a single custom player (your “Virtual Pro”) – will find it gets a big overhaul in FC 26.

First up comes Archetypes, 13 new player classes inspired by the greats of the game. Each comes with unique characteristics, including Signature Playstyles (exclusive to Clubs) and Perks to unlock as you develop across the season.

Then there’s Live Events in Clubs Rush, a knockout-style mode in a new Rush Stadium with a more focused, intense atmosphere, where entry requirements, gameplay rules (think double goals for designated scorers or “rugby rush” so you can foul all you like) and challenges (shortened match length or golden goal matches) keep rotating.

FC 26 also introduces a revamped Be-A-Goalkeeper system in Clubs Rush. Yes, you can join the Goalkeepers’ Union and don the gloves, complete with new controls, assistance levels, PlayStyles and (presumably) an inexplicable sense that – should the game demand it – you could “probably do a job as an outfield player”.

If you loved the absolute drama of this summer’s transfer window (we’re guessing we’ve lost a lot of Newcastle fans and Marc Guéhi here), FC 26 is here for it all. If Football Ultimate Team is about flexing your dream squad, Career mode this year is about crafting the kind of football story that Netflix would want the rights to.

Manager Live Challenges throws you into bite-sized scenarios, alternative storylines and longer arcs alike. One minute you’re trying to steady the ship over five matches; the next, you’re eyeing an unprecedented treble. Every challenge earns you rewards, from Vanity items to ICONS and Heroes for use in other modes.

Meanwhile, the all-new Manager Market ensures no season feels static. Managers move around, tactics shift and your rivals evolve in real time. Coaches are no longer tied to a single club: instead, they can be poached, get the sack or choose to pursue new opportunities, resulting in a living, ever-changing managerial environment across Career mode.

Throw in unexpected events as a new layer of dynamic narrative scenarios, like sudden injuries to the back line, surprise transfer offers or a club on the brink of a financial collapse, and Career mode becomes less spreadsheet simulator and more footballing soap opera where things don’t always go to plan.

Player Career also gets the Archetype treatment, letting you shape your star into one of 13 unique classes. Develop your attributes, unlock perks and become the player you always imagined you’d be – minus dodgy Sunday League hamstrings and “inability to do even the basics right” (not our words, but that of all our best friends).

There was probably a time before FUT existed. We’re imagining some kind of Stone Age scene where people hit rocks against other rocks to pass the time. Or possibly they arranged their rocks into squads of their favourite rocks, just to feel alive.

Thankfully, since 2009, we haven’t had to worry, and we’ve never looked back. For those who live for Football Ultimate Team (FUT), FC 26 has seriously upped the ante. And the ante was already upped fairly high to begin with.

Tournaments are back, now structured as up to four rounds of knockout football with shifting squad rules and requirements. Live Events keep things fresh throughout the season, while Gauntlets test your squad depth across five rotating matches.

The Rivals and Champions refresh brings in Bounties (bonus objectives with extra rewards) and expands weekend competition with the new Challengers tier. Qualification for Champs is now purely rank and points-based, simplifying the grind and giving more players a shot at glory.

Plus, there’s a stacked lineup of new ICONS for FUT, from world-conquerors like Zlatan Ibrahimović and one-club legends like Francesco Totti to midfield maestros like Andrés Iniesta and Toni Kroos. Women’s football continues its deserved rise, too, with names like Alex Morgan, Kelly Smith and Caroline Seger taking their place among the greats.

In a nutshell, all your free time has just been filled.

All the cool features, modes and gameplay upgrades would probably be overshadowed if all the kits looked a bit fake and the player faces looked like unrealistic waxwork models at a seaside town exhibition.

But you needn’t worry. Once again, FC 26 brings the official leagues, players and stadiums that make it the most authentic football game on the planet. This time around, more than 20,000 players and 750 clubs and national teams are represented, across more than 120 stadiums and 35 leagues.

It’s the only place you can play in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Europa Conference League, CONMEBOL Libertadores, Premier League, Bundesliga and LALIGA in the same game, alongside the Frauen-Bundesliga, Liga F, Barclays FA Women’s Super League, Arkema Première Ligue, National Women's Soccer League and the UEFA Women's Champions League.

Basically, when you play as PSG in every single game, you’re missing out.

EA Sports FC 26 isn’t just a step forward; it’s a full sprint down the wing. With gameplay overhauls driven by community feedback, new layers of strategy in Clubs and Career and FUT more competitive than ever, it feels like the ultimate football sandbox.

Whether you’re there for the drama, the glory, or the ICONS, FC 26 is football redefined – and with Virgin Media broadband, you’ll always stay ahead of the game.

Let’s be real: new features mean nothing if your connection stutters mid-counterattack. Virgin Media broadband ensures your games run smoother than a prime Iniesta turn.

Because when the margins are thin, and your mate’s goalkeeper has suddenly gone full Oliver Kahn, the last thing you need is lag to steal the glory.

Not yet with us? We’ve got a range of superfast and ultrafast broadband deals with speeds to suit every home – from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps and beyond. If you’re not sure what you can get? Use our helpful broadband postcode checker to see all of the broadband deals that are available in your area.