Here are your predictions for the world’s best eleven as voting for this year’s TOTY is underway.
It’s finally time for FIFA 23’s TOTY, the traditional FUT promo awarding the best-performing players during the calendar year. Team of the Year is decreed by fans, who can vote to include soccer stars in their ideal squad.
FIFA 23 TOTY predictions
Players who manage to enter this very limited squad of eleven will then receive special FUT cards, which are greatly enhanced compared to the base cards. This is why people often vote for those they think would be particularly strong for their clubs, rather than those who truly deserve a place in the squad. We’ll bow to this collective wisdom, so with that in mind, let’s take a look at our FIFA 23 TOTY predictions.
They might not be the highest-rated games of 2022, but FIFA and Call of Duty are the year’s best-selling games
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and FIFA 23 are 2022’s best-selling games, making it the 20th time one of the two series has taken the year’s top-selling spot since records began roughly 40 years ago. Both franchises have seen one of their entries in the number one spot 10 times each now.
This new milestone is, so far, only true for European markets, though considering the U.S. market charts were almost identical to Europe’s in November, it seems likely both games will land at the top on this side of the Atlantic as well.
While this might seem like an unusual state of affairs, considering neither game earned recognition at the Golden Joysticks or the 2022 Game Awards, critically-acclaimed games topping the sales charts is a less common occurrence than you might think.
Previous notable instances where a game’s acclaim also matched its sales performance include The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Grand Theft Auto 5, though GTA is something of a sales anomaly anyway, since the crime game continues selling millions of copies every year despite being almost a decade old.
2022’s most popular games, including Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and God of War Ragnarok, saw high sales shortly after release, but their numbers dwindled substantially as time wore on.
You need FIFA World Cup tokens to swap for FUT cards, but EA Sports says you can only earn so many now
If you planned on earning FIFA 23 World Cup tokens fast thanks to the Golden Goal feature, you may be in for a disappointment. EA Sports has imposed a limit on how many World Cup tokens you can earn in a bid to keep players from breezing through requirements and hitting the token cap within a few minutes.
You can earn up to 50 tokens by completing World Cup challenges and exchange those for high-rated FUT cards while the World Cup celebration lasts. However, some players were using the Golden Goal feature to finish matches and get tokens in minutes, instead of it taking days as EA intended.
The newly-imposed limit means you can only complete 10 challenges in one hour, and that includes any challenges you fail. EA reportedly made the change after banning accounts for speeding through matches too quickly, so it seems pretty unlikely the limitation will change or be reversed any time soon.
Still, if you’re determined, 10 challenges per hour is still a fair few shots at earning tokens for FUT cards. It just might take a bit longer than you first hoped.
If you haven’t taken part in the mode yet, check out our World Cup Mode review and why we think it’s solid – if not as ambitious as it could be.
FIFA 23’s new World Cup mode offers a fair bit of content, but it could do a bit better, especially for single-player modes.
It’s hard to talk about this year’s FIFA World Cup without mentioning the controversy surrounding it. Firstly there is the corruption scandal around the selection of Qatar as the host, and then the many issues surrounding the treatment of migrant workers and of LGBTQ+ folks in the host nation.
Still, if you want some guilt-free World Cup action, then there is a place for you to go, as EA has created a World Cup mode for FIFA 23, which is entirely free for anyone who already owns the game.
Of course, it wasn’t so long ago that entire stand-alone titles would be released to tie-in with the World Cup. South Africa 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil were great titles if this international tournament was all you cared about. Comparatively, the new mode in FIFA 23 holds up quite well.
While it’s missing features like the “Captain Your Country” mode from those games, it makes up for it elsewhere with the ability to play along with the tournament live and rewrite history as you see fit. You can play real-world fixtures live, or even retroactively, attempting to change the result if your team didn’t perform as well as you’d hoped.
It’s also missing the distinct flavor that those previous games had in its soundtrack. The 2014 game had vibrant samba music for Brazil, and vuvuzelas run out loud for South Africa, but there’s not much in the way of middle eastern music in this one, which is disappointing.
When sitting down and playing through the classic tournament mode, I was disappointed to see I couldn’t customize the squad. FIFA 23 has plenty of players past and present that could be slotted into the modern teams, but alas, it’s not to be. Even in this fantasy world, the stars of yesteryear will not be seeing any action in Qatar.
On top of that, there doesn’t seem to be much in the way of replayability. Once you’ve taken your team all the way to the trophy, there isn’t much to do. You can play as one of the lowest-ranked nations to try and challenge yourself, but that’s about as good as it gets. Playing online is always an option, but eventually, it starts to feel a little shallow.
This may be because so much focus was put into FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT). It makes sense, as this is where the bulk of the player base lives right now.
This is a very long in-game event, with players collecting red WC players to try and fill their collection. While they will be removed from your club on January 4, 2023, you’ll need them to get through the ten levels of World Cup objectives. These can earn you all sorts of things like coins, packs, and picks once the event had wrapped up.
World Cup content will be sticking around until December 23, with Season Two ending on January 4. Time-limited cards are a bit annoying, but it’s about collecting them more than anything else. Let’s be honest, once you had filled those old Panini stick albums, did you ever look at them again? Nope, they just went into your attic to gather dust. That said, it would be nice to have some kind of album to put them in, as I’m sure it’d bring a rush of warm nostalgia for many.
The World Cup Path to Glory promo cards sees each World Cup nation getting at least one live card available in packs, SBCs, and via objectives. These cards get boosts at every stage their team progresses in – with some tantalizing results in store for cards that make the final or win it all.
Progression to the Round of 16 and Quarter Finals will each earn a +1 In-Form Upgrade
Progression to the Semi-Finals will earn player items 5* Weak Foot
Progression to the Finals will earn player items 5* Skill Moves
Winning the FIFA World Cup™ will earn players another +1 In-Form Upgrade, along with three select traits tailored to that player’s position
This has kicked off the World Cup hype greatly, and hopefully, things will follow the same pattern as in FUT Russia 2018, with Team of the Stage getting boosted for the following rounds.
FUT Moments has been a great addition, as outlined in our FIFA 23 review, and the extra stuff added for the World Cup is no different. Daily match-day moments are available all the way through the tournament, and you’ll also get some flash challenges for iconic moments in World Cup history. It means you can earn a handful of stars quite easily in your downtime, letting you earn some decent packs down the line.
The mode seems to have taken some of the grind out of the process too. You get a lot of swap tokens for rewards in World Cup Swaps, and even the Live FUT Friendly milestones are a bit more generous. These games run on golden goal, although there have been issues with too many soft bans on players who are grinding the mode. – something that EA Sports are aware of and are working to fix. You’ve got plenty of time though, so there’s no rush.
Of course, if you don’t mind paying for a bit of a boost, that option is there. Promo packs on the FUT store cost upwards of 1,000 FIFA Points ($9.99) containing World Cup reds and their regular contents. It’s got pretty slim odds though, so don’t go paying unless you’re comfortable with the chances.
With four years still to go before the North American World Cup in 2026, it’ll be interesting to see how the new EA Sports FC series deals with it. It will likely be another free update rather than a standalone game, but we have to hope that we get a little more content for both single-players and FUT fans.
Written by Alex Bug and Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.
FIFA 23’s World Cup rewards may include two popular FUT Icons, but you’ll need plenty of tokens to get them on side
FIFA 23 World Cup mode is here, and some of the World Cup mode rewards include a couple of iconic FUT cards. EA Sports has yet to officially announce all the upcoming World Cup rewards, but at least a few have slipped through early, and if they turn out to be accurate, you can look forward to exchanging your World Cup tokens for Brazil’s Cafú and France’s Vieira.
You earn tokens by completing various challenges in World Cup mode from now until Dec. 23, 2022, and can exchange these for a variety of FUT cards, which may range in cost from a handful of tokens to a few dozen.
Early rumors suggest Cafú and Vieira will set you back 30 tokens and 40 tokens respectively, so plan on devoting a fair bit of time to the World Cup challenges if you want them on your FUT team.
Other Icon cards will also cost more than your standard FUT card.
Unlike some of the other FUT rewards on offer until December, these and others you get with tokens will remain on your account permanently.
EA Sports recently announced a range of special cards making their debut during World Cup season, in place of a proper World Cup mode in FUT, are only temporary, so at least you can rest in the knowledge that your token rewards won’t disappear at the end of the year.
The long-standing tradition of FIFA World Cup mode in FUT comes to an end in FIFA 23.
FIFA 23 World Cup mode won’t make it in FUT, EA announced in a new blog post, but there are some World Cup FUT celebrations in the works – for a limited time. In previous FIFA games, EA Sports added a separate World Cup mode where players could piece together squads representing the competing nations and face off for the ultimate reward.
This time, EA Sports is adding World Cup-themed cards to FUT as Player Items. Players in the 32 nations competing for the cup will automatically earn a World Cup Player Item once season two begins, and EA Sports is also offering a special World Cup starter pack, available once you log in for the first time in season two.
Other opportunities to obtain World Cup Player Items include select store packs, which will include guaranteed World Cup content until Dec. 23, 2022. EA also said you can obtain World Cup Player Items in squad building challenges and milestone objectives. However, these are limited-time cards and will disappear, presumably after season two ends.
Early leaks indicated FIFA 23 World Cup mode will actually include 48 teams, a dozen more than are actually competing in the real-life tournament, though whether that holds true in the final version remains to be seen.
The update will be available to download on November 9
EA Sports has announced that the World Cup 2022 update for FIFA 23 will be available for fans to download on November 9.
The update will allow players to play as any of the 32 qualified teams for the World Cup from the group stage to the final. There will also be the option to substitute in teams who didn’t qualify and also to change around the groups.
“Every four years, the World Cup presents a unique opportunity to unite the world of football, and we’re thrilled to provide an immersive, hands-on experience to football fans across the globe,” said Nick Wlodyka, senior vice president and general manager of EA Sports FC.
From November 21 to December 18, EA will also offer FIFA World Cup Live, a mode that will update throughout the tournament with live results and allow players to pick up where the World Cup is at the time, or change past results to rewrite history.
There will not be a World Cup mode in FIFA Ultimate Team like in previous years, but EA will have FUT campaigns from November 11 to December 23, with live items that get progression upgrades based on each nation’s progress through the World Cup.
At a recent event, we spoke to EA Sports’ SVP of brand about the decision to bring women’s football to the forefront.
Developers of FIFA 23, EA Sports, have made a firm commitment to putting women’s sports on the same level as men’s, and it isn’t taking no for an answer.
As women’s football continues to rise both in and out of the video game industry, there has been inevitable backlash from groups on social media. Some claim in investment in women’s football is a “wasted investment”, and the developers are aware of these complaints. Annoyance has been expressed at the lack of development in other game modes, and dismiss women’s football, saying it is just “taking up hard drive space”.
EA Sports aren’t backing down in its commitment to this push though, as their first Women’s Football Summit in London showed. They had a whole host of women athletes there, including Chelsea forward Sam Kerr discussing the importance of this increased representation in the FIFA series.
It has already been announced that the UEFA Women’s Champions League will be included in an upcoming FIFA 23 update, and on top of that, an initial investment of $11 million has been announced to grow the game, even as EA Sports will be losing the FIFA license next year and producing their own football game series.
“EA Sports is at the epicenter of global football fandom, and we recognize the role we have in representing and elevating diversity and participation in the sport,” said Andrea Hopelain, SVP of Brand, EA Sports. “Our commitment extends beyond the pitch in the virtual and real world. The Starting XI Fund reinforces our dedication to unrivaled authenticity and representation in our games, and also showcases our focus on being changemakers for the future of the sport.”
We spoke to Hopelain at the event, and she told us more about EA’s goals.
“It’s one of the most important things that we can do – to grow the love of this sport around the world. Women have had a really challenging history in equality in the sport and being able to play at the same ease and access as men have,” she explained.
Women’s football has been playable in the series since FIFA 16, but it wasn’t much to write home about. Not only was the selection of clubs extremely limited, but there were no unique animations for the models, meaning all of the players still moved unnaturally like men on the pitch. It didn’t look right and was clear how little care was really put into the feature. FIFA 23 made significant changes in this regard, making the women’s game feel more realistic than ever, and both England and France’s top divisions were added alongside the national teams.
“The women’s game is much more technical, for sure. It plays just like women play by having the technology to be able to deliver the right female skeletons. We’re not mapping female players onto male skeletons,” Hopelain explained. Thanks to HyperMotion2 capture using professional women for the first time, developers had the data to build a proper simulation of women’s soccer. “To build the right technology infrastructure to enable the fluidity and technicality of the women’s game, all of those things had to come together, and it took a couple of years to build it right,” she added. “So I don’t believe we’re late. I believe we’re right on time… Because we did it in the best way we could ever imagine delivering.”
It’s undoubtedly a huge step forward, but many fans still feel it is not enough, as you cannot play as a women in the game’s career mode. They’re behind other sports games in this regard, as the latest WWE game has unique story modes for male and female wrestlers.
“We’re just getting started. And, again, it’s about respecting and honoring the women’s game and not just making one-to-one moves with what we’ve done with the men’s game,” Hopelain said to address this. I’d love to distill the expectation that we’re just going to map our actions to what we’ve done with the men’s game because I think that that does the women’s game a complete disservice. And so we have a lot of ambition. Yeah, and I’m not gonna give you all their plans tonight,” she added.
With the rebrand of the series to EA Sports FC next year, hopes are high that women’s football will play a far more major role than it ever has before. One addition fans are hoping for is the addition of women to FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), although Hopelain didn’t make any solid comments about this.
“We are taking unique approaches across all of our titles,” she said . “Our investment in women’s hockey has been significant over the last year, and I love that you’ve seen and recognised it. 10 IIHF teams inside the game, Sarah Nurse on the cover with Trevor Zegras. We’ve got LPGA players coming into PGA Tour next spring, we’ve got female coaches inside of Madden. We’re taking a really distinct approach with each game, and our commitment is unwavering.”
Online, not everyone is a fan of these decisions as a minority don’t see women’s football as worthwhile. However, Hopelain isn’t phased by this disappointing response from some, instead reaffirming that it is the right decision, and will bring a wider audience to the series.
“Twitter can be a little bit of an echo chamber to your point, a vocal minority,” Hopelain stated. “It’s disheartening to see that kind of response. And on the flip side, the data would prove to you that the decision was the right one. The growth in the women’s game inside of FIFA 23 is grown by triple digit numbers. Chelsea is the number one women’s club being played. We’re really here to serve all of our friends around the globe and not just those that show up on Twitter every day.”
Hopelain’s words are backed up by FIFA 23’s performance, which stands as the best in the series’ 30-year history. It hit just over 10.3 million players in week one and continues to see good numbers almost a month later.
“You can see through all of our actions and all of the big announcements that we’ve made tonight,” Hopelain said. “Our investment in the women’s game between bringing UEFA clubs into the game, our announcement with DAZN, driving eyeballs onto the sport, and our Starting XI fund. The momentum in the world of sport would all point to the fact that we’ve made the right decision.”
Women’s soccer is starting to be put on the same level as the men’s, so we spoke to several WSL stars about their role in this change.
EA Sports recently held their first-ever Women’s Football Summit event, where the developers of FIFA 23 announced new partnerships and initiatives that they hope will grow women’s football both on and off the pitch. A huge step was recently taken with Chelsea forward Sam Kerr gracing the cover of FIFA 23, becoming the first woman to ever star on a FIFA cover, but there’s still a long way to go.
Alongside Kerr, there were five other players speaking at the event: Chelsea’s Lauren James, Aston Villa’s Alisha Lehmann, and England legends Karon Carney, Fara Williams, and Kelly Smith. All of these women have proved themselves on the pitch, and have plenty of support to offer the campaign to make women’s football as big and important as the men’s game.
Talking to Kerr on the red carpet, she recounted her disbelief when she heard about her status as a cover star. “I was like, ‘No way, this isn’t gonna happen.’ I just thought this one could never be,” she said, and she was just impressed with her in-game rating, “Well, I have the highest rating – everyone that has played has said that I’m a little bit of a cheat code!”
Lauren James told us how important it is that the women’s game is in such a prominent position in the game, “It just shows how far the women’s game has come. Even when I was growing up – I’m still young now – I could only play with men. Now the young girls are able to play with us and I think it’s an inspiration to them.”
Alisha Lehmann spoke about what it meant to her, “Everyone dreams of it,” she said. “Since I was a child playing football, you want to be on FIFA, it’s the biggest thing! I played as a kid with my brother, with my cousin, but I didn’t have much time as I played outside with the ball. But now they’ve put the women’s clubs on, it’s amazing.” She also mentioned that she’s played with her partner, Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz, “I reckon I’m better than him!” she commented.
FIFA has seen huge developments this year which have improved women’s representation in the game. Not only does it feature leagues like Barclay’s Women’s Super League and Ligue D1 Feminine, but HyperMotion2 technology has allowed women’s teams to be based on realistic animation and movement for women, rather than using altered versions of the men’s animations.
As part of the panel, it was announced by EA Sports that it has partnered with the UEFA Women’s Champions League, which will feature in-game for the first time. It will include just the knockout stages of the tournament, including teams like Manchester City, Juventus, Real Madrid, Paris Sain-Germain, and Chelsea.
“We are delighted to see the UEFA Women’s Champions League being integrated into EA SPORTS FIFA 23,” said Nadine Kessler, Chief of Women’s Football for UEFA. “It feels like a natural fit for the world’s best women’s club competition to be part of the world’s leading football simulation game. This is another major step in the women’s game and an ideal additional platform for the female athletes contributing to its success.”
This update will be coming to FIFA 23 in early 2023, with the promise of Women’s World Cup content coming in the summer. These are all very promising developments that will hopefully lead to an even bigger role for women’s football in EA Sports’ next soccer game.
We spoke to Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt, who shared his thoughts on FIFA 23, staying on top of his game and his Madden-playing past.
Sitting at a gaming chair decked out in his Fnatic jersey, a young guy from Devon, England opens FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) packs, searching for the best players. He’s energetic, he’s focused, and he’s ready to dominate FIFA 23.
GLHF sat down with Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt, pro FIFA player and the most decorated champion of all time, for his thoughts on the title, which is dominating the games charts.
The interview has been edited for clarity.
Tekkz plays FIFA for UK-based esports organization Fnatic. He said started playing FIFA at just 4 years old, “Maybe FIFA 06, FIFA 07? I used to play with Liverpool, that’s my first memory. I remember trying to spam long shots with John Arne Risse. That’s pre-FUT as well, I just used to play Career Mode.”
Tekkz burst onto the FIFA esports scene aged just 16. Now 21, he’s splitting his time between home and Fnatic’s Shoreditch HQ whilst preparing for his 6th installment of the game on the pro scene.
FIFA 23’s revolutionary gameplay is making waves with casual and professional players alike. HyperMotion2 animations, ArcheTYPE running styles, and focus on passing over pure pace has created a completely different experience, and Tekkz admits that gameplay isn’t to his strengths right now.
“So at the moment, I’m just trying to adapt to what’s good, he said. “You know I’m patched right now a little bit with no left stick dribbling, but that’s fine!”
Tekkz has identified lobbed-through balls as the current FIFA 23 meta, which you can read about in his top tips feature.
“I’m hoping for a gameplay update because you can’t left stick dribble,” he continued. “One of my best attributes is left stick dribbling so…they’ve taken me away from me! I don’t like it! I hope that lobbed-through balls are not as effective because it’s not where I specialize.”
The frustrations of being behind a meta came through. “I like to press and when I press someone and I get a through balled in behind, that’s my biggest hate,” he explained. “It happens all the time but we’re trying to adapt.
“But for me, I can’t really sit there and wait for it [an update] because then I fall behind,” Tekkz conceded.
When it comes to being the best in the world at FUT, building a talented squad is vital. Tekkz reflected on his first FUT, where signing big-name superstars was his tactic, without knowing if they’d be any good for the gameplay meta.
“I think my first Ultimate Team was FIFA 12 – I didn’t know anything! I didn’t have any of the best players. If I see they were high-rated like Xavi I’d just buy him. He’s got 50 pace and he’s 5 feet and 5 inches midfield, so he can’t do anything. But it’s Xavi so I thought he’d be good.”
But in FIFA 23, who is Tekkz rating?
“It’s a bit of a boring answer but Mbappé – he’s fast, he’s good, he’s got five-star skill moves,” he claimed.
One card making waves in FIFA and in real life is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. Surprisingly, Tekkz isn’t a fan of him in-game.
“I hate him! I hate coming up against him. He’s so fast you can’t catch him and he’s just so big as well. He’s 6 feet and 4 inches or something [Haaland is 6 feet and 5 inches]. You tackle him and the ball bounces back to him every time.”
So is Tekkz using Haaland? “No, I don’t like him! Forget about me – because the way I play, I like to do skills. When I get the ball to Haaland, who’s three-star three-star (skill moves rating and weak foot strength), against good defenders it’s hard.”
Coming up against players with Haaland’s card is inevitable, but Tekkz reckons he’s got the solution. “My favorite defender, Van Dijk, the last couple years you haven’t been able to use him because he’s been way too slow,” he said “With [AcceleRATE] lengthy, he’s fast now and you can use him. At 6 feet and 4 inches as well, he’s actually the only guy in the game that can stop Haaland to an extent.”
He’s happy with improvements to 1v1 situations and defensive realism, too.
“Not many of your shots get blocked. If I do a skill move in the box it’s harder to get blocked now,” he beamed.
What does the life of a FIFA pro look like in the early days of the game cycle?
For Tekkz, it’s been 17-hour days in Fnatic HQ working on playing, creating, streaming, and adapting his game.
“My day yesterday [Oct. 3, 2022] I woke up at 10 a.m. I got to the office at 11; then I was here until 4 a.m. I’m just playing, playing, playing, streaming, recording, and then watching other people to see what they’re doing. It’s long days and late nights just trying to improve.”
One thing he’s not focussed on is his competition. “When FIFA comes out, I don’t really like looking at what everyone else is doing. The first day comes out because I just want to do my own thing, see what’s going on, and see what works for me.”
Fnatic athlete Diogo Mendes will pick up the controller alongside Tekkz in competition this year, and that’s someone he has looked to.
“Because Diogo is in the room with me, I’m sorta learning with him too.
”If I play someone or someone in the FIFA scene is doing good at that time, you watch what they’re doing, and then you bring it into your own game.
“I’ve been playing a lot of pros…everyone’s near enough at the same level right now. Yeah, no one’s really broke away.”
The first pro FIFA tournament this cycle is the inaugural EA Sports Cup, a 2v2 competition which Fnatic will be competing in. Tekkz is seen as one of the senior pros on the scene now, and he’s been trying to work out what to do when esports is back.
“Going into our first 2v2 tournament, I don’t really know what to expect,” he explained. “If there was a 1v1 tournament coming up, it would just be sitting deeper and hitting through balls.
“I wanna win the 2v2 trophy with my teammate Diogo. I’d love to win 2v2! We’re good enough. I think we were arguably the best team last year —we just got unlucky in the tournament at the end.”
Alongside Tekkz’s dominance in esports, he has also grown a huge audience online. He has over 1.5 million followers across social, with over 700,000 subscribers following his YouTube channel. When asked for any other goals for FIFA 23, he stated “I want to be a proper YouTuber!
“I already was but like a better one who uploads way more and does better quality videos,” Tekkz added.
While chatting, Tekkz also revealed that FIFA isn’t the only EA Sports franchise that he’s mastered.
“Oh, I used to be top 100 [in Ultimate Team competitive play] on Madden too!” he let slip.
Tekkz used to be top 100 ranked in Madden 20 running a broken meta play and chatting to pros, having played Madden since Madden 15.
“I was talking to a few pros at the time, and I just got what was good. I wrote it down on a piece of paper, and then I picked my plays,” he said. “I used to just do an HP stretched out on the right-hand side and flip it to the left-hand side,” he added. A man of many talents.
The FIFA 23 Global Series kicks off on Oct. 17, 2022, and you can watch along on the EA Sports FIFATwitch and YouTube channels.
Tekkz represents Fnatic, the number one esports organization in the world. He’s been a Fnatic Athlete for two years and has won four FIFA Championships in that time, including the eChampions League.
Want to try FIFA 23 for yourself? It’s available now on all major consoles and PC.
