The kings and queens of the noughties and tens era of football are coming to EA Sports FC 26, with the confirmation of 12 new Icons appearing in Ultimate Team and Career Mode. With some of the new Icons playing as recently as 2024, it’s finally time for people in their 20s to feel old as time itself as the greats from their youth get the same sepia treatment as their mum and dad’s faves.
Pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition of FC 26 will get you one of these 12 Icons (or Thierry Henry, original Ronaldo, or Stevie G) to kick off your Ultimate Team, but they’ll all be around for the duration of FC 26’s lifecycle.
FC 26 New Icons List
- Zlatan Ibrahimovic – 92 Rated – Zlatan needs no introduction. When you could argue a 12-time league title winner’s trophy cabinet doesn’t quite match up to his obvious world-beating talent, then it just goes to show what a uniquely talismanic player he was. Prime Zlatan was an unplayable 5-star/5-star monster in ‘10s FIFA games, and his beastly 92-rated Icon looks sure to be an iron fist in a velvet glove in a similar mould to R9.
- Andres Iniesta – 92 Rated – With a Japanese swan-song which quietly lasted 6 seasons, would it surprise you to learn that Iniesta was still playing in the UAE until last year? From a winning goal in the 2010 World Cup Final to a key role in one of the greatest club sides of all time, Iniesta was an era-defining talent who took the guile and industry of a classic number 10 and redefined the role of a winger in modern football. Previously, he’s been the kind of player EA football games have struggled to do justice, but a slew of passing and ball control PlayStyles should do the trick.
- Alex Morgan – 91 Rated – When female players were added to FC a few years ago, Alex Morgan was easily one of the best. A double World Cup winner with extreme speed and deadly finishing ability, she’s likely to be one of the best early-game Icons thanks to her probable Finesse+ PlayStyle (it was what her gold card had). Any guesses for how long before EA has to ban her signature sips tea celebration for being too toxic?
- Oliver Khan – 91 Rated – King Khan was one of those keepers who seemed like he’d go on forever while simultaneously embodying the ‘90s psychedelic shirt, ball cap and tracksuit bottoms era of goalkeeping. While he seemed about 10 feet tall on the pitch, Khan was actually “just” 6ft 2, which raises questions about how he compares to the preferred likes of van de Saar and Courtois. However, with goalkeepers in general getting a big buff in FC26, I’m excited to see if EA can manifest Khan’s proclivity for smashing a cross away with a huge punch.
- Toni Kroos – 90 Rated – Gracefully bowing out of the game at the very top, and thankfully before we got to the Pirlo stage of clapping every 10-yard square pass as a masterstroke of metronomic midfield play, Toni Kroos was an unbelievably reliable midfielder with almost unparalleled ball-playing ability – more than 700 games for Bayern and Real Madrid speak for themselves. Despite the reverence he’s garnered in recent years, Kroos was never one for pace, which will surely see him join his Real Madrid midfield colleague Xabi Alonso as premium pack-filler.
- Caroline Seger – 90 Rated – Caroline Seger is most often described as “industrious”, but she’s got to have more than a bit of quality to hit a 90 rating (especially considering the caliber of players rated lower than her on this list). In real-life she was a brick-wall DM, but in FC26 she’ll probably be more similar to Nadine Kessler and really solid in the box-to-box/8 role, but that will surely depend on PlayStyles on her final card.
- Francesco Totti – 89 Rated – The King of Rome, finally back in EA Sports FC 26. A true one-club man with a graceful touch and passing ability which brought the Eternal City to its feet time-and-again, Totti is another bonafide Icon who would’ve struggled to shine in the pre-PlayStyle era. With more physical presence than his no-less-skilful compatriot, Roberto Baggio, here’s hoping Totti will be more usable.
- Giorgio Chiellini – 89 Rated – But if Totti represents the majesty of the archetypal Italian game, then Giorgio Chiellini is the dark side: Cattenaccio. With speed to match the quickest opponents, strength to bully the biggest foes and “intelligence” to yank any player that does make it past him back by the neck of their shirt, if he gets Anticipate then Chiellini will be a menace on a par with Lucio and the current Jaap Stam, but he could also be the first Enforcer+ player.
- Marcelo – 89 Rated – You’ve heard of a false 9, but what about a false 3? Taking the left-back position as more of a suggestion, Marcelo bossed the left flank in the incredible Real Madrid side which smashed the elusive “La Decima” 10th Champions League title which had alluded the club for more than a decade before going on to win the competition 4 more times before his return to Brazil. Notably linking up with Cristiano Ronaldo to support him cutting inside to form one of the strongest attacks in world football history, Marcelo’s tinkle-toes made him an underrated defender, and if I had to guess I’d say he will be part of the exclusive “Gullit Gang” with all 80+ face stats from launch.
- Steffi Jones – 89 Rated – Definitely the newly introduced Icon I know the least about, Steffi Jones is giving big Wendie Renard vibes with a card that will likely provide the most physical presence and defensive solidity of any of the female players. Just like big Jamie Carragher last year, I feel like the drop-rate on the Ultimate Edition pre-order Debut Icons will be 99% Steffi Jones.
- Cha Bum-Kun – 88 Rated – One of the oft-forgotton contenders for the greatest Korean player of all time, and Asian player of all time more broadly, Cha Bum-Kun used to be in the classic 11 years and years ago, but finally makes his return in FC26. With a decade-long career at the very top level in the Bundesliga – this was in the era when Kevin Keegan won back-to-back Balon D’or while playing in Germany – Cha is still South Korea’s most-capped player and top scorer (although Son is just a couple of appearances and 7 goals behind).
- Sissi – 88 Rated – Best remembered for a Golden Boot-winning performance at the 1999 World Cup which included no less than 4 inch-perfect free kicks, Sissi is the biggest shoe-in for the dead ball specialist PlayStyle+ since Beckham. She’ll also benefit from not having one of her PlayStyles wasted on Flair.
EA Sports FC 26 drops on September 26 for PlayStation, Nintendo and Xbox consoles and PC. EA recently revealed their plan to “make gameplay better” with split competitive and authentic match types, as well as a slew of changes to Ultimate Team including a new Gauntlet mode.