The FIFA 23 Team of the Year is set to be released, giving Ultimate Team players a chance to snatch elite 99 OVR cards. EA Sports has shortlisted the 100 best footballers from 2022, before opening a public voting system for fans to choose their best XI.
Voting closed on the 17th of January, and we’re on the brink of knowing which eleven players will be included. Exciting leaks and rumours have been gathering momentum on the internet, and it seems like EA might be introducing new features in this year’s release. FIFA 23 has the potential to feature one of the best Teams of the Year so far.
What is TOTY?
At the start of the year, EA release enhanced cards on their Ultimate Team for the best eleven footballers from the previous one. It gives FUT gamers a chance to unearth new gems in their packs. These all-powerful cards give FIFA players a potentially decisive edge in-game and are also invaluable trade assets.
Completing objectives and SBCs (Squad Building Challenges) are known as good ways to earn untradeable packs, which are expected to have good TOTY representation. In simple terms, if you’re tactically astute and save your untradeables until after the TOTY is released, you’re on the right path to getting some really powerful FUT cards.
FIFA 23 TOTY
One of the most notable absences from this year’s team is Cristiano Ronaldo of Al Nassr, but considering that his rivalry with Lionel Messi is no longer the phenomenon that it was, FUT players will be more than satisfied with the latter and his Paris Saint Germain teammate, Kylian Mbappe. Both were stellar at the Qatar World Cup and are included in FIFA 23’s TOTY.
World Cup stars like Achraf Hakimi and Luka Modric are involved, while young England starlet Jude Bellingham is a wildcard selection from FIFA fans. Football fans would have been surprised to see Neymar included, despite him being in the leaked XI, not least because the attack would contain only PSG players. Instead, it’s Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema who leads the line, and his aerial prowess will make him a formidable 99 OVR forward. The full eleven are:
- Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)
- Theo Hernández (AC Milan and France)
- Virgil Van Dijk (Liverpool and the Netherlands)
- Éder Militão (Real Madrid and Brazil)
- Achraf Hakimi (PSG and Morocco)
- Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund and England)
- Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)
- Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)
- Kylian Mbappé (PSG and France)
- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)
- Lionel Messi (PSG and Argentina)
FIFA 23 TOTY Release Date
EA Sports released the Team of the Year at 6 pm GMT on the 19th of January. Hold your horses, though, because you won’t be packing TOTY Messi just yet. Although the players will be released on the above date, the packs will become available over the remainder of January. Forward players will, as the most highly anticipated release, feature first.
Attackers will begin showing up in packs from the 20th of January. They will be rotated out for the midfielders, who take over from the 22nd. The defenders and goalkeeper will appear on the 24th, and then the entire XI will be available from the 26th.
The 12th Man feature looks set to return two days later, meaning that an additional player, voted for by gamers, will also be featured. FIFA 22’s 12th Man was Cristiano Ronaldo, but it’s safe to say that he won’t be winning this time.
The 12th Man
The main thing to know about the 12th Man feature is that the winning player hasn’t been decided. It’s reported that gamers can choose between:
- Joao Cancelo (Manchester City and Portugal)
- Erling Haaland (Manchester City and Norway)
- Federico Valverde (Real Madrid and Uruguay)
Voting opens on Ultimate Team on Monday the 23rd of January. What this means is that the 12th man will be the last player to be announced as part of the FIFA 23 Team of the Year. Haaland will probably win, by the way, but a Valverde card would be a fantastic addition. He was quite unlucky to be beaten to the starting eleven by Bellingham.
FIFA 23 TOTY Icons
FIFA have announced that there will be an equivalent Team of the Year Icon feature. This will see 14 legendary former footballers involved in the TOTY series for the first time. Imagine FUT Icons, but even more powerful, and it’s easy to see why fans are so hyped up about these cards. The Icons involved have been confirmed. They will be released on the 20th of January at 6pm GMT.
- Alessandro Nesta
- Andrea Pirlo
- Ashley Cole
- Claude Makélélé
- David Beckham
- Edwin van der Sar
- Gerd Muller
- Hugo Sánchez
- Javier Zanetti
- Nemanja Vidić
- Robert Pirès
- Ronaldinho
- Ruud Gullit
- Xabi Alonso
FIFA 23 has exceeded expectations with its additional content, and the hype around November’s World Cup game modes suggests that the fanbase is pleased with what they’re getting. The TOTY expansion is a development that shows that EA, as they gear up to depart from their exclusive partnership with FIFA, are still committed to producing exciting content as they enter an uncertain new age.
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