FC 26 BEST PLAYERS
When selecting the best players for your FC 26 Ultimate Team squad, you should consider several factors, including chemistry, attributes, and price.
Picking the Best Players
Ultimate Team stands out from other game modes by allowing each of us to build a dream team that reflects our own preferences and identity. What makes this experience unique is that everyone has different tastes.
When assembling a squad, identifying the best players isn’t always about ratings, it’s a subjective choice. What truly matters is finding the players who best fit your playstyle, formation, budget, and overall squad composition. This can be a challenge, especially with new cards being released throughout the season. That’s why we offer all the tools you need to build a stronger team. Discover your ultimate squad in FC 26 Ultimate Team.
In our opinion, you should pick your players based on the following four criteria:
- Attributes;
- Chemistry;
- More Characteristics;
- Price.
Attributes
Let’s begin with a fundamental point: players in Football Club are defined primarily by their numerical attributes. Although Electronic Arts has worked to give players unique identities, the reality is that their performance is largely dictated by numbers—and should be analyzed accordingly. This may be difficult for those who feel emotionally attached to certain players due to memorable moments in-game. While it’s tempting to believe players are more than just statistics, recognizing this fact is essential.
A player’s physical appearance has little impact on their in-game performance; instead, it’s their attributes that determine how they behave on the pitch. These numbers shape the illusion of uniqueness among players. When building your squad, it’s crucial to assess these attributes carefully. Although factors like game difficulty and formation also affect performance, attributes remain the most accurate basis for comparison.
Unfortunately, many players judge quality based solely on overall rating. However, that number is simply an indicator of how a player compares across key areas—it doesn’t reflect true technical, mental, or physical capabilities. In fact, some lower-rated players in FC 26 may perform better than their higher-rated counterparts in certain systems.
In FC 26 Ultimate Team, over 30 attributes influence performance, though they can only be viewed in-game or through external databases. You must decide which of them matter most based on your playstyle. For example, if you favor crossing, you’ll need wingers with strong crossing stats and strikers with solid heading. If you rely on counterattacks, fast forwards and midfielders with great passing will be key. Tailor your squad accordingly—and if you’re unsure, we’re here to help.
When evaluating player attributes, understand what each one means and prioritize those that best match your needs. You might even assign weights to key stats and calculate a weighted average to find the perfect fit. While this might sound complex, a simpler approach is to focus on the six basic attributes: pace, shooting, passing, dribbling, defending, and physicality.
By narrowing your focus and considering only the most relevant attributes for your style of play, you can make better decisions when building your squad. Knowing what each stat represents empowers you to fine-tune your criteria and enhance your Ultimate Team experience in FC 26.
Here’s a general guide to the most important attributes by position:
- GK
Reflexes and Diving - CB
Defending, Physicality, and Pace (at least for one of your center backs) - RB/LB
Defending, Pace, and optionally Dribbling (especially for RWBs and LWBs) - CDM
Defending, Passing, and Physicality - CM/CAM
Passing and Dribbling - Wingers
Pace, Dribbling, and Passing - CF/ST
Shooting, Physicality, and Pace
Don’t rely on subjective feedback claiming that a specific goalkeeper concedes too many goals. While you might see a few players voicing that opinion, you’ll just as easily find others saying the opposite. The only reliable way to assess a goalkeeper’s quality is through their stats. In our view, the most important goalkeeper attributes, in order, are: reflexes, diving, handling, positioning, speed, and kicking. If you tend to sit deep and absorb pressure, also consider height: shorter goalkeepers are more vulnerable to finesse shots.
Chemistry
It’s unavoidable, when starting a squad from scratch, the first criterion for selecting players is always chemistry. It forces you to plan your coin spending in advance and often leads to building around a single league or nationality. Experienced players may opt for hybrid squads, but even then, they’re still subject to the laws of Chemistry.
For those unfamiliar, chemistry directly affects a player’s performance on the pitch. Players with low chemistry are more likely to misplace passes or miss shots. To build strong chemistry, players should not only be in their preferred positions but also share the same club, league, or nationality with their teammates. The easiest approach is to create a team made up entirely of players from one league or one nation.
When assembling a squad, you’ll be limited by player positions. You must select 18 players, with at least one being a goalkeeper. To avoid negatively impacting chemistry, you should ensure each player fits the position required by your chosen formation.
The real question is: how far can you push chemistry limits? Most players stick to strict chemistry rules, but that’s not always necessary. We recommend avoiding players with chemistry below 2 unless the alternative is significantly worse, even if that alternative has perfect chemistry. If the player fits one of his primary or secondary positions and offers a clear advantage in attributes or playstyle, he may still be the better choice.
More Characteristics
With a basic spreadsheet application, you can pinpoint the ideal player for your team. Start by choosing the most crucial attributes and assigning each one a weight. However, consider the challenge if some of the player’s traits are immeasurable. Besides attributes, pay attention to the five defining characteristics:
- Height
Although it isn’t decisive, you should pay attention to the player’s height, especially if he’s a striker, a center-back, or a goalkeeper. However, it’s also useful for the CDM position. A taller player that has good jumping will win more headers. - Preferred Foot
Carefully verify if you’re using your players correctly for their position on the field. Sometimes you should change their side to favor their preferred foot. - Weak Foot
This type of characteristic should be decisive when choosing one between two players or more. It’s more important for the player to have good attributes than weak foot stars, but that’s still interesting for us. If you’re thinking of buying a finisher, don’t forget to check if he’s got a good weak foot. You’ll certainly notice the difference in the pitch between a player with a low and high weak foot. - Skill Moves
Players with more skill move stars will get past the opponents more easily. They can also execute more complex technical movements, although this might be more of a show-off than an actual contribution to the team. Most three stars skill moves are as effective as (or more than) 5 stars’ skill moves. Like it is for the Weak Foot, the Skills Moves should determine which player you choose unless you’re a natural skiller who doesn’t need the means to succeed. - Run Type
Each player is associated with one of seven different running styles. From explosive to lengthy, it’s up to you to choose the one that best suits what you’re looking for. - PlayStyles
Previously known as traits, playstyles dimensionalise athletes, going beyond overall ratings to bring to life the on-pitch abilities that make players special. When picking a player, check what styles he has.
Price
“Shouldn’t this be one of the first criteria?” you might ask. Fair point. But let’s assume you’ve already excluded players like Pelé because you know they’re out of your budget. Now flip the logic: instead of chasing the cheapest options, consider the most expensive ones. Confused? Let’s break it down.
By now, you likely have a shortlist of players for your squad—or at worst, you’re torn between two. Which one should you pick? You may lean toward a favorite, but still want validation. Maybe you’ve looked for opinions or reviews online, hoping to confirm your choice. But relying solely on a few opinions isn’t the most reliable method.
It’s not that other people’s experiences aren’t valid. They are. The issue is that a handful of perspectives shouldn’t dictate your final decision. What you really need is a crowd-sourced verdict, and the most accurate one is: the market price.
In Ultimate Team’s competitive environment, the community collectively filters out weak options. The game economy is shaped by millions of informed choices. No one wants to overspend on a player who doesn’t deliver, so a higher price usually reflects greater value. Still undecided between two similar players? Go with the one that costs more.
Before you object, let’s address a few valid exceptions:
- What about other factors?
Price is not everything. By now, you’ve already analyzed attributes and squad fit. Price is simply the final tiebreaker when other elements are too close to call. - Don’t prices fluctuate?
Yes, and especially early in the game. As the community adjusts and more data becomes available, prices can shift dramatically. But over time, they tend to reflect a player’s real value. - Does supply affect price?
Definitely. EA controls pack odds and availability. A high-quality player with high supply might still be cheap, while a rare card can be overpriced. - What about hype?
Yes, being in-form, meta, or playing for a popular club can inflate a player’s price temporarily. Some popular non-rare cards can even drop in value due to quick-sell pricing.
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