A new chapter for Football Ultimate Team launches in FC 26, reflecting both your feedback and brand new ways to play. The experience is transformed with Live Events, the return of knockout Tournaments, an all-new Gauntlet challenge mode, and significant updates to Rivals, Champions, and gameplay tuning for competitive play. Evolutions, match outcomes, and transfer market access have also been refined, making FUT more accessible, dynamic, and rewarding.
What’s New in FC 26 Ultimate Team?
Ultimate Team for FC 26 introduces several new features and ways to play.
Live Events
Live Events become a new core pillar, replacing simple friendlies with a whole layer of themed competitions that encourage creative squad-building and season-long variety. Players access Live Events via a streamlined Event Hub. Entry may require meeting specific objectives, reaching particular Rivals divisions, or fulfilling squad restrictions based on rarity, clubs, leagues, nations, player quality, chemistry, or position rules. Custom settings add depth, with events featuring House Rules, match limits, and locked matchmaking types—making every competition feel unique and refreshing. Objective tracking and claiming is now more direct, letting you spend more time on the pitch and less digging through menus. Event and global winform matchmaking provides even more tailored challenges.
New Play Menu
FC 26 introduces a rebuilt FUT Play Menu that’s cleaner, making it easier than ever to navigate, discover, and participate in modes and Live Events. The “For You” tab personalizes your experience by highlighting new competitions, last played modes, and a preview of upcoming events along with their requirements. Dedicated sections organize all modes—online, single-player, and friend matches—while dynamically updating with Live Events and special tournaments as the season progresses.
Tournaments Return
Classic knockout Tournaments make a comeback, with flexible scheduling and newly structured formats. Rather than running every week, these tournaments appear at peak moments each season for fresh events, unique rules, and custom rewards. Entry may require objectives or division ranks, and limits ensure that each tournament stays competitive and exciting.
The Gauntlet
Gauntlets are a new competitive test, requiring you to use completely different squads for each of several consecutive matches—including separate substitute benches. With multiple rounds and no eliminations, your run in the Gauntlet continues regardless of your results, but the more victories you claim, the better your rewards. Your club depth and squad-building skills are crucial here, as each round is a new challenge with increasingly rewarding incentives.
FC Pro Live Events
Integration with FC Pro means that top Division Rivals players can now register for competitive eSports events directly from within FUT. You’ll be able to compete in regional leaderboards based on your peak ELO, and even qualify for major competitions like the FC Pro Open (PS5 exclusive), all natively inside Ultimate Team for the first time.
Rivals Revamp
The Rivals experience gets a massive overhaul based on community feedback. Key changes address match volume, skill-tier stability, and motivation. New features include randomly triggered “Bounties” with immediate rewards for in-match challenges (first goal, last goal, clean sheet, etc.), special Duels that match you to an opponent on the same Bounty (winner takes the reward), and Limited Checkpoints—breakable rank barriers that control relegation and stop long losing streaks. These innovations aim to make Rivals both more rewarding and less punishing, sustaining excitement and progress throughout the season.
Champions & Challengers
Playoffs have been removed, streamlining the path to Champions. Now you qualify directly by reaching a specific Rivals division and earning enough points. For those not in the very top divisions, the new Challengers tier offers a separate, lower-stakes competition with its own rewards, letting more players taste the thrill of FUT Champions without the extreme pressure, while keeping Champions the ultimate test for the best.
Competitive Gameplay
A new, finely tuned gameplay set is applied only in Competitive FUT, focusing on responsiveness, consistency, and player control. Keeper rebound goals and random ball bounces are much reduced, player stamina is managed for more active and rewarding defending, and first-touch passing and shooting are now extremely quick and responsive. Competitive gameplay can now be updated and tuned throughout the season, independent of other modes, based on direct player feedback.
Updated Match Outcomes
Quitting or disconnecting in a draw will now count as a loss (and a win for the opponent) in Live Events, Rivals, and Champions, under more clear and fair rules. There are still safeguards to prevent abuse—for example, daily win caps from disconnects and match-specific requirements—designed to minimize exploits while rewarding honest play. Early quitters in FUT Rush will face matchmaking delays, deterring frustration and promoting team play until the end of each match.
Evolutions: GK, Repeatable, and Cosmetic Upgrades
Goalkeeper Evolutions (GK Evos) arrive in FC 26, and players benefit from even more flexibility. Some Evolutions are now repeatable a set number of times, letting you apply them across several players or reuse them on the same card. Cosmetic upgrades stack and preview features before application, and unique squad requirements can be built around players with different Evo Badging. Ultimate Edition owners start the season with two active Evo slots, supporting broader customization right away.
Graduated Transfer Market Access
Transfer Market access for new FUT accounts is now staged across all platforms, requiring completion of Foundation Objectives and time played to earn full access—just as in FC 25 PC. Returning FUT players in good standing retain instant market access. This system helps protect the market’s integrity and eases new players into the economic side of FUT, prioritizing fairness and system trust for all.
Objectives
Finding and completing Objectives is now easier than ever, with relevant goals and requirements visible directly from each game mode in the new Play Menu. When browsing Live Events, you’ll see exactly what’s needed for entry and what rewards are on offer, streamlining your path to progress and bringing all the content for the season forward.