- Primary Subject: EAFC 26 'The World's Game' Update
- Key Update: The 'The World's Game' update for EA FC 26 is a minimal content drop lacking features and polish compared to past World Cup modes.
- Status: Analysis
- Last Verified: 2026-06-12
- Quick Answer: The EA FC 26 'The World's Game' update is a disappointing and lazy rendition of past, content-rich World Cup modes, focusing on minimal additions and Ultimate Team.
Having a World Cup around used to mean something for EAFC fans. It was a glorious moment when EA Sports delivered players a very extensive DLC or, going back a few decades, an entirely new game featuring the FIFA World Cup as the main attraction.
The peak for me, and many long-time veterans, was those 2010 and 2014 standalone FIFA World Cup titles (albeit, the FIFA 98 World Cup game is arguably one of the most iconic sports titles of all time). There was so much content that, for once, delivering it as a separate title from the yearly FIFA releases felt justifiable, especially in an era in which DLC as practice hadn’t really been established.
You could play as virtually any national team affiliated to FIFA, complete from the very start of the qualifiers all the way to the finals. Taking the worst-rated squads and making them reach eternal footballing glory was something everyone tried to do. Alternatively, seeing your very own country lifting the World Cup trophy, even in virtual form, filled you with a uniquely unhinged sense of hope — maybe it is coming home this year.
The FC26 World Cup update, titled The World’s Game for obvious, well-documented, branding reasons, is depressing. A far cry from those peak years in which booting up a World Cup game meant you got the full experience. It’s not just losing the branding, but it’s the laziness of it all. This content drop is barely one at all.
What do you get as part of the World C—err, sorry, World’s Game update? Well, a few positives include quite a few national team licenses, which is pretty neat! You can play as virtually any country that’s set to take part in the competition this June and July, barring jarring exceptions like Japan. A bunch of stadiums that add flavor to the update, and… that’s it. Yeah, there’s not much else going on here.
I won’t really cover gameplay as nothing really has changed since I reviewed the game last year. In this new update, you boot up the mode and are presented with the exact dull EAFC presentation you’ve come to know and hate. There’s not even a dash of effort in the mode’s presentation, a kind of spark that tells players: “You know what? Yeah, we lost the license, that doesn’t mean we’re half-assing this update.”
You can select from a few dozen teams, and even randomize the entire event if you want to make it even more legally distinct than it already is. Pick your national side and go through the motions just like if you were playing a regular tournament mode.
The update is so unequivocally lazy that, even when it tries to mimic the actual World Cup by using the exact calendar, it fumbles — one big example is that Mexico’s opening match is against South Korea, not South Africa. At least the Estadio Azteca is back, right? right? (it’s not).
At least I can turn it into a Football Manager-esque experience with a nice over-the-top viewing match experience! And, oh, I can have a view from the pitch just like I’m the manager, let me try…
Oh, not even that works.
So, what is the point of this update? Who is it for? It’s free, you may say, and to that I respond… well, yeah, I guess. But also, seeing the full patch notes for the update barely even cover the mode and instead focus almost exclusively on more Ultimate Team garbage, I can confirm that the World’s Update is just a consequence of how incredibly side-lined any semblance of single-player content is in EAFC in favor of more predatory card-game nonsense.
It’s a shame that such a tradition died a painful death. And yes, it can get worse (looking at you, Netflix).
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