It's official - France will take on Argentina in the 2022 World Cup Final.
The final match of the Qatar competition is set to take place this weekend which means there's time for one last World Cup Showdown in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team.
With the finalists now set in stone, it's all set up for EA to release the ULTIMATE Showdown Squad Building Challenge in FUT 23.
Mbappe v Messi
That's right - we could be about to get a Mbappe v Messi Showdown SBC in Ultimate Team!
The Paris Saint-Germain duo have combined excellently for their club since the start of the 2022/23 campaign but now face off in the World Cup Final.
Set to kick off on Sunday, 18 December at 10am ET / 3pm GMT, the Parisians will go head to head in a legendary battle between two of the best players in world football right now.
As well as being the most prolific forwards at the 2022 World Cup, the pair are also considered two of the best attackers in FIFA 23.
So, EA could absolutely break the internet by releasing a Lionel Messi v Kylian Mbappe Showdown Squad Building Challenge in FUT.
These cards would be simply out of this world and would build the hype for the final even more so amongst the FIFA community if that's possible...
Living in dreamland
Whilst we would absolutely love EA to drop a Messi v Mbappe Showdown SBC ahead of the World Cup Final, we don't think it's realistic.
First of all, due to the number of special items that the pair have in FUT 23 already, their original Showdown rating would have to be 93 OVR minimum.
This means that with the potential of reaching 95 OVR, EA would have to price these SBCs so ridiculously high that almost nobody would be able to complete them before the deadline on Sunday, 18 December.
On top of this, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe have arguably been the two best players in the entire tournament in Qatar.
So, both players are almost guaranteed a place in the upcoming World Cup Team of the Tournament (TOTT) promo squad.
It's more than likely that EA will opt to go with two players that will not make the Team of the Tournament squad for the final World Cup-themed Showdown SBC.
There's still hope
Despite not being at the level of Messi and Mbappe, there's still a chance that EA drop a couple of top-tier Showdown cards for the World Cup Final.
Two players that could narrowly miss out on the World Cup TOTT squad are Ousmane Dembele and Rodrigo De Paul.
Barcelona winger Dembele has been outstanding throughout the winter competition and finally seems to be reaching his potential, despite not producing the output of a Kylian Mbappe just yet.
Atletico Madrid centre-mid De Paul is a workman-like midfielder who possesses great technical ability and has been outstanding for Argentina this World Cup.
We could see EA hand the pair 88 OVR Showdown items that will both be incredibly overpowered in Ultimate Team.
Although we won't get the Messi v Mbappe Showdown that we so desire, this matchup would most definitely be well-received by the community.
Explore new topics and discover content that's right for you!
FIFA