FIFA 23 is the last collaboration between EA and FIFA, and the game is set to go out with a bang!
The 2022/23 season will be a very special year, with the Qatar World Cup in November for the men, and then the Women's World Cup taking place in Australia and New Zealand in July.
As you would expect, both of these events will be covered in the title, so take a look at how they will be incorporated into FIFA 23 game modes - including Ultimate Team - below.
World Cup Year
Although FIFA 23 will be the last in the series between EA and FIFA - before EA Sports FC takes over in the summer of 2023 - that won't affect the content coming in the title.
"We are committed to ensuring the next FIFA is our best ever, with more features, game modes, World Cup content, clubs, leagues, competitions, and players than any FIFA title before."
Upon the release of the official reveal trailer, EA also announced the following:
Experience the pinnacle of both men’s and women’s international football in FIFA 23 with the men’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™*.
*more information on the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023™ to follow in the build-up to the tournament.
Exciting times, FIFA fans!
FIFA 23 World Cup Trailer
EA has released the official FIFA 23 World Cup Trailer!
It shows off plenty of features and gameplay that you can expect to see when getting stuck into the hotly anticipated game mode, so check it out below:
World Cup Content Release Dates
The FIFA 23 World Cup content will kick off on Wednesday, 9 November, when the World Cup Mode will be released as a DLC.
Following that, on Friday, 11 November, Ultimate Team will be taken over by plenty of World Cup promos, running throughout Season 2.
The events coming will be:
- Friday, 11 November - World Cup Path to Glory
- Friday, 25 November - World Cup Moments
- Friday, 2 December - World Cup Phenoms
- Friday, 9 December - Team of the Tournament
You can read more about each promo, and the other features coming to FUT 23, below.
New Teams
16 new national teams feature in FIFA 23.
The news should come as little surprise as all 16 new teams have qualified for the World Cup, so they will feature in any licensed World Cup content.
We would love to see all these teams available in kick-off modes, as well as online seasons, and of course, Career Mode.
Several new national teams have already come to the game, and are:
- Croatia
- Ghana
- Iran
- Morocco
- Qatar
That means that the following national sides will be added when World Cup Mode drops:
- Cameroon
- Costa Rica
- Ecuador
- Japan
- Saudi Arabia
- Senegal
- Serbia
- South Korea
- Switzerland
- Tunisia
- Uruguay
World Cup Mode
The World Cup is set to take over FIFA 23, with a free update coming on Wednesday, 9 November which will give a fully licenced, authentic recreation of the FIFA World Cup 2022.
All 32 qualified nations will be included, with multiple ways to play.
Kick Off
Choose from any of the 32 qualified teams (or any other national team in FIFA 23) and play locally against friends or the CPU at any stage of the tournament.
Tournaments
Take your chosen team through the whole World Cup journey, starting with the first group stage match and potentially going all the way to lifting the trophy in the final.
You can also play a Custom FIFA World Cup Tournament, swapping in national teams that didn't qualify for the competition.
Online Tournament
Pick any international team available in FIFA 23, head straight in at the knockout stages and try to beat four online opponents to win the World Cup.
Cross-play will be enabled for players on the same platform generation.
FIFA World Cup Live
The FIFA World Cup Live mode will update throughout the tournament with real-world fixtures and results.
You will be able to select any past or present World Cup 2022 match and play locally against friends or the CPU via Featured Quickplay or use Online Quickplay to take on mates online.
You can still play as other national teams that didn't qualify for the World Cup in Online Quickplay by choosing All National Teams.
Your FIFA World Cup
Inherit the real-world progress of any team in the tournament and take control of their campaign from a past or current fixture.
Actual results and statistics up to that stage will be used, with new starting points unlocked as fixtures are updated.
Ultimate Team Integration
Instead of a separate World Cup mode in Ultimate Team, the content will be integrated within the standard mode.
Initial Launch
The Path to Glory promo will be the first of the main World Cup events in FUT and it will also be joined by loads of other content that will run throughout the campaign, with each launching on Friday, 11 November.
Path to Glory will introduce boosted live cards which will upgrade throughout the tournament depending on how that player's national side performs.
Find out more about the Path to Glory promo here.
World Cup Player Items will be included in certain packs and as rewards, which are slightly upgraded versions of players from the 32 participating teams in the tournament.
These cards have an expiry date of Wednesday, 4 January when they will be removed from FUT and all FUT clubs, and although you won't be able to use them after that date, you can earn World Cup Swaps with them.
Also, the more World Cup Player Items you amass, the greater prizes you will gain in the World Cup End of Event Rewards.
World Cup Swaps will act much like Icon Swaps of past titles, with Swaps Tokens mainly earned through objectives, which you can then trade in against certain SBCs to earn Packs, Player Picks and World Cup Stars.
World Cup Stars are permanently upgraded cards, with one player from each of the 32 competing nations gaining the variant.
Read more about World Cup Swaps here.
World Cup FUT Heroes will also be coming at this point, which are upgraded versions of the Base FUT Hero cards, but they are only coming to a select 30 of them.
The new cards will be released over two squads, with some only available through SBCs or Objectives.
World Cup Campaign Icons will also come to FUT, although we don't yet know if this will be through Packs, SBCs, or even Objectives!
Following Content
Once the Path to Glory promo comes to an end, it will be replaced by the World Cup Moments event.
Dropping when the knockout stages begin, it will "celebrate the most impactful moments in the World Cup so far, celebrating key moments from qualification that captivated the world".
As the quarter-finals arrive, a World Cup Phenoms event will land, which is the vaguest of the promos coming, with EA saying it will "uplift the performances of some of football’s brightest stars".
Following that will be the Team of the Tournament, providing us with some of the best-rated cards in the game!
End of Event Rewards will be redeemable on Wednesday, 4 January, and you will be able to track your progress through the 10 Reward Levels throughout the campaign.
The more World Cup Player Items you gain, the more you will progress, with packs and player picks included in the final rewards.