FIFA 22 is soon to be up and running in stores, and the annual release of the game brings about its own buzz every year – as the speculation about the players’ new ratings reaches a crescendo.
Similarly, this year’s ratings release for the new edition of the game has brought about intense arguments just as all the previous years, and Twitter has been buzzing with takes on how the players could have been rated instead of what they actually got.
The ‘rated higher than’ debates have been trending since the early leaks, and the confirmation of the ratings only made it more intense.
Paris Saint-Germain’s Lionel Messi is the unanimous and undisputed highest rated player on the game with an overall rating of 93, but there have been quite a few arguments about whether the players right below him deserve their ratings.
While a fan questioned Bayern Munich forward Robert Lewandowski (92) breaking the long-preserved duopoly and being chosen as the second-highest rated player in the game ahead of Man Utd’s Cristiano Ronaldo (91) in third, another questioned Spurs’ Harry Kane (90) being rated higher than Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah (89).
Still can’t believe Kane is rated higher than Salah and Lewandowski higher than Ronaldo.
— Mark Goldbridge (@markgoldbridge) September 13, 2021
Mohamed Salah has actually received a downgrade in the latest ratings after missing out on the Golden Boot by 1 goal last season.
Guess who helped his team to make it to Champions League ? pic.twitter.com/jO9Mdl6H4H
— Bass (@lfcbass11) September 13, 2021
Many fans also debated the outrageously high overall rating for Marc-André ter Stegen of Barcelona (90) who has been given a rating that ranks him higher than the likes of Thibaut Courtois, Alisson, and Ederson – all of whom have been rated at 89.
Ter Stegen having a higher rated card on FIFA than Courtois, Alisson and Ederson is a crime against the art of goalkeeping.
— Xav Salazar (@XavsFutbol) September 13, 2021
Sadio Mané’s overall rating of 89 has also been asked questions of, as some fans have asked how has the Liverpool forward been rated higher than Man City’s Riyad Mahrez (86) after the contrasting seasons that they had.
Another player who has been supposedly robbed of a better overall rating is Jorginho, the Chelsea and Italy midfielder who had a brilliant season for club and country, only to be rated at 85. In comparison, Man City’s Rodri (86) is rated higher than the UEFA Player of the Year.
I said I wasn’t gonna get annoyed with anymore fifa ratings, but then found out Rodri is higher rated than Jorginho pic.twitter.com/uoedeSEGVf
— Ben (@PrimeRegista) September 14, 2021
It is next to impossible to come up with a set of overall ratings that pleases the entirety of the online football community, and there will always be naysayers when a particular player is rated above another.
But the wheel has to keep on turning every year despite the detractors, and there is no doubt that regardless of all the discontent around the ratings, millions of fans around the world will queue up to get their copies of the game whenever it hits the shelves later this year.
