FIFA 23, the popular football video game, launches worldwide on September 30.
The highest-ranked players in FIFA 23 have finally been revealed by EA Sports, and while some of the ratings make sense, others have us perplexed.
A few weeks ago, leaked FIFA 23 player ratings for whole teams as well as the game’s superstars flooded Reddit, Twitter, Instagram, Twitch, and other platforms.
The ratings for the best 23 players within the game have now been made public, and all the expected names are present, as they should.
5 players at the top
The highest rating this year is capped at 91 as opposed to previous instalments where Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo frequently reached 93 or 94.
Surprisingly, five players—including Robert Lewandowski of Barcelona, Messi and Kylian Mbappe of PSG, Karim Benzema of Real Madrid, and Kevin de Bruyne of Manchester City—have received that honour.
With stronger ratings in passing, dribbling, and speed than the second-ranked Lewandowski, Benzema overcame the five-way tie at 91 overall, giving him the top spot.
Mbappe, the cover athlete for FIFA 23, is the third highest rated player in the game this year owing to his lightning-quick pace and effective play.
In 147 Ligue 1 games for Paris-Saint-Germain, the 23-year-old has tallied 126 goals. He has already guided France to the World Cup title and PSG to the Champions League Final.
Since FIFA 22, Messi has dropped a few positions, although he is still comfortably amongst the top 5 FIFA players.
Last season, he showed zero signs of decline, taking his seventh Ballon d’Or after tallying 11 goals in 34 games for PSG and 6 goals in four games for Argentina, taking home the coveted Copa America.
This marks the first time in more than a decade that Ronaldo or Messi weren’t the highest-rated players in a FIFA game.
The 90-rated club
The rating of 90 for Cristiano Ronaldo is a surprising one. Given the results of his previous season, Ronaldo is still excellent, but 90 might be a stretch.
Virgil van Dijk, Mohamed Salah, Thibaut Courtois, and Manuel Neuer are the other four new members of the 90-rated-club.
Although Belgian goalkeeper Courtois is placed ninth overall, he is the highest-ranked keeper in the game.
His quality in the 2022 UCL final, where Real Madrid defeated Liverpool 1-0 and he was named Man of the Match, undoubtedly helped solidify his position as first.
Neymar sees unexpected drop
Neymar Jr. being reduced to an 89, the first time he has been below a 90 since FIFA 16, is the other unexpected development and upset fans.
Others included in the list and rated at 89 include Heung-Min Son, Sadio Mane, Joshua Kimmich, Casemiro, Alisson, Harry Kane, Ederson, and a few others.
Erling Haaland barely makes it
Erling Haaland also enters the list; the only surprise is that it took him so long to break into the Top 23 since he completely missed out on FIFA 22.
The star attacker for Man City has had a scorching start to the campaign and is currently ranked 21st as a result.
He stands alongside Marquinhos and Kroos as the only players on the list with a rating of 88.
Check out full 23-man list below –
