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They came, you voted, they won. After EA FC announced the Team of the Year nominees earlier this month, users around the world decided on their best XI. And this year, there are two new teams of the year in EA FC 24, one for men and one for women. , and it still can’t feel like we’ve officially reached a conversion of the guard in many ways.
Of course, there are apparent external elements to this. This is the first year EA FC has accepted this call-up after its separation from FIFA, and it is also the first time that a full women’s team of the year has given the impression of the men. But beyond that, we feel like we’re about to leave an age of stars.
Cristiano Ronaldo is once again absent from this list, and it turns out that Lionel Messi, magical as he is, may not be far behind. Also gone are many of the players who have explained women’s football over the past decade and beyond. like Megan Rapinoe and much of the once-dominant USWNT.
The rosters lack veterans, but the winds of renewal are blowing and the votes of the fans reflect that.
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Representative of their dominance in nominations, the backbone of this TOTY is made up almost entirely of Manchester City players. City have representatives in midfield in each and every goalkeeper save, where Liverpool’s Alisson beat Ederson. Apart from that, Rúben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne return to the TOTY XI, with Rodri joining his partner in midfield.
And at the top? Erling Haaland’s long-awaited coronation. He had an absolutely best record of 50 goals in 50 Premier League games with Manchester City over the past 1/2 years, as well as 17 goals in 16 Champions League games. of jokes about Haaland’s rise since his days at Dortmund that the wonderful Norwegian striker is the closest to the Terminator, yet his excellence as a machine only brings us closer to that truth.
His most recent injuries give him an excuse to use the slogan: He’ll be back.
The XI of the world, selected through you. Presentation of the men’s and women’s team #FC24 the año. pic. twitter. com/EVRypesWiv
Messi being part of the Team of the Year isn’t a surprise; what is a little stranger is seeing Inter Miami tagged next to his name. Such is life in 2024. Messi and his successes are going to be compounded with MLS’ success in luring stars to the United States. Accordingly, he’s the first MLS player to ever appear in a TOTY for the long-running game franchise.
And, interestingly, Messi’s inclusion also adds a small measure of legitimacy to the rarely maligned League Cup. While MLS may not be able to abandon the U. S. Open Cup to focus on its partnership with Liga MX, it has the satisfaction of knowing that Messi’s magical start to life in Miami and his career for awards was completed at least in part thanks to the life of the League Cup.
Because if the League Cup didn’t exist, Messi wouldn’t have scored 10 goals and won a trophy on his first visit to Miami. Coincidentally, it’s also Miami’s first trophy as a team. MLS and Apple have given up a lot to win Messi; Now they have the honor of bragging about a video game!
EA FC 24 Men’s Team of the Year: Alisson (Liverpool); Jeremie Frimpong (Bayer Leverkusen), Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool), Rúben Dias (Manchester City), Theo Hernandez (AC Milan); Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid), Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City), Rodri (Manchester City); Kylian Mbappé (PSG), Erling Haaland (Manchester City), Lionel Messi (Inter Miami)
There might not be quite as many members of Spain’s World Cup-winning squad represented in this TOTY as you might expect, but that didn’t stop Barcelona from still running away with the most nods to the XI. The Spanish trio of Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmati, and Alexia Putellas are joined by their Norwegian teammate Caroline Graham Hansen to double the next-closest club in terms of spots on TOTY (Chelsea, courtesy of Sam Kerr and Millie Bright).
Similar to Manchester City on the men’s side, Barcelona ran the table in Europe last year, taking home their own treble alongside a World Cup trophy for Bonmati. And it was about as good as it can get on the field for the midfielder, who also added the Golden Ball at the World Cup as the tournament’s best player.
Oh, how the mighty have fallen! U. S. Conquering TeamsU. S. players who won back-to-back World Cups in 2015 and 2019 likely would have been included multiple times in previous years, however, only one member of the USWNT’s new guard appears here: Sophia Smith.
With players like the retiring Rapinoe and others, plus Alex Morgan, likely to be removed from their starting roles as they enter the twilight years of their careers in the upcoming World Cup cycle, it’s up to players like Smith to correct course for the U. S. and return the team to its once greater position on the global stage.
The smart news? Smith is very smart and having to build around him is one of the biggest upsets a coach can have. Luckily for the United States, they hired one of England’s best, Emma Hayes, to do just that. And it seems that the procedure of making Smith the focal point of the American attack has already begun.
EA FC 24 Women’s Team of the Year: Mary Earps (Manchester United); Ona Batlle (FC Barcelona), Wendie Renard (Lyon), Millie Bright (Chelsea), Sakina Karchaoui (PSG); Aitana Bonmatí (FC Barcelona), Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona), Lena Oberdorf (VfL Wolfsburg); Caroline Graham Hansen (FC Barcelona), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Sam Kerr (Chelsea)