FIFA 23 Team of the Year Guide

Here's a guide to everything you need to know for the Team of the Year event in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team. The Team of the Year, the 12th player, TOTY Icons, SBCs and more will all be detailed, explained and weighed up in this comprehensive guide.

FIFA 23 Team of the Year Guide

It is now time for the biggest event in the FIFA calendar: Team of the Year (TOTY). With an event expected to be bigger than ever before, we can anticipate some busy days ahead in FIFA 23. The Team of the Year will release in its regular three-stage format, this time beginning with the Attackers, followed by Midfielders and then Defenders and Goalkeeper. Not only do we have TOTY players, but we also have TOTY Icons, a new addition to FIFA 23. Finally, we have a plethora of objective, pack and SBC content to keep you busy this week. Here’s a rundown of what to do during this TOTY event.

If you would like to read some more FIFA 23 content, check out these other articles from our writers:   

  1. The Best Defenders in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team  
  2. FIFA 23 Guide: How to Spend your World Cup Swap Tokens  
  3. FIFA 23 Trophies and Achievements Guide  
  4. FIFA 23 Best Young Players in Career Mode  
  5. FIFA 23 Player Career Mode Guide 

Team of the Year 2023

Team of the Year came with relatively no surprises, Militao and Bellingham perhaps being the only 2 players that could be questioned. With a ridiculous upfront of Messi, Mbappe and Karim Benzema, anyone can call themselves lucky if they manage to pack one of these players. Into the midfield, we have the usual candidates in Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric, with the third spot going to Borussia Dortmund’s Jude Bellingham. Finally, with the defence and goalkeeper, we have Theo Hernandez, Van Dijk, Eder Militao, Achraf Hakimi of Paris Saint Germain and Real Madrid stalwart Thibaut Courtois between the sticks.

 

2023’s Team of the Year is quite strong, perhaps not as incredible as previous years, but there are still some incredible players here to get your hands on. Of course, we also have the 12th player vote, which will be released shortly after the full TOTY is live in packs. We can likely expect to see either Fede Valverde of Real Madrid or Erling Haaland of Manchester City pick up this spot. Now we’ve seen the team and what you could possibly pack, let’s get into the meat of the event and what’s going to be keeping you busy for the coming days and weeks ahead.

Objective Content

During this TOTY event, we can expect loads of Objective content. So far, EA has dropped some very nice content with the 88 Moments Ilkay Gundogan, to celebrate his winning goal that crowned Manchester City Premier League champions. Here’s how to get Him.

Ilkay Gundogan

The Gundogan objective is very easy and can be completed in Squad Battles with semi-professional difficulty. You are to complete 4 objectives. First, you must assist 4 goals using through balls. Second, you must score 5 goals using Midfielders from the Premier League. Third, you must score and assist with a German player in three separate matches and finally, you need to win 6 matches whilst having 4 Premier League players in your starting squad.

Moments Gundogan received from the Objective

Moments Gundogan received from the Objective

This objective is simple to complete, and you receive a very nice card in return for doing so. I would suggest that everyone take a short time required to get this card. Whether it be for the starting 11, bench or SBC fodder, this card is very easy to achieve.

The 2022 Year in Review

Next, EA has released the 2022 Year in Review objective. This objective will take longer to complete than the Gundogan objective, but you do receive some nice pack rewards for the internal components of the objective; as well as a loan TOTY Benzema to try out, and most importantly, you will receive 3 TOTY Honourable Mention cards. Ritsu Doan, Azzedine Ounahi and veteran goalkeeper, Emiliano Martinez.

This objective will be rather lengthy with multiple steps. You need to complete a total of 15 matches to receive the 3 honourable mentions, so you don’t need to sweat about completing each individual objective as quickly as possible. Here’s what you need to do.

  1. Score in 15 separate matches using a French Player, Squad Battles Semi-pro or Rivals. This challenge will earn you a TOTY Benzema on a 3-game loan and 300 XP to your season score.
  2. Score using a Colombian player and a Nigerian player in the same Squad Battles match on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rivals)
  3. Win a match and score using a Brazilian player with a min. 80 DRI in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rivals).
  4. Win a match while scoring at least 3 goals using MLS players in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rivals).
  5. Play 6 matches while having min. 3 Midfielders from Morocco in your starting squad in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rivals).
  6. Score using Japanese players in 3 separate matches while conceding no more than 1 goal per match in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rivals).
  7. Win 6 matches and score at least 2 goals per match while having min. 9 Argentinian players in your starting squad in Squad Battles on min. Semi-Pro difficulty (or Rivals).
    TOTY Honourable Mention Martinez

    TOTY Honourable Mention Emiliano Martinez

This objective will take some grinding to achieve. But it should be easy to complete if you chip away at it. There are some specifics that you should know going into this challenge. For example, the Moroccan midfielders’ section of the challenge can be rather costly if you do not already have the players, with an average Moroccan midfielder costing around 5000 coins. A tip for this, purchase Hakim Ziyech from Chelsea at Right Wing, he can be converted to a Center Attacking Midfielder. He costs around 2500 coins and most players likely have him in their clubs already. This should leave you with only 2 to purchase keeping your costs down. By completing each of these individual challenges, you will receive a host of pack rewards, Season XP and a Draft Token.

SBC Content

Like all FIFA events, there will be many daily SBC challenges released, player content, high-rated player packs and Icon pack content. It’s likely going to be bigger and better than anything we’ve seen in this game cycle so far. Here’s what’s currently available and if you should complete them or not.

Daily Login Upgrade

The Daily login upgrade is a staple of the FIFA event nowadays. With the simple objective of submitting one player every day to receive an 81+ Two rare gold players pack and progress towards the Daily Login Group Objective. This is a no-brainer, complete this every day for free content.

83+ Upgrade packs

Currently, we have an 83+ Double Upgrade and an 83+ x3 Attackers Upgrade. They are both relatively costly for what they offer, and I wouldn’t suggest doing them. If I had to suggest any, I would say do the 83+ x3 Attackers upgrade and hold those packs until the full TOTY releases. Other than that, I would avoid these packs.

83+ Upgrade Pack available in the SBC Tab

83+ Upgrade Pack available in the SBC Tab

TOTY Flashback Sergio Ramos

We have our first Flashback TOTY SBC with Sergio Ramos, celebrating his 2021 TOTY card. This is another SBC that I cannot suggest doing. It is very expensive, costing in the region of 650,000 coins. The card itself is good, but it will not be popular at the high end of the power curve in a few weeks. I would suggest holding off unless you’re a huge Sergio Ramon or PSG fan.

Flashback Sergio Ramos SBC for his 2021 TOTY

Flashback Sergio Ramos SBC for his 2021 TOTY

TOTY Icon Hugo Sánchez

With Hugo Sánchez, we have our first TOTY Icon SBC. Costing around the same price as Sergio Ramos, at the slightly more expensive 700,000-coin mark, this is a card I am 50/50 on. I think if you complete this card, you will have a valuable and useable player for at least a few months. Of course, there is always the loan version if you want to try him out first before investing.

TOTY Hugo Sanchez in the SBC Tab

TOTY Hugo Sanchez in the SBC Tab

Gareth Bale, End of an Era

This SBC, much like the Daily Upgrade, is a no-brainer. You’re receiving a 93-rated Gareth Bale for around 100,000 coins. Do this card if you can. He will be difficult to get into teams on full chemistry given his nation and league links, but his card is incredibly good as a super sub. He also has the fun option of being able to play Left Back like in his junior years at Tottenham. All in all, a decently-priced SBC for a very good card.

End of an Era Gareth Bale SBC

End of an Era Gareth Bale SBC

88+ Prime, Mid or WC Icon Upgrade

This pack is simply to reduce the fodder that people have in their clubs. I would not, under any circumstance, suggest doing this SBC with Coins. If you have lots of fodder cards you do not care about and want to risk it for an icon, go ahead. Do not spend coins on this SBC, you will very likely regret it.

Pack Content

We can expect to receive lots of daily, weekly and lightning pack content during this TOTY event. It will be difficult to say for certain what packs are available on the store at any given time as the lightning rounds in particular can be gone within minutes. If you want the best chances to receive the best pack content, make sure to check the store at your local content drop time in your timezone. 6PM GMT / 1PM ET / 10AM PT 

TOTY Essentials Pack on the Store

TOTY Essentials Pack on the Store

TOTY Icons

EA always like to keep a few surprises up their sleeve when it comes to TOTY, and these inclusions are certainly a surprise. With the movement away from the Icon moment releases that were used in the previous FIFA instalments, we can expect to see more mini releases like this during big events throughout the year.

TOTY Icons on the Ultimate Team Hub

TOTY Icons on the Ultimate Team Hub

In the Team 1 lineup, we have Gullit, Beckham, Pirlo, Zanetti, Pires and Vidic. Gullit and Beckham here are the standouts, with Zanetti deserving some recognition too. If you happen to get your hands on any of these players, then congratulations. We can expect to see Team 2 of TOTY Icons along with the release of the full TOTY into packs.

This is everything you need to know for the TOTY release so far. Good luck completing all of the SBCs and Objectives the game has to offer. Comment below if you have any tips and tricks to help us players or any great pulls you get from packs!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

×