FIFA game series by Electronic Arts is the most popular video game with the majority of the copyrights with them. With authentic player designs and realistic gameplay with great graphics to add beauty to the game, there is a huge player base who entertain themselves by playing their favorite players inside the game.
Every year EA releases a new version of the game with new add-ons to the game including new player designs and more realistic gameplay. And on their cover page, they feature the best player. There have been many players featured as the cover athletes. Let’s take a look at the last 10 cover stars for the FIFA game.
10. Lionel Messi (FIFA 14)
Having been already advertised as the cover athlete for the FIFA 2013 game, this was Lionel Messi’s consecutive appearance on the cover of the game by Electronic Arts. The cover page displayed Messi in his famous red and blue Barcelona jersey celebrating a goal.
Messi was in his prime during the launch of this game as well as a season before. He broke records after records in the previous season. Hence his face not showing up on the cover would have raised a lot of questions if happened.
However, the regional versions of the game featured many other football superstars in their specific region alongside our global version cover athlete, Messi. The regional players included footballers like Robert Lewandowski for the Polish version of the game and Gareth Bale for the UK version of the game.
9. Lionel Messi (FIFA 15)
After Lionel Messi’s exceptional performance in the previous season, it was pretty much obvious who was gonna be announced as the cover athlete for the upcoming FIFA game. Messi made his fourth cover page appearance in any official FIFA game including the FIFA street.
Messi won the Golden Ball award and led his time to the FIFA World Cup finals under his captaincy. The player had also recently become a four times Balon d’Or winner, the only player to do so yet.
We could also see various local talents alongside our 27-year-old Argentine in different regional versions of the game. Some of the big names include Eden Hazard for the UK, France, and Belgium versions of the game and Robert Lewandowski again for the Poland version of the game.
8. Lionel Messi (FIFA 16)
FC Barcelona’s star player and Argentina’s ace player Lionel Messi had become a very familiar face for the FIFA electronic game series at this point in time. FIFA 16 featured the face of Lionel Messi for the fifth time in total and the fourth time in a row.
Messi had crossed every human limit and had broke records that he himself had set the previous season. The player topped the leaderboards and became the joint topscorer in the Champions League. He was declared the ‘Best Player in Europe’ by UEFA.
The global version of the game featured our superstar in the Barca jersey. However, the regional versions of the game had different players from the specific region alongside Messi. We saw Antonnie Griezzman being featured in the France version of the game.
7. Marco Reus (FIFA 17)
The voting for the cover athlete of the newest version of the game series FIFA 17 had come to an end. The player who stood atop with the most number of votes was our German superstar Marco Reus. This also ended Messi’s cover-athlete streak after 5 consecutive appearances.
This marked the debut of Borrusia Dortmund’s star player Marco as a cover athlete for the franchise. The player was a part of the Bundesliga Team of the Year four times in a row prior to becoming the cover face.
However this time the regional covers did not include the cover athlete from the global version. Hence the regional covers were also some exceptionally good local talents of their region. For example Eden Hazard and James Rodriguez.
6. Cristiano Ronaldo (FIFA 18)
It was no news when Electronic Arts announced the cover athlete for the FIFA 18 global version of the game. It was none other than Cristiano Ronaldo. He was one of the most anticipated superstars as a cover face for the franchise.
The Portuguese player had an incredible run in the season prior to his appearance on the cover page for the game. The player had become Real Madrid’s all-time topscorer with the most number of hattricks in La Liga.
Ronaldo also became the top scorer for his nation. The official website of the game read ” THE WORLD’S GAME FUELED BY THE WORLD’S BEST” with Ronaldo’s face attached above it.
5. Cristiano Ronaldo, Neymar, Kevin De Bryune, and Paulo Dybala (FIFA 19)
The initial cover athlete for the FIFA 19 game was Cristiano Ronaldo when the game launched. The original design was ready with Ronaldo in Real Madrid’s white jersey. However, the design team had to change all the in-game materials and the cover page to Ronaldo in the white and black striped jersey after his transfer to Juventus.
But this does not end here as Ronaldo’s image was removed from the game after American model Kathryn Mayorga’s shocking rape allegations against the star player. However, after some time we could see Ronaldo again on the cover page.
The player was again removed from the cover page and instead three new faces were seen on the cover page. We could see Neymar, Kevin De Bryune, and Paulo Dybala as the new cover athletes for the FIFA 19 game. The reasons were not mentioned by the authorities for their actions.
4. Eden Hazard (FIFA 20)
The FIFA 20 version of the game came with multiple playable editions of the game. The standard edition of the game featured Eden Hazard as its cover athlete. The player was showcased in the white Real Madrid jersey pointing toward the club’s logo.
There was a Champions edition to the FIFA 20 game. The cover page contained the Liverpool star player Virgil Van Dijk in a mildly intimidating pose. The player won the Player of the Year by UEFA in the previous season and it was no surprise to see him on the cover page.
The FIFA 20 Ultimate Edition had a different face to it this time. The cover star featured on the cover page of this edition was none other than Zinedine Zidane. The player was added as an iconic player to the game, not a coach.
3. Kylian Mbappe (FIFA 21)
The FIFA 21 global version of the game featured Kylian Mbappe as its cover athlete. The player had a World Cup trophy in his teen years to explain his position as the new cover athlete of the game.
He was France’s star player in their 2018 World Cup win and is the World’s second most expensive player in the world after his teammate Neymar. Mbappe also had a very successful season with PSG.
Although many questioned him for the cover athlete position and wanted their ideal players like Messi and Ronaldo. However, both the players were forced to work for a rival electronics company Konami because of their club’s sponsorship deals.
2. Kylian Mbappe (FIFA 22)
After a record-breaking season with PSG, it was no shock when everybody saw this Frenchman on the cover page of the FIFA 22 game.
His previous season was phenomenal as he went on to become the youngest player in the French league history to stand atop the leaderboards for three consecutive years.
Some other FIFA 22 ambassadors include the likes of Heung-Ming Son, Phil Foden, and Trent Alexander-Arnold.
1. Kylian Mbappe and Sam Kerr (FIFA 23)
The upcoming game of the worldwide FIFA game series by Electronic Arts(EA) FIFA 23 is due to be released on October 1 2022 and is available for pre-purchase on various platforms.
The release of the game will mark the third appearance of the PSG star player Kylian Mbappe as the cover athlete for the game. Kylian Mbappe led his team to victory in the latest season of the Ligue 1 by scoring 28 goals in 35 matches.
However, this game will also feature Chelsea ace, Sam Kerr. She will become the first woman ever to be featured on a cover page of the game series. Before this women were featured only in the regional editions of the game.
