The European Championship mode of EA SPORTS FC 24 is supposed to impress with its authenticity, but shortly after release it still has various major squad flaws. From players who have been injured for months to worryingly understaffed squads
EA SPORTS is currently advertising the new European Championship mode for FC 24 on social media with the slogan “Everyone’s In”. However, this can hardly be referring to the virtual national squads for the tournament. The developer has made a number of major blunders when putting them together. Some of the players who were actually nominated are missing, but some of the professionals who were not included are on board for the digital EURO. A squad update in favor of realism would be urgently needed in the last few days before the start.
This is what EA SPORTS boasts in the patch notes for the EURO update and mode: the “most authentic EURO experience” is promised. In view of the fact that no other soccer simulation has licensed the competition, this is certainly not wrong. Nevertheless, the words chosen are big – in view of the fantasy squads that the developer has sometimes built and released. The problems are not always related to the short-term nature of the real-life nominations, which are still not finalized.
The DFB team is missing newcomers and a CL finalist
EA SPORTS has traditionally opted for 23 players in each European Championship squad, although up to 26 are allowed at the EURO and are often included. This means that most of the virtual selections are missing nominated professionals. For example, in the German national team: national coach Julian Nagelsmann will probably go into the home European Championships with 26 men. In addition to strike favorite Alexander Nübel, Aleksandar Pavlovic, Maximilian Beier and Nico Schlotterbeck are also missing from the DFB’s FC 24 squad
Pavlovic and Beier are still understandable as newcomers. Champions League finalist Schlotterbeck, who made his DFB debut in 2022 and has since played eleven international matches, is surprising. When it comes to the German team, however, it should be noted that the 23 professionals nominated by EA SPORTS will most likely also be included by Nagelsmann. The publisher made bigger gaffes elsewhere
Palmer’s jubilation new in FC 24 – but not in European Championship mode
The case of Cole Palmer in the England national team is particularly curious. The Chelsea FC star is not in the Three Lions’ virtual squad for FC 24 – but is there in reality. Which was to be expected given his stellar season with the Blues. Strangely, EA SPORTS even added his characteristic “cold cheer” to the game with Title Update 15. Without further squad adjustments for the European Championship mode, Palmer will not be allowed to present it at the digital EURO
The England FC 24 squad is also missing players such as Ivan Toney and Joe Gomez. Jack Grealish, on the other hand, is nominated virtually – EA SPORTS even advertised the EURO content with the Man City professional, who has just been sorted out in real life. The developer also cheated Jordan Henderson, Ben Chilwell, Fikayo Tomori and Marcus Rashford into the European Championship team from the island. The third goalkeeper in the game is Tottenham keeper Fraser Forster, who has only played a single competitive match in 2023/24 and has recently been out injured for months.
Cruciate ligament ruptures ignored: Gavi instead of Pedri, Alaba leads Austria
Speaking of injuries: FC 24’s European Championship mode includes quite a few players who haven’t just been out for a few days in reality. Raphael Guerreiro from FC Bayern Munich can be called up for Portugal, Lucas Hernandez from Paris Saint-Germain for France, Nicolo Zaniolo from Aston Villa for Italy
The miscalculation on the part of EA SPORTS is particularly glaring in the case of Gavi: the Barcelona talent has not been on the pitch since November 2023 due to a cruciate ligament rupture. At the virtual EURO, however, he is even in Spain’s standard starting eleven. The publisher is leaving his Catalan team-mate Pedri at home, who, unlike Gavi, was unsurprisingly actually nominated by national team coach Luis de la Fuente. After all, the 21-year-old is also fit.
David Alaba’s situation is almost identical to that of Gavi. The Austrian suffered a cruciate ligament rupture in December and has not returned to the pitch since. As a result, the former Bayern defender will miss the European Championships. However, he will captain Ralf Rangnick’s national team in FC 24. EA SPORTS was forewarned about goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, who celebrated his comeback after tearing his cruciate ligament: Belgium national team coach Domenico Tedesco had already announced his non-nomination weeks ago.
Belgium completely without virtual substitute defenders
The FC-24 selection of the Red Devils is generally interesting – to put it kindly: Of the 23 players, just four are nominal defenders. So if one of them drops out during the digital tournament, they can hardly be replaced in the Belgian back four. It is inexplicable why EA SPORTS has only provided a virtual defensive quartet for Tedesco’s team. In reality, the former Schalke coach has named eight defensive specialists in his European Championship squad
It’s all very well having stadiums true to the original, match balls, transfer packs and fresh FUT content – but the current squads in European Championship mode take away some of the immersion, depending on the national team. If EA SPORTS wants to offer FC 24 fans an “authentic EURO experience” in terms of personnel, the developer should invest more work after the closing date for the final squads (at midnight from Friday to Saturday)