FC 25 SBCs

Since Christmas 2024, the real-world football world has held many exciting leagues, and many teams have contributed to their best performances. For example, Nottingham Forest is expected to return to the Champions League for the first time since 1980; Atletico Madrid won the La Liga championship, etc. However, you may be surprised that no players from these teams made it into the final FC 25 TOTY lineup.

As a prestigious football video simulation game, EA Sports FC 25 holds various promotions every year to help you get your favorite players with fewer FIFA 25 Coins, or to upgrade the cards of the players in your team more easily. Among all the promotions, the annual TOTY is undoubtedly the most watched.

The promotion is presented as a vote, which will list all the playable FUT 25 players in a year for you, allowing you to choose the ones you think performed best. The final 22 players selected will be formed into two teams (11 men and 11 women, excluding substitutes) and included in the game as TOTY player items.

The latest EA FC 25 TOTY voting has officially ended at 11:59 pm PST on January 12, 2025, and the specific list of selected players was leaked a few hours ago. Let us introduce it to you.

TOTY Men’s Team

You may be surprised to find that four Real Madrid players were selected in the starting lineup of the men’s XI of this FC 25 TOTY - after all, there are only 11 places in total! In addition, Liverpool occupies two seats, and the remaining seats are taken by Chelsea, Aston Villa, Leverkusen and Arsenal, respectively.

Among these 11 male players, the one who impressed you the most may be Rodri from Manchester City, because he has been plagued by injuries since September 2024, which led to reports at the time that this would have an adverse impact on Manchester City. It is rare that a player’s EA Sports FC 25 game value increases when they are injured.

Here are the specific candidates:

Goalkeeper

• Emiliano Martínez (Aston Villa/Argentina)

Defense

• Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool/Netherlands)
• William Saliba (Arsenal/France)
• Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid/Spain)
• Alejandro Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen/Spain)

Midfield

• Jude Bellingham (Real Madrid/England)
• Rodri (Manchester City/Spain)
• Cole Palmer (Chelsea/England)

Attack

• Vinicius Junior (Real Madrid/Brazil)
• Mohamed Salah (Liverpool/Egypt)
• Kylian Mbappé (Real Madrid/France)

TOTY Women’s Team

As you can see from the results of this vote, the days of the United States dominating women’s football are gone, as only one American player was selected for FIFA 25 TOTY Women’s Team. It is worth noting that Barcelona is the backbone of the new TOTY Women’s Team with four players selected, and Chelsea is close behind with three.

In addition, there are two Norwegian female players in this 11-person team, showing you the hidden potential of Toppserien. Guro Reiten from Chelsea and Caroline Graham Hansen from Barcelona are the only two players on the entire annual team who do not play in their own domestic league.

Here are the specific candidates:

Goalkeeper

• Ann-Katrin Berger (Gotham FC/Germany)

Defense

• Sakina Karchaoui (Paris Saint-Germain/France)
• Wendie Renard (Lyon/France)
• Irene Paredes (Barcelona/Spain)
• Lucy Bronze (Chelsea/England)

Midfield

• Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona/Spain)
• Alexia Putellas (Barcelona/Spain)
• Guro Reiten (Chelsea/Norway)

Attack

• Caroline Graham Hansen (Barcelona/Norway)
• Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns/U.S.)
• Lauren James (Chelsea/England)

When Can You Get The New TOTY Players?

Although you now know which players have been selected, according to the release order of FC 25, the official list is expected to be announced to all players between January 23-24, so you will just have to wait until the end of January to view and obtain the above players through the relevant in-game pages.

The 22 winners will be included in EA FC 25 as TOTY player items redeemable by FC 25 Coins after this promotion ends. Each item will not only have a unique blue theme design and gold decoration, but will also be able to further improve the statistics and ratings of their own cards in the game, so that you can get more benefits after obtaining them.

In addition, FC 25 will also launch TOTY Icons team composed of legendary players. What’s more noteworthy is that the two official teams will each get an additional No. 12 substitute position to recognize those players who are good enough but missed the starting lineup by a few votes. The relevant voting for substitutes usually takes place at the end of TOTY promotion, so if your favorite player did not make the official team, don’t forget to vote at that time!

Related: FC 25 Coins Giveaways

In order to ensure that you can have TOTY players join your team as soon as they are officially launched in the game, it is recommended that you enter IGGM Discord as soon as possible to participate in related promotions! We will draw 10 players at different time points to receive 300K coins each; 5 players to receive 400K each; 4 players to receive 500K each; and 3 players to receive 1M each, a total of 10M coins! Don’t miss it!

Among all game categories, sports games may receive relatively less attention than popular MMORPGs or relaxing board games, but even under such a premise, FC 25 still strives to occupy a place in the game market.

As the most well-known and most comprehensive football-themed video simulation game, EA Sports FC 25 can provide you with a variety of virtual football gameplay that you may not have imagined, and even allows you to use FIFA 25 Coins to add those famous stars to your FC 25 team! Among all the gameplays, Ultimate Team is a more classic one.

The operating mechanism of Ultimate Team is to let you choose your favorite players from thousands of players to form your own fantasy team, and then allow you to lead your team to compete with other players in the community, or play single-player games.

Obviously, facing the massive number of players and complicated competition rules in Ultimate Team mode, it may be difficult for you to form a competitive team. And after forming a team, if you want to win the game, you also need to arrange a suitable formation for the team so that your players can give full play to their unique advantages in their own positions.

There are many formations available in EA FC 25, some of which can allow your players to better maintain possession of the ball, while others can improve the defensive stability of the team. Based on this, we will introduce you to 5 formations suitable for Ultimate Team mode.

1. 4-4-2 (Flat)

As one of the most classic game formations in FIFA 25, 4-4-2 also reflects the traditional characteristics of football games to some extent. When this formation is used in official games, it can help your players to better balance the defensive stability and offensive width, so that the team can make quick transitions and complete the game more smoothly.

Whether you can place the most suitable players in a specific position determines whether you can win. The 4-4-2 formation not only allows your two forwards to create dynamic offensive actions in the frontcourt, but also allows them to adjust to each other to maximize their role. In addition, one of two elite midfielders can fill the gap between the back line and the forwards, and the other can be used by you to stop any counterattacks from the opponent.

2. 4-2-4

As one evolution of 4-4-2, this formation has once again derived several variations of its own, but considering that the wing attack method in this year’s FIFA 25 will be more effective, 4-2-4 is still the best choice among all the variations. By allowing two fast wingers to cooperate with two forwards on the court, they can effectively overwhelm the opponent’s defense and put great pressure on the opponent at the critical moment of the game.

Although 4-2-4 has a strong offensive threat to your opponent’s team, it also lacks sufficient defensive stability. Because your wingers are required to push forward by 4-2-4, the two midfielders must defend the center of the court alone. Of course, high risk also means high reward. If you are in urgent need of goals and are confident in your players’ defensive ability, 4-2-4 is completely worth adopting.

3. 4-3-3 (4)

If you’ve been playing FC 25 for any length of time, you’ll know that this formation has always been a popular one, as it gives you a lot of room to maneuver your team. Of the four variations available, the best is definitely the final version, the 4-3-3 (4), which is well balanced and gives your players room to maneuver in all areas of the pitch.

The first thing worth noting is the combination of three midfielders and three forwards, which is great both defensively and offensively: by having the midfield trio work together to pass the ball to the wingers, who can then open up space for the teammates and create space for the forwards to score. Whatever type of players you’ve acquired with your FUT 25 Coins, and whether you prefer a possession-based or counter-attacking style, the 4-3-3 (4) formation will have you covered.

4. 4-3-2-1

The 4-3-2-1 is a big change from previous versions, with two CAMs and a forward replacing the classic three forwards. Although it takes a little extra time to get used to it, it is a very powerful formation, especially if you have the right players in the right roles.

Also Read: How To Choose The Right Players And Vote In EA FC 25 TOTY?

The most striking thing about the 4-3-2-1 is its incredible attacking ability, with the full-backs providing more space and the midfielders able to control the middle of the pitch. However, if you don’t have a defensive midfielder and an attacking full-back, your defense will be insufficient. However, some well-rounded players should be able to help you control other positions on the pitch through this formation, allowing you to win games in the frontcourt.

5. 4-1-2-1-2 (Narrow)

This is a very beautiful EA Sports FC 25 narrow formation that helps you focus on controlling the center of the pitch by having four midfielders form a diamond core to develop quick passing and ball possession. With such a solid midfield lineup, your full-backs can go all the way forward and provide overlapping runs on the flanks, while the two forwards can coordinate attacks in the penalty area.

Besides good attacking power, 4-1-2-1-2 (Narrow) is also good defensively because it allows your center backs to drop back to the back line without full backs. Just have your players watch out for counterattacks from the wider areas of the pitch. But if you find this difficult, it’s better to have your full backs drop deeper and then play directly through the midfield.

No matter what formation you choose, reliable players are essential, but if you are short of coins to exchange for players, I suggest you join FC 25 Coins giveaway event currently being held on IGGM Discord for a chance to share 2M coins with other players! Good luck!