2022 is the year international soccer’s biggest tournament, the World Cup, takes place in Qatar. As an avid World Cup fan and a welsh man, I’ll watch Gareth Bale and the rest of the Dragons turn the heat up on their opponents.
But that got me thinking: Does FIFA 23 have a World Cup mode in which I can fly the Welsh flag to the final? Can I dance to the samba beat with Naimar and co and win Brazil’s 6th World Cup?
Quick Answer: FIFA 23 will have an official FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar mode. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, New Zealand and Australia will also be in the game. Both will be post-launch updates.
Ok, now you know FIFA 23 will have World Cup modes. But being post-launch updates, will they be free to all users? Also, why do the modes come as post-launch updates, and what will the updates add to the game?
Read on to find out.
Does FIFA 23 have a World Cup Mode?
Yes, FIFA 23 will contain both the men’s and women’s World Cups.
The men’s and women’s World Cups will come as post-launch content updates. The men’s World Cup will come as an update, likely at the beginning of November 2022, a couple of weeks before the tournament starts.
Likewise, the women’s World Cup will come as an update a couple of weeks before the women’s tournament begins on the 20th of July, 2023.
So sadly, you won’t be taking your home nation to glory when the game first launches. You’ll have to wait for the updates.
According to EA, The World Cup updates for both the Men’s and Women’s tournaments will come at “no additional cost.” This is excellent news considering that, in the past, EA has made separate World Cup games or charged for World Cup updates.
But why are the tournaments coming as updates?
Find out in the next section.
Why Are the World Cups coming as post-launch content updates to FIFA 23?
There are a few reasons EA has held off on including the World Cup tournaments in FIFA 23 on launch day. These reasons include:
- EA have extra time to create tournament Assets – The World Cups will come with their own graphical and sound assets. Delaying the update gives EA time to make additional graphics, commentary, ex.
- Accurate Teams – Nation squads will not be announced until closer to the World Cup. EA will wait until the squads are announced and then focus on scanning each player’s face into the game to give the tournament an authentic feel.
- Accurate presentation information – Every FIFA World Cup has its own presentation style. FIFA will want to mimic this. But it won’t know the presentation style until closer to the tournaments.
- Get the most accurate kits – National teams will have new World Cup kits, and EA will want to add them to the game.
- Give EA the time needed to do the Women’s tournament justice – after the success of the Women’s Euro 2022, EA will want to ensure the Women’s World Cup mode does Women’s international football the justice it deserves.
Ok, now you know why EA will delay the World Cup modes and release them as updates.
But what will be included as part of the updates? Let’s take a look.
What will be included in FIFA 23’s World Cup Qatar 2022 and Women’s World Cup 2023 modes?
There will be a vast amount of new material released by EA as part of the Men’s FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar update and the Women’s World Cup update. These updates will likely include:
- All new stadiums – EA will model and create all of the official tournament stadiums set to host games in the forthcoming tournaments. So all the stadiums used in Qatar, New Zealand, and Australia will feature.
- Pitchside action updates – The pitch sides and fans will have a unique World Cup feel. This will be reflected in the update.
- Official FIFA World Cup presentation – EA will update the game’s graphical presentation to reflect each tournament’s TV presentation.
- Exclusive World Cup commentary – New commentary will be recorded exclusively for the men’s and women’s World Cup.
- New entrances and cup celebrations – The update will include new team entrances and intros. And, of course, there will be an exclusive World Cup winning celebration cut scene that will play out.
- Player updates – All the players featured in the tournament will be updated to their most recent looks. So all the top players will have the most recent haircuts.
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men (or women) chase a ball for 90 minutes, and at the end, the Germans always win.”
Gary Lineker – (Unless you’re the England Women’s Team, Garry. Get in there, Lionesses!)
Ok, now you know what will likely be included in the updates. But will the World Cups play any part in FIFA’s ultimate team?
Will The FIFA World Cup be part of the FIFA Ultimate Team in FIFA 23?
Yes, the men’s World Cup will play a part in the FIFA ultimate team mode.
Sadly, Women will not be part of FIFA Ultimate Team.
In FIFA 18, when the World Cup was held in Russia, EA released several unique players for FIFA Ultimate Team. This practice will be expanded in FIFA 23, especially since FIFA now lets you customize your FUT team with various cosmetic extras.
Below is a list of what I expect FIFA to include in FIFA Ultimate Team as part of the World Cup update.
- International team World Cup kits – EA will likely include all the competing nations’ World Cup kits. So you can expect to be bidding for the famous Yellow and Blue of Brazil and the fire red of the Welsh Nation team after the update’s release.
- Pitch and stadium cosmetics – Expect many exclusive Qatar 2022 World Cup cosmetics to be added to the game’s season mode and to the transfer market.
- World Cup Managers – You should expect special editions of every nation’s manager to be featured in Ultimate Team.
- Special players – Expect several special World Cup exclusive players to be added to FUT each week of the tournament. From Group stage specials and Team of the Tournament players, I expect EA will be throwing plenty of World Cup themed players into the mixer.
- Special Season – Expect a special 4 week-long season in FIFA Ultimate Team. This special World Cup focused season will give away many exclusive World Cup cosmetics and players.
Summary
- There will be both a Women’s World Cup mode and a Men’s World Cup Mode in FIFA 23.
- Both will come to the game later as updates.
- Both updates will likely appear roughly 2 weeks before the respective tournaments start.
- The World Cup has been added as an update to give EA extra time to create the assets needed.
- World Cup-themed players and cosmetics will appear in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team.