FC 26 closed beta has been live for a few days now. After trying it out, I can only say that while some wonderful improvements have been made this year, there are still many disappointing areas.
So, if you’re planning on pre-ordering FUT 26, don’t rush. IGGM.com shares our personal thoughts on the closed beta experience. You can use the pros and cons we’ve listed to decide whether you’re comfortable with it before making a decision.
If you’re a die-hard FIFA fan and can’t wait to experience the game, IGGM.com is the place to go before you start. Whether you want to get tons of coins to upgrade your team or use 99 OVR players right away, we’ve got you covered!
Pros
First, let’s talk about the highlights of the improvements.
Improved Dribbling
We can’t help but mention dribbling here. Yes, they’ve mentioned the dribbling changes in FIFA 26 several times before. After playing it, I think it’s a truly great change.
EA Sports FC 26 has made significant changes to the dribbling mechanic, aiming to improve responsiveness, fluidity, and realism. One major change is the removal of Agile Dribbling (L2 + R2 / LT + RT) and consolidating its functionality into a new system. This makes dribbling feel more consistent and reduces the reliance on specific button combinations.
Now, you simply hold down R1 button to perform technical dribbling, allowing for tighter turns, smoother transitions, and more natural changes of direction.
Additionally, EA FC 26 introduces several new and redesigned skill moves to enhance player expressiveness and dribbling fluidity.
This change makes dribbling in FC 26 feel completely different, like returning to the old days of FIFA 18-19. The skill moves in these sequences are incredibly effective, and if executed at the right time and place, they can make you the most dangerous force on the field.
To be fair, these changes make it look like the game will have an excellent dribbling system.
Enhanced Passing
The second significant change is passing, which was discussed several times in the game’s trailers.
Not only have they improved passing animations, making them smoother and allowing for more accurate passes at wider angles, but they’ve also enhanced passing agility and will provide new game presets for different modes.
With these improvements, we can finally become less reliant on the Tiki Taka Playstyle! This is a quick passing move that can easily turn defense into offense.
This playstyle has been very effective on counterattacks and when breaking down defenses. Midfielders and forwards are particularly suited to Tiki Taka, as they pass the ball quickly, creating the best scoring opportunities. However, players with higher passing stats tend to be more accurate with long passes.
But now, we have more passing options, and we’re finally no longer limited to relying on spending more FC 26 coins to acquire players with high passing ratings and specific PlayStyles for accurate passing! That’s awesome!
Tighter Gameplay
Another great thing I can tell you is that we can try out Competitive Gameplay in Ultimate Team and Pro Clubs, a style centered around greater consistency and control, and it honestly looks great.
Also, the overall pace of the game is noticeably faster now, whether it’s faster passing, tighter responsiveness, or more direct gameplay mechanics – absolutely fantastic for players striving for high-level play.
So, if you jump directly from FC 25 to 26, you’ll notice a noticeable increase in speed. Similarly, if you go back to FC 25 and compare it to the gameplay in FC 26, it’ll feel much slower.
Furthermore, players with really good pace stats in EA FC 26 can finally break free from defenders. Don’t get me wrong, I’m talking about players with 90 pace. They can finally outrun defenders, unlike in FC 25, where a defender with 70 pace would always catch a forward with 99 pace, which was ridiculous. It seems they’ve finally fixed that, which is truly significant.
Honestly, we’ve needed this change for years, and it’s finally here. So, I recommend investing in some high-pace players; they have so much potential this year, and who knows, you might even make a ton of FUT 26 coins by flipping those cards later!
Cons
Having discussed what I think are the highlights of this FUT 26 overhaul, let’s now discuss the disappointments.
Most Mechanics Are Unbalanced
First and foremost, the game doesn’t actually have headers or crosses. I know this is a closed beta and there are a lot of changes coming before the official release, but from what I’ve played so far, we can’t actually score with a header.
The most ridiculous thing is that while we can score with a shot from 40 yards, we can’t score with a header from 5 yards. This is one of the biggest issues with the game.
Additionally, they have various Finesse Shot Playstyles+, including attacking from the front, as well as various heading and backfield Playstyles, but they don’t have a balanced gameplay experience. We all know this: there are too many mechanics, and most of them are completely useless, so working on balancing the game is what they need to do now.
Authentic Gameplay Is Terrible
I think the second problem with EA FC 26 beta is Authentic Gameplay.
I know this mode only works in Career Mode, but if you want to use it during kick-offs, I wish the developers would allow us to switch it to Competitive Gameplay in Career Mode. If you don’t switch it and have to use Authentic Gameplay, the game is so slow that players can’t turn around. I regretted it the moment I tried it; it’s the worst gaming experience I’ve ever seen.
All I can say is that Authentic Gameplay experience is terrible, and it doesn’t even resemble real-life football. But then again, this is just a beta. Hopefully, they can improve it before the official release.
Stupid Custom Tactics System
My biggest disappointment with FC 26 closed beta was that I was hoping they’d just change the attacking AI, but instead, they changed the way we build up our offense.
As we all know, custom tactics are a crucial part of the game, practically the core of it, defining your playstyle, and now this poorly implemented system is just a waste of time.
During my time with the closed beta, it felt like I was playing FC 25, as the same idiotic issues persisted. For example, if there was space, my player would only try to move forward and backward, not slightly to the right or left into open space unless I triggered him.
Not only that, but in EA FC 25, there was a common goal-scoring pattern in every match: after you missed a really good chance, the opponent would often score immediately, especially if the shot was saved, hit the woodwork, or was blocked off the line. This remains true in FC 26.
Frankly, the custom tactic system FIFA 26 offers is just plain stupid. Please bring back the old custom tactic system; even FIFA 17’s was better.
For example, this should work in every game. If I wanted to pull my attack all the way back to the touchline, I could do that with the old custom tactic system. But with the new system, we can’t do that; the attackers stay forward and don’t track back. It’s so disappointing.
Player Role System Is A Potential P2W Feature
Finally, regarding FC 26’s player role system, I think it’s pure genius, they probably designed it just to make money.
Let me tell you why this player role system is so stupid. You can see those inside forwards; they’re incredibly powerful and effective in the game. Meanwhile, the other player roles that could be used for wingers are completely useless.
So if you want to execute a better tactic, spending EA FC 26 coins on the market to acquire these inside forward cards is almost a given. After all, what’s the point of going to the market to get a winger or wide playmaker? I honestly don’t know what other options we have for winger player roles.
So if everyone has to play inside forwards, what’s the point? While this system is intended to add depth and variety to the game, it inadvertently creates an advantage for players who spend more money in the game. Hopefully, they’ll make changes before the official release.
All in all, for now, as I said, I still feel like I’m playing FC 25. Honestly, I wouldn’t recommend pre-ordering FC 26 right now, as I really don’t know what they’ve optimized in the closed beta. So, you might want to wait a month, or at least two or three weeks, to see how the game is generally received before considering paying for it.