As the highly anticipated global launch of EA Sports FC 25 draws closer, our appetites have been whetted even further with the reveal of which players will boast the highest individual ratings in the game.
We've combed through the spreadsheets, examined the rosters, and crunched the numbers to present an easily digestible breakdown of the most notable aspects: who the best players will be, who they play for, and what, exactly, makes them so coveted.
These are the key takeaways we've drawn from the first set of EA Sports rankings, with only a handful of clubs and a few scattered star names completely dominating the upper echelons.
Mbappé retains title, but Rodri is promoted
As you may not be too surprised to learn, a momentous move to Real Madrid has done little to alter Kylian Mbappe's position as the club's most highly rated player.
The agile French forward once again tops the overall player rankings, having successfully maintained his individual ratings from last year, including ridiculously high numbers for pace (97), shooting (90) and dribbling (92).
However, there is a new challenger to Mbappe's throne in the form of Manchester City midfielder Rodri, whose importance to manager Pep Guardiola's tactical approach is reflected in a huge stats boost that sees the Spain international join Mbappe on a 91 overall rating.
Rodri is one of four players to have earned an overall rating of 91, alongside City team-mate Erling Haaland and reigning Women's Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, who are also level with them at the top.
Real Madrid, Manchester City and Barcelona dominate
When it comes to combined overall player ratings, three colossal clubs dominate the top spots with players from Real Madrid, Manchester City and Barcelona occupying the first nine spots of the top 10 (Chelsea's Sam Kerr is tenth).
That triumvirate of clubs boasts a total of 13 players in the top 25, with Barca's men's and women's teams providing five entrants between them, while Real and Manchester City provide four players each.
Over 19,000 fully licensed players.
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Messi moves away from the top five
Across the men's and women's leagues, only 11 players have received overall ratings of 90 or higher, but Lionel Messi is not one of them. Despite leading Argentina to their third consecutive major tournament at the Copa America last summer and still holding the men's Ballon d'Or, the 37-year-old's powers are finally waning as far as EA Sports is concerned.
Those in the 90 club this year come from just five different clubs.
In the men's category, the list is made up of Rodri (91), Haaland (91) and Kevin De Bruyne (90), from Manchester City; Mbappé (91), Jude Bellingham (90) and Vinícius Júnior (90), from Real Madrid, and Harry Kane (90), from Bayern Munich.
In the women's category, Barcelona's trio of Bonmatí (91), Alexia Putellas (90) and Caroline Graham Hansen (90) are joined by Chelsea forward Kerr (90) with ratings in the top 10 percentile.
Sophia Smith enters the top 25
Leaders of the revolution.
Here are the 25 highest rated players of @NWSL in #FC25.
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Sophia Smith is in for a treat, as her contribution to the U.S. women's national team's Olympic gold medal has boosted her stock to an all-time high, making her the highest-rated player in the National Women's Soccer League.
The Portland Thorns forward has seen her overall rating soar to 89 with stats increasing across the board, meaning she has entered not only the top 25 but also the top 15, overtaking the likes of Liverpool duo Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah.
Are MLS ratings at an all-time high?
The house of football.@MLSThe best of 's is in #FC25.
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Fueled by existing star power, Major League Soccer boasts some impressively strong player ratings in EAFC 25.
Inter Miami provide the three highest-rated players in MLS. Unsurprisingly, veteran star Messi has emerged as the best the league has to offer, with a rating of 88.
He is joined on the podium by recent LAFC signing Olivier Giroud (83) and his Miami teammate Luis Suarez (82).
Cristiano Ronaldo is not the highest rated player in the Saudi Pro League
Talent overload.
The 25 highest rated players in the @SPL in #FC25.
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With age perhaps finally starting to catch up with him, Al Nassr's Cristiano Ronaldo continues to see his rating at EA FC slip with each passing year.
In fact, the once match-winning giant is not even the highest-rated player in the Saudi Pro League.
Instead, that honour goes to Al Hilal's Neymar (87), who is ranked just above the Portuguese veteran (86), as well as Al Ittihad's Karim Benzema and João Cancelo (both 86) as the league's highest-rated stars.
The fastest, the strongest, the most skilled, etc.
In addition to the overall ratings, EAFC 25 has also put together a breakdown of which players possess the highest individual stats when it comes to the metrics that govern the all-round fundamentals.
Mbappé is the fastest player in the game with a pace stat of 97, putting him ahead of Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior (95), Portland's Smith (93), Lyon Féminin's Kadidiatou Diani (90) and, most curiously, Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma (90) in the top five.
It's pretty easy to predict who the top three scorers in the game are, with Kane (93) leading the way ahead of fellow scorers Haaland (92) and Mbappé (90).
The best passer in EAFC 25 is De Bruyne. His sublime range allows him to have a passing rating of 94, the highest rating given to any player in the game for a particular skill.
Bonmatí, Messi and Mbappé are narrowly edged out in the best dribbling statistic by Manchester City maestro Bernardo Silva, who sits top of the order with a rating of 92.
Donnarumma, the best goalkeeper
The best goalkeeper of the match is PSG's Donnarumma, who has obtained an overall rating of 89 and slightly surpasses Alisson Becker, Thibaut Courtois and Marc-André ter Stegen (all also with 89).
This is because the Italian international has a slight advantage in terms of individual statistics, placing him 13th in the overall player rankings.
Manchester City No.1 Ederson has to settle for being the fifth-highest-rated goalkeeper in EA FC 25, but the Brazilian can take solace in the fact that he has the second-highest passing statistic of any player, outfield or otherwise.
Ederson's passing stat of 91 is bettered by only one player, his City team-mate De Bruyne, who has a 94.
The highest-rated goalkeeper in women's football is Lyon stalwart Christiane Endler, who sits seventh in the list of goalkeepers, just behind Atletico Madrid's Jan Oblak with an 88.
EAFC's Top 25 Highest Rated Players
– Kylian Mbappé, forward, Real Madrid, France: 91
– Rodri, midfielder, Manchester City, Spain: 91
– Aitana Bonmatí, midfielder, Barcelona, Spain: 91
– Erling Haaland, forward, Manchester City, Norway: 91
– Jude Bellingham, midfielder, Real Madrid, England: 90
– Alexia Putellas, midfielder, Barcelona, Spain: 90
– Vinícius Júnior, forward, Real Madrid, Brazil: 90
– Caroline Graham Hansen, forward, Barcelona, Norway: 90
– Kevin de Bruyne, Manchester City midfielder, 90
– Sam Kerr, forward, Chelsea, Australia: 90
– Harry Kane, forward, Bayern Munich, England: 90
– Martin Ødegaard, midfielder, Arsenal, Norway: 89
– Gianluigi Donnarumma, goalkeeper, Paris Saint-Germain, Italy: 89
– Sophia Smith, forward, Portland Thorns, United States: 89
– Alisson Becker, goalkeeper, Liverpool, Brazil: 89
– Thibaut Courtois, goalkeeper, Real Madrid, Belgium: 89
– Ada Hegerberg, forward, Lyon, Norway: 89
– Lautaro Martinez, forward, Inter, Argentina: 89
– Mapi León, defender, Barcelona, Spain: 89
– Virgil van Dijk, defender, Liverpool, Netherlands: 89
– Marc-André ter Stegen, goalkeeper, Barcelona, Germany: 89
– Mohamed Salah, forward, Liverpool, Egypt: 89
– Phil Foden, forward, Manchester City, England: 88
– Marie-Antoinette Katoto, forward, Paris Saint-Germain, France: 88
– Lionel Messi, forward, Inter Miami, Argentina: 88
