At some point, even the greatest ones have to say goodbye. We present to you 5 well-known football stars who ended their active careers in the summer and will no longer receive a new card in FC 26.
As every year, some professionals will also say goodbye to active football in 2025. In our list, you will find five players who have voluntarily retired – and one whose career ended rather involuntarily.
Some of them may return in the future as a Hero or Icon card. But right at the start of FC 26, that’s rather unlikely – it usually takes a bit more distance and legend status.
Mats Hummels
One of the best center-backs in modern football and a BVB legend ended his long and incredibly successful career in the summer. He won several German championships and crowned his career with the World Cup title in 2014.
Now active football for Mats Hummels is over at the age of 36. He recently had a less successful year at AS Roma. It is quite possible that we might see an Icon or Hero card of Hummels in the future.
In FC 25, Hummels still received a very strong End-of-an-Era card, which was impressive and brought the defender back to top level.
Dries Mertens
Dries Mertens, who was recently chasing goals for Galatasaray Istanbul, ended his long and impressive career at the age of 38 after the last season. The former Belgian international enjoyed his most successful time at SSC Napoli, where he scored 113 goals in 295 games.
His last card in FC 25 is a TOTS-Honourable-Mentions card (94) that had outstanding values.
Rakitic
Ivan Rakitic had a long career and is known to many for his time at Schalke and Barcelona. There, Rakitic made 200 appearances, won four championships, and once lifted the Champions League title. He most recently played for Hajduk Split in Croatia before hanging up his boots at the age of 38.
In FC 26, Rakitic has faded somewhat into obscurity and currently has only one card – his standard gold card with a rating of 80. Many probably haven’t played it.
Jesús Navas
Jesús Navas, who spent most of his career at Sevilla, will not appear anymore in FC 26, as the right-back recently ended his long career at the age of 39. He won the Premier League with Manchester City and the Europa League with Sevilla.
To say goodbye, EA released an End-of-an-Era card for the right-back, offering an 88 rating and decent stats.
Raphaël Varane
Although Raphaël Varane was still present at the beginning of FC 24, he ended his active career rather quickly after the season started. The 31-year-old center-back suffered a serious injury in his first match at his new club Como, leaving him no choice but to retire.
However, while he was still active, Varane won everything there was to win in 10 years at Real Madrid. He claimed three championships and an incredible four Champions League titles.
In FC 25, his very last card was an End-of-an-Era card that boasted a rating of 87.
Are there returnees? Although Paul Pogba was not present in FC 25 due to a doping ban, he will return in FC 26. After completing his ban, he joined AS Monaco, thus he will receive cards in FC 26 again. If you want to know what to expect apart from the cards regarding gameplay in EA FC 26, take a look here: EA FC 26 shows in the first gameplay: Only offline do fans get more realism offered
