Actually, our author Max has not missed the tournament mode in FIFA 20. However, Ultimate Team could definitely benefit from such a mode again. The reason: The many, many goals.
These were tournaments in FUT: If you’ve been around Ultimate Team for a while – longer than FIFA 20 or FIFA 19 – you probably remember the “Daily Knockout Tournaments”. These provided one of the qualification options for the Weekend League – especially for those who couldn’t fight their way into Division 1 of Online Seasons.
Both Online Seasons and Daily Knockout Tournaments were replaced by Division Rivals in FIFA 19, and there aren’t any real tournaments in FUT anymore.
I personally never missed them much – mainly because I find qualifying through Rivals much easier than through the tournaments. That frustration when you lost in the final round again – well. However, FUT could certainly use tournaments again.
Tournament mode could solve goal issues
This is the problem: Currently, there are many players who are unhappy that they have to complete Icon Swaps goals in Division Rivals. The rigorous restructuring of one’s team rarely aligns with the fact that you actually want to send your best team into the competitive mode.
After all, many players want to climb ranks in Rivals or collect points for the Weekend League. This becomes more difficult when you have to fit, for example, seven first-owner La Liga players in the starting eleven.
I’m a big fan of the goals, as they present different challenges – but the demands from players to move the goals to other modes are also understandable.
Where to put the goals? Often, it is said in the community that they would prefer to complete the goals in friendly matches. However, there is a high risk that games will be given away just to distribute the goals. That is also not the point.
One idea that I found very interesting recently appeared on reddit: The user “MakyMaestro” suggested a reintroduction of the tournament mode. But not to qualify for the Weekend League, rather to create a space for the goals.
What a new tournament mode could look like
That’s why the tournament mode could help: If there was a tournament mode that also brings you some rewards at the end – just like in the case of a draft – there would be an incentive for players not to give away matches. Requirements for entering individual tournaments could then be the goal specifications. For example, there could be tournaments that:
- Can only be played with UCL players
- Require a certain number of first-owner cards
- Or include similar restrictions, such as league or nation requirements.
This would ensure that participants compete with relatively comparable teams. This would put an end to unequal conditions that some currently experience and might even voluntarily relegate.
Two crucial additions: First, it shouldn’t be a requirement to win the tournament in order to progress in the goals. It should still be about collecting individual wins.
Second, it would be important that tournaments do not randomly shuffle players together. Instead, matchmaking should also come into play to let players compete against others at a similar level.
Would a return of the tournament mode be an interesting addition for you to Ultimate Team? Or are you more into Career Mode? Then you can find the best talents here:
