Usually, in FIFA 21, the excitement tends to wane a bit towards summer. But this time, it’s somehow different, says MeinMMO author Max Handwerk. The culprit is: The European Championship.
What’s going on right now? Oh, folks. Football is happening! And it’s crazy. Just three or four weeks ago, the Euro vibe was barely above “frosty” for me. The tournament was on the horizon, but somehow, the anticipation just wouldn’t kick in.
But just in time for the Euro kickoff, things changed. The sun came out, moods improved, and the football spark reignited. During the Germany – France match, I found myself glued to the TV, even jumping out of my seat a few times when a high-quality chance was missed.
Not that there were many, mind you. The ball found the net three times: once from Hummels stunningly kicked into his own goal, twice from offside positions of the French.
But when Gnabry sent the ball just over the bar, Gosens jumped wildly into a cross, or when Mbappé sprinted across the field at about three times Mats Hummels’ speed, only to be stopped at the last second by a centimeter-perfect tackle from the center-back – that familiar, thrilling feeling was back. Football!
And as it often is when enthusiasm grips you, you have to channel it somewhere. In my case, that’s: FIFA 21.
How the European Championship makes FIFA 21 better
Is the Euro important for FIFA 21? Theoretically, FIFA 21 and the European Championship have little to do with each other, apart from the tournament-related “Festival of FUT” event. FIFA 21 doesn’t have the official license for the tournament, and there’s no specific Euro mode. Practically, however, the Euro is still noticeable.
This is the effect the Euro is having right now: For me, it manifests itself in the fact that I suddenly feel like rebuilding my Ultimate Team. Of course, I tweak my team all year round – but mainly with an eye on which players could perform well in FIFA 21. In Division Rivals and the Weekend League, one wants to win, after all. Accordingly, the lineup is quite firm, with only minor adjustments to the team.
But as summer approaches, after the TOTS event, the FUT mode traditionally loses a bit of competitive spirit. Suddenly, you don’t participate in every Weekend League and don’t feel the need to optimize your team as much.
Normally, at this point, I would simply stop playing FIFA on a larger scale, maybe just throw in a few matches now and then. But the Euro changes that. Because suddenly, players come into focus who usually aren’t on my radar. You start to wonder: What can Robin Gosens actually do in FIFA 21? Is Czech Republic’s top scorer Patrick Schick an interesting player? And is North Macedonia’s forward Goran Pandev still in FIFA 21?
I suddenly find myself experimenting with the team – which is much easier compared to the past weeks. After all, a large part of the cards on the transfer market is now extremely cheap and easy to acquire.
Then there are things like the Flashback Götze card, which brings back memories (“Do it! Do it! He’s doing it! Mario Götzeeeeee!!!”). Such players have to be added directly to the starting lineup. Also, crazy SBCs like the new Nations Player Challenge, where you can secure significantly improved, unusual players of the Euro, invite you to joyfully shuffle your starting lineup.
And finally, it’s simply fun to play with the national teams against friends and speculate on Euro results. Just throw in a few fun FIFA matches, without keeping an eye on Division Rivals or Weekend League… you usually do that way too rarely.
This is how the community reacts: You can also pinpoint Euro enthusiasm in the FIFA subreddit. The aforementioned SBC in the Swedish version is described by a user as the “perhaps coolest SBC they have ever released” (via reddit). Another hopes for more variants for the remaining nations (via reddit), and yet another praises: “This is really great content. I love things like this. Good players from less significant nations and leagues outside the usual bubble of player SBCs we know” (via reddit).
The Euro matches themselves also spark discussions and good vibes in the community. One of the most popular posts last Wednesday was about the topic: “Base Hummels just overtook my TOTY Mbappé and perfectly tackled him from behind. Uninstalled” – a reference to the described scene from the match between France and Germany (via reddit).
Below, players amuse themselves over the comparison between FIFA 21 and real football. France is described as the nasty elite player from the Weekend League, who always just defends and plays long balls to Mbappé. A Hungary fan, on the other hand, describes that his team faced a Portugal team full of meta players and lost due to cheap goals and a penalty – all with a wink.
In short: Somehow, the Euro is creating a lot of space for fun in Ultimate Team, which you hardly notice when you’re only focused on getting good results in the Weekend League. And so FIFA 21 suddenly becomes exciting again, even though I actually expected to set it aside slowly.
Let’s just hope this effect lasts a bit longer. Let’s just hope that Joachim Löw has thoroughly studied the Euro meta and has prepared his team excellently!
But slowly, the gaze is starting to reach further ahead – towards FIFA 22. You can find all information and assessments regarding the release of FIFA 22 here.
