Toni Kroos will return in EA FC 26. After only one year of absence, the 2014 World Champion will be playable again. With this, he is on the verge of breaking a record that only one German footballer has managed to surpass.
Who is Toni Kroos? Many football fans do not need a detailed explanation of Toni Kroos. In terms of titles, he is the most successful German player of all time. With Real Madrid alone, he won the Champions League 6 times and is thus one of the most successful footballers internationally as well.
Kroos played most of his career in central midfield, where he could optimally utilize his strengths. The German was considered one of the best passers of all time and was able to dictate the pace of play for his teams with his pinpoint passes.
Furthermore, Kroos possessed immense composure on the ball, took dangerous set pieces, and was a threat from distance as a shooter.
EA reveals rating for the first Kroos card in FC 26
How does Toni Kroos return in FC 26? In an announcement video on Instagram, EA has confirmed Kroos’s return. The German will receive his deserved Icon card as a legend of football in the popular Ultimate Team mode.
Only players who have achieved exceptional success during their careers and consistently performed at a high level become Icons. Accordingly, the ratings of Icons are also very high, making them highly sought-after cards.
What rating does Kroos get as an Icon? Kroos will also be part of the Icons that you receive as pre-order bonuses in FC 26 when you pre-order the expensive Ultimate Edition. These special pre-order Icons can be upgraded throughout FC 26. Kroos starts with a solid but not outstanding rating of 90 as a Central Midfielder (CM).
It is still unknown what the first proper Icon card of Kroos will look like. It will definitely have a few more overall points than the pre-order version.
Despite his confirmed return after just one year of absence, Kroos does not break the record for the fastest return. He must fall behind his World Cup colleagues from 2014.
Direct transition from active player to Icon achieved by only one player
Which German became an Icon the fastest? Bastian Schweinsteiger holds a very special record in the history of EA FC (formerly FIFA). The German World Cup captain of 2014 made the leap from player to legend directly after his career ended.
Starting with a 76-rated Gold card in FIFA 20 in his last season as an active professional at Chicago Fire in MLS, he could look forward to an 87-rated base Icon at the start of FIFA 21, representing his early years at his beloved club Bayern Munich.
So far, no other player has managed this seamless transition. For most players, there is at least one season break between the end of their career and their return as an Icon.
However, Kroos finds himself in the company of prominent names who also returned to Ultimate Team after a year of absence. This includes his former teammate at Real Madrid, Gareth Bale, who returned as an Icon in EA FC 25 after his career ended and his last card in FIFA 23. His counterpart on the Italian side, playmaker Andrea Pirlo, also became an Icon after a year off following FIFA 18 in FIFA 20.
Even before the first information about FC 26, EA asked the community which Icons they would most like to see in the new installment. With the release of the cover, EA showed that they had taken the fans’ demands seriously: EA shows cover for FC 26, fulfilling many fans’ wish with a new star
