EA FC 26 doesn’t have enough national teams for a World Cup

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

Last Updated: 25/09/2025

EA Sports FC 26 has been released with over 750 playable teams to choose from. However, there is a major lack of national teams.

For some reason, New Zealand have been removed and there are now only 28 international teams in the game.

That is especially concerning, considering EA FC 26 is expected to have a licensed World Cup mode.

There are not enough teams for a regular 32-team tournament, let alone for the 48-team format that will debut in 2026.

Between FIFA 14 and FIFA 22, there were never fewer than 47 nations. FIFA 20 had 49, enough for the new World Cup format.

In all of those FIFA games, you could easily have separate Asian Cup, South American cup, and European cup in Career Mode saves.

The full list of international teams in EA FC 26 are:

• Argentina
• Croatia
• Czechia
• Denmark
• England
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ghana
• Hungary
• Iceland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Mexico
• Morocco
• Netherlands
• Northern Ireland
• Norway
• Poland
• Portugal
• Qatar
• Romania
• Scotland
• Spain
• Sweden
• Ukraine
• United States
• Wales

EA FC 26 only has six national teams outside of Europe.

North America has the USA and Mexico, while South America only has Argentina.

Ghana and Morocco are the only African teams, Qatar is the only Asian team, and there aren’t any Oceanic teams.

This means a lot of major countries are missing, including Brazil who EA Sports were reported to be in talks with for EA FC 26.

Canada, one of the World Cup 2026 host countries and the country where EA FC 26 was made, are also missing.

Despite having 22 European teams, there are still some big misses from the continent, including Belgium and Turkey.

It seems no longer being partnered with FIFA has made licensing international teams much harder for EA.

Unlicensed teams in EA FC 26

Meanwhile, there are a few clubs that are too big for EA to not include, even if they don’t have the license.

In Italy’s Serie A, there are dour unlicensed teams in EA FC 26. While the players are real, the team names, kits, and badges are not.

AC Milan are Milano, Inter are Lombardia, Lazio are Latium, and Atalanta are Bergamo Calcio.

At least Milano have a red kit this year, though there are sadly no black stripes for a more authentic feel.

Their inclusion makes EA FC 26’s lack of national teams even more baffling.

Why EA don’t include unlicensed national teams with generic kits and flag badges is a baffling decision.

Jack Stewart, Senior Editor

In my seven years of esports writing, I've introuduced esports coverage to newspapers, interviewed some of the biggest names in the industry, and driven viewers mad with the puns in my YouTube scripts. I'm most proud of the latter.

All Posts By Jack Stewart