EA FC 26 Team of the Year event is about to begin. This official event, held annually in January, aims to recognize the best players of the year. However, before the full TOTY lineup is released, FC 26 will launch TOTY Warm Up event.

Warm Up event is currently underway. This short but valuable event includes various objectives, Live Events, evolution items, and rewards, all designed to help you accumulate card packs and strengthen your player lineup.

So now is the perfect time to accumulate high-value card packs and enhancement items. Below, I will introduce the key information about this Team of the Year Warm Up in detail.

What is TOTY Warm Up?

TOTY Warm Up is a limited-time promotional event held by FIFA 26, launched before the official Team of the Year lineup event. This Warm Up helps you prepare for the official launch of TOTY. Complete specific tasks to earn card packs and other valuable items, preparing for the official release of Team of the Year cards in the game.

This Warm Up event includes the following:

• A Live Event mode with objectives directly linked to rewards;
• Evolutions that allow you to upgrade specific players;
• Completing objectives and SBCs will reward you with card packs and consumables.

The focus of Warm Up is accumulating value, especially card packs that you should save and open after TOTY officially launch, as opening them too early will significantly reduce your chances of obtaining Team of the Year items.

How to effectively participate in the event?

To effectively participate in this Warm Up, you can first find and participate in Live Events mode in the game. However, please note that not all players can participate in this event. You need to meet the following team requirements:

• You must have at least four players with an OVR of 88 or higher;
• The player with the highest OVR in the team cannot exceed 86.

These strict requirements are designed to create a competitive yet accessible platform for players to successfully complete the objectives.

• Note: This Warm Up event is time-limited, so remember to complete it before the official Team of the Year launch.

TOTY Warm Up Missions and Rewards

Warm Up event features six mission objectives. Completing these objectives will reward you with various untradeable card packs and evolution items. All of these items will be very useful when Team of the Year is released, so it's recommended that you save them for the official event.

Here are the specific mission objectives and rewards:

Play 1:

• Complete one match in TOTY Warm Up Live Event
• Reward: A 5x 81+ Rare Gold Players Pack

Score 1:

• Score 1 goal in TOTY Warm Up Live Event
• Reward: A Cosmetic Evolution

Play 3:

• Complete 3 matches in TOTY Warm Up Live Event
• Reward: A 5x 82+ Rare Gold Players Pack

Score in 6:

• Score a goal in 6 different matches in TOTY Warm Up Live Event
• Reward: A PS/PS+ Evolution

Win 6:

• Win 6 matches in TOTY Warm Up Live Event
• Reward: A 2x 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack

Score in 12:

• Score a goal in 12 different matches in TOTY Warm Up Live Event
• Reward: A 2x 84+ Rare Gold Players Pack Pack

Each match you play will count towards multiple objectives, so even if you can't complete all of them at once, you'll still reap rewards as long as you participate.

Although there are 6 objectives in this event, you only need to complete 5, reducing the pressure.

Warming Up Evolutions

Note that this evolution isn't free. If you want to upgrade your player, you'll need 10,000 FC 26 coins to begin the evolution journey.

Player Total Upgrades:

• Overall: +1
• Pace: +2 (Max 87)
• Shooting: +1 (Max 87)
• Passing: +2 (Max 87)
• Dribbling: +2 (Max 87)
• Defending: +1 (Max 87)
• Physical: +1 (Max 87)

Evolution Requirements:

• Overall: Max 86
• Not Rarity: World Tour Silver Stars
• Not Position: Goalkeeper

Evolution Tasks:

• Level 1: Play at least 2 semi-professional matches (or Rush, Rivals, Champions, Live Events modes) in Squad Battles mode using an EVO player active in the game.
• Level 2: Play 1 match in Squad Battles mode at the lowest semi-professional difficulty (or Rush, Rivals, Champions, Live Events modes) using an EVO player active in the game.

Since this evolution is a paid event, you'll need to carefully consider which of your player cards are suitable for participation.

Recommended cards include Cristiano Ronaldo's Gold Rare card (OVR 85) and Fermin's Winter Wildcards SBC card (OVR 86).

Tips for participating in Warm Up Event

1. Participate in matches daily

Even if you're busy, logging in and participating in a few Live Events will quickly accumulate progress towards your goals.

2. Build a suitable player team

Build a team that meets the event's rating requirements to minimize stress and achieve your objectives.

3. Save your card packs wisely

This is the most important tip for participating in Warm Up event: don't open card packs immediately after obtaining them.

It's best to wait until Team of the Year event officially launches, when card packs will contain Team of the Year players and other special cards.

By focusing on Live Event objectives, using Evolution wisely, and stockpiling card packs during promotional events, you can strengthen your team.

In any case, make the most of TOTY Warm Up event at FC 26, and good luck getting the cards you want!

EA FC 26 will launch one of its most important promotional events of 2026, Team of the Year, in mid-January. The official pre-promotion has begun 10 days in advance.

Player voting has begun, and new players and icons may be added during this promotion. Let's take a look at what's worth paying attention to and looking forward to.

TOTY Event Guide

TOTY promotion allows players to vote for the best players in world football in 2025. These players will receive special edition TOTY cards with extremely high ratings and attribute boosts, typically becoming one of the strongest cards of the season.

Players can vote in-game or on the official website to choose who should be included in Team of the Year. After voting ends, the official team will combine community votes and their own selections to form the final FC 26 Men's and Women's TOTY 11s.

Loan Players

Voting for Team of the Year is now officially underway. Meanwhile, players will be able to obtain a free loan option for a group of Team of the Year nominees, similar to FC 25 last year, but on a larger scale. Players will be able to obtain:

• 3 attackers on loan from 27 nominees
• 3 midfielders on loan from 35 nominees
• 4 defenders on loan from 20 nominees

These are not single-match loans, but unlimited loans for 7 days. This means that, theoretically, each player can build a squad almost entirely composed of Team of the Year nominees and use them freely for the following week.

While this may diminish the uniqueness of Team of the Year cards themselves, it is likely a strategy adopted by the organizers to increase player activity.

TOTY Date

A new feature of this year's TOTY promotion is the introduction of TOTY Men's and Women's Captains. Here is the expected event timeline:

• January 7th: Voting begins.
• January 16th: Attacker lineup released, usually including TOTY Icons.
• January 18th: Midfield lineup released.
• January 20th: Defenders and goalkeeper lineup released.
• January 22nd: Full TOTY Squad released, along with TOTY Icon Team 2.
• Late January: Event nears its end, all TOTY Team and Icon cards are available for acquisition, and Honorable Mentions cards are released.

Lineup Predictions

Pina is almost certain to be included, and this card has been a beast in FC 26. If her TOTY item receives meta PlayStyle+, this card will almost completely disrupt the game's balance.

Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are again nominated. If the voting is entirely community-driven, they also have a strong chance of making the starting eleven.

In terms of specific results, voting results are sometimes not entirely based on a player's actual performance in 2025. Players may vote for their favorite players to obtain the corresponding gold cards, making the actual results unpredictable.

TOTY SBCs

It is predictable that a large number of SBCs will be available during TOTY promotion. For example, FUT 25 featured various upgraded SBCs, such as 83+ x5 Attackers Upgrades, 81+ x2 Upgrades, and 84+ x5 Upgrades.

82+ x20 Upgrade Repeatable SBC

The most sensational content in FC 25 is undoubtedly 82+ x20 Upgrade Repeatable SBC. This SBC requires one 83-rated lineup and one 84-rated lineup, and upon completion, it grants a pack containing 20 82+ OVR players, with absolutely no limit on the number of times it can be used.

This SBC completely revolutionized the game's ecosystem, allowing players to continuously use materials obtained from packs to complete new SBCs and acquire a large number of Team of the Year cards.

By spending several hours working on this SBC, you could eventually obtain a massive number of card packs, with many players using it to acquire several TOTY cards. The high-rated players it produced also made completing other large SBCs much easier.

While this SBC gave ordinary players the opportunity to obtain top-tier cards, it undoubtedly harmed the game's long-term vitality. The promotional cards released couldn't compete with Team of the Year cards, leading to a decline in game popularity.

Given the developers' current urgent need to increase player engagement, they are highly likely to release this SBC again this year. It's expected to launch with the full roster release, allowing players to invest time in it again.

Premier League Upgrades SBCs

You should also keep your eyes on Premier League Upgrades. Previously, these packs only included male football league players. However, the game has now added female football players, doubling the card pool. While the number of TOTY players has increased, the number of regular gold cards has increased even more, diluting the actual probability of drawing a TOTY card.

If the developers intend to adjust Premier League Upgrades Packs, they should either release the men's and women's league upgrade packs separately, or significantly increase the number of rare cards in the mixed league packs to improve the odds of winning. Otherwise, opening this pack will be a significant waste of FC 26 coins.

TOTY Evolution

The next thing to look forward to is TOTY Blueprint Evolution. EA FC 25's TOTY Blueprint Evolution had extremely high attribute caps and could add multiple Playstyle+ cards. This was a very popular system that allowed players to personalize and enhance their club's players. Considering that Evolution system is a major pillar of FC 26, this evolution is very likely to return.

This year's TOTY packs should be very exciting, and many players believe they should wait until the full rosters are released before opening packs, as the card pool will be the most complete. However, during the full event, the actual drop rate of packs may actually decrease, so it is recommended to spread out your pack openings throughout the event.

EA FC 26 released an evolution for LM, Plenty of Time Left. This evolution isn't free, but it's incredibly powerful. You can use it to create a monster-like player.

The best player for this evolution is obviously Claudia Pina, and it's practically tailor-made for her. However, not all players like Pina, so besides her, we'll also introduce some other players here.

Plenty of Time Left Guide

Requirements

• Overall: Max 86
• Physical: Max 83
• PlayStyle: Max 10
• PlayStyle+: Max 1
• Not Rarity: World Tour Silver Stars
• Position: LM
• Not Position: CB, LB

Total Upgrade

• Overall: +10 | Max 88
• Pace: +20 | Max 89
• Shooting: +15 | Max 80
• Agility: +25 | Max 88
• Balance: +25 | Max 87
• Ball control: +20 | Max 88
• Curve: +15 | Max 86
• Dribbling: +25 | Max 90
• Reactions: +20 | Max 85
• Short Passing: +15 | Max 84
• Stamina: +20 | Max 86
• Strength: +20 | Max 80
• Vision: +15 | Max 85
• Composure: +20 | Max 85
• Skills: +1 | Max 4
• PlayStyles+: Technical | Max 1
• PlayStyles: Technical, First Touch, Rapid, Quick Step | Max 7
• Roles: Winger++, Inside Forward++

This evolution requires 40,000 FC 26 coins or 400 Points to unlock. Besides giving the player a Technical+ stat boost, this evolution also provides significant attribute improvements.

Compared to the improvements it offers, the 40,000 coins are definitely worth it. Even though many players don't like this evolution, many will still choose to pursue it.

Recommended Players

86 OVR Claudia Pina LW++

• Pac: 79
• Sho: 86
• Pas: 83
• Dri: 87
• Def: 45
• Phy: 71

The protagonist of this evolution is clearly Claudia Pina. Her gold card has always been strong, and even without evolving her, she perfectly fulfills her role. This is because she possesses four key playstyles: Low Driven+, Finesse Shot, Tiki Taka, and Incisive Pass. Furthermore, she has a 5-star Weak Foot that synergizes with Finesse Shot, making this card a monster since its release.

Clearly, this Claudia Pina upgrade significantly improves her drag and pace. Therefore, regardless of player opinions, many will craft this card, even though it will prevent her from evolving again for several weeks. Faced with such a top-tier card, many will undoubtedly choose it.

86 OVR Nico Williams LW++

• Pac: 93
• Sho: 76
• Pas: 80
• Dri: 87
• Def: 36
• Phy: 66

Nico Williams, with Rapid+ and Inside Forward Plus++, is a top-tier left-back. For a card like this, if you're not chasing player cards whose market value is declining, he's the best alternative because he still possesses the basic Finesse Shot playstyle. His base attributes aren't bad either, and his pace is already good, and with Quick Step and Rapid+ playstyles, his movement speed will only increase.

After evolution, I recommend choosing First Touch. When your game feels clunky, First Touch allows you to immediately follow up with a Finesse Shot after receiving the ball, a very satisfying playstyle.

You can also give him a Finisher Chemistry Style to improve dribbling and shooting. Combined with his good speed, this makes his attack very threatening.

86 OVR Jérémy Doku LW++

• Pac: 96
• Sho: 80
• Pas: 80
• Dri: 92
• Def: 40
• Phy: 80

Jérémy Doku's Pace attribute is excellent, so this card's build strategy is different. You can give him a Marksman chemistry because of his initial speed, improving his dribbling while also providing a decent shooting bonus.

However, Plenty of time Left evolution doesn't significantly improve him, and it's not a game-changer. He's a good option, but his priority should be lower than other players.

86 OVR João Félix Sequeira Ultimate Scream

• Pac: 85
• Sho: 86
• Pas: 85
• Dri: 89
• Def: 52
• Phy: 76

João Félix has First Touch+, but if he could get Technical+, his effect might be even better. His pace and physique have both improved significantly, while his dribbling has improved very little.

If you give him a Hunter chemistry style, his pace attribute will be even better. His five-star skill and four-star Weak Foot are also quite good. Although First Touch+ isn't the best, he's still usable in the game. You need to choose Quick Step and Rapid for him, and it will be faster.

85 OVR Heung Min Son LW++

• Pac: 84
• Sho: 84
• Pas: 81
• Dri: 83
• Def: 42
• Phy: 73

This card requires great care, as his dribbling attribute might be a bit low for his height and build at this stage of the game. Heung Min Son has one of the best playstyles, Finesse Shot+, which makes him perform very well, and he also has Weak Foot, allowing him to shoot with both feet, making his offense very strong.

General Advice

In short, for this evolution, you need to focus on cards that already possess certain meta-key conditions. When playing as a winger, many attacking rounds revolve around creating angles for your shots. Therefore, Finesse Shot ability should obviously be a primary consideration.

While Plenty of time Left evolution is essentially exclusive to Claudia Pina, you can sometimes find hidden gems. For example, João Félix, mentioned earlier, becomes significantly stronger in the game with this evolution.

The best candidate for this evolution is Claudia Pina, and her performance after evolving is absolutely insane. If you want the strongest Pina, it's recommended to first add Advanced Forward++ to her with Frosty Dribbler EVO, and then use this plan to obtain a beastly striker.