FC 26 World Cup event: Release date and what to expect

The FIFA World Cup is starting in June, and that means the FC 26 event will be happening soon too!

This event happens every four years and is a highly anticipated update to the game, bringing the excitement of the world’s most prestigious football tournament to life for players.

Wondering about the 2026 World Cup? Here’s a quick guide to when the tournament begins and what you can expect.

When does the FC 26 World Cup event start?

The FC 26 World Cup event, dubbed ‘The World’s Game’, starts on 4 June 2026.

A first set of changes, including updates to PlayStyles and general gameplay, was released on May 28th. The complete update will follow a week later.

What to expect from the FC 26 World Cup event

The World’s Game brings a huge amount of new content to FC 26, including a whole new game mode.

To make things easier to parse, we’ve split everything up into sections.

The World’s Game tournament mode

The main new feature, called The World’s Game, lets you experience the entire tournament as a player.

Okay, so the game’s getting a huge update with a bunch of new nations to play as! We’re talking 53 different teams in total, which is awesome. And even cooler, 41 of those teams were actually in this year’s World Cup, so you can recreate some real matches. It’s gonna be a blast!

Notably missing from the list is Japan, which couldn’t be included because of licensing restrictions.

Furthermore, host stadiums such as Gillette Stadium and BMO Field will be added to the game.

Ultimate Team

Get ready for international football in Ultimate Team! We’re adding special Evolutions, new Festival of Football Tokens, and fresh weekly challenges and goals.

Tokens are a new reward you can get by playing modes like Rivals and Squad Battles, completing Objectives, or finishing Squad Building Challenges (SBCs).

As a FUT player, I’m really excited about this change! It looks like Tokens are going to be the main way we earn rewards now, and the best part is we’ll actually get to choose what we want to spend them on. That means more control over what we get for playing, which is awesome!

The better you perform in your weekly matches, the more Tokens you’ll receive, though there’s a limit to how many Tokens you can earn from playing each day.

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We’re also launching a rewards system for FUT Champs that’s similar to the current one, but works independently. You’ll earn FUT Champions Tokens that you can spend in a dedicated store.

During the event, players who log in will receive a 93-rated Festival of Football Icon Pelé card, which can be upgraded through three different Evolution paths.

We’ve also added the PlayStyles Lab, a new feature that lets you customize how four new Evolutions play by choosing their preferred PlayStyles and PlayStyles+.

Festival of Football: Journey of Nations is a weekly event where you’ll build teams representing different countries to finish challenges and earn rewards.

The teams will centre around FIFA confederations according to the following schedule:

North America (CONCACAF) – 4-11 June
Asia + Oceania (AFC + OFC) – 12-18 June
Africa (CAF) – 19-25 June
South America (CONMEBOL) – 26 June-2 July
Europe (UEFA) – 3 July

We’re adding over 100 new international players to FIFA Ultimate Team to boost your squad building, plus two exciting new Icons: Rivellino and Mario Kempes!

Festival of Football Campaigns

Between June 5th and July 24th, Ultimate Team will feature five special events, each bringing unique items to the game.

Path To Glory: 5-19 June
- Path to Glory opens the Festival of Football celebrations, following the journey of each nation with live Player Items that upgrade alongside the international action
Greats of the Game: 19-26 June
- Greats of the Game is all about the legends, introducing two new Icons, Mario Kempes and Rivellino, to honour big name players who defined eras of The World’s Game
Glory Hunters: 26 June-10 July
- Glory Hunters brings PlayStyle customisation to selected Player Items for more control over squad building
Phenoms: 10-17 July
- Phenoms shines a light on football’s next generation. Spotlighting young players and debutants looking to stand out as the world watches on.
Summer Stars: 17-24 July
- The Festival of Football finale culminates in a celebration of the biggest moments and greatest performers.

Career Mode

Career Mode will now include the men’s World Cup, working similarly to how it was featured in The World’s Game mode.

I’m so excited that when I start a new game, I’ll be able to manage all the new international teams that are being added in this update right from the start! It’s awesome that they won’t be locked or added later – I can jump in and play with them immediately.

We’ve also added some exciting new features, like End of Season Live Starting Points to help you build your team just before the World Cup, plus a new Festival of Football Icons and Heroes, and fresh Live Challenges and Season Objectives.

Penalty Shootouts Event

Finally, we have the new Penalty Shootout Event – and let’s be real, it’s probably the least important update we’ve covered.

It’s exactly what it sounds like – a limited-time event that lets you play out a penalty shootout.

It will be available in both Kick-Off and Ultimate Team.

Authors

Alex RaisbeckGaming writer

Alex Raisbeck writes about video games for TopMob, covering both major releases and smaller, independent titles. He’s also contributed to well-known gaming publications like VideoGamer, GamesRadar+, PC Gamer, and PCGamesN.

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2026-05-29 12:00