FC 26 Player Roles explained: Best Player Role for each position, including new options

Wondering which player roles are the most effective in FC 26? Or curious about what’s new this year? You’ve come to the right place!

As a Football Club fan, I was really excited about the Player Roles they added in FC 25 – it totally changed how you could approach tactics. But FC 26 takes it even further! They’ve given us even *more* ways to customize things, whether you’re building a dynasty in Career Mode or competing online in Ultimate Team. It’s awesome!

Here, we’ll explain what each of the updated roles involves, and then share our picks for the best player roles for every position on the field.

New Player Roles in FC 26

A ball-playing goalkeeper isn’t just a shot-stopper; they actively come off their line, often near the edge of their own half, to collect through balls and help their team play out from the back when opponents pressure them high up the field. Players like David Raya and Alisson are good examples of this style.

However, there are also downsides, like becoming susceptible to lob shots if your opponent quickly regains possession of the ball.

Inverted Wingback

Players who play as inverted wingbacks, such as Myles Lewis-Skelly and Marc Cucurella, share a similarity with last year’s ‘falsebacks’ – they both tend to push higher up the field when they have possession of the ball.

Instead of staying deep in the middle of the field, they’ll push forward to offer more passing choices and could even act like an extra forward.

Wide Back

Wide center-backs are defenders who can easily move towards the sidelines to help cover for full-backs when they join the attack.

Players like Benjamin Pavard and Piero Hincapié often feature as wing-backs in a three-center-back formation, providing width and support from the flanks.

Box Crasher

Looking for a central midfielder who can make impactful runs into the box, like Declan Rice or Patri Guijarro, to score from crosses or loose balls? The ‘Box Crasher’ player role is designed for exactly that.

Pushing your midfielders forward can leave space in the middle of the field, so choose a player who can run a lot to get back and cover.

The best Player Roles in FC 26

Okay, so figuring out Player Roles in FC 26 isn’t super straightforward, but what I’ve found works best is just messing around with the team screen before a game. You basically want to fill everything with green – that shows you’re covered in that area. If you see gaps, that means you need to adjust your roles to make sure you’ve got a well-rounded team. It’s all about experimenting to see what clicks!

While it’s exciting to have attacking full-backs, you’ll need to make sure your other defenders can cover the field, or have your midfielders help out defensively.

Here are some of our top Player Roles, in any case.

Best Goalkeeper Player Role in FC 26

We recommend choosing “Goalkeeper – Balanced” again this year. This setting makes your goalkeeper good at both passing the ball and coming off their line to defend when needed, but they won’t rush forward too often.

This year’s game featuring PlayStyle ++ offers the typical top goalkeeper choices: Courtois from Real Madrid, Donnarumma from Manchester City, and Oblak from Atletico Madrid.

Best LB and RB Player Role in FC 26

We used a Falesback strategy last year, but this year we’ve switched to Wingback (Balanced). This setup requires full-backs with high stamina who can also contribute to the attack by moving forward, creating passing options and delivering crosses.

Players like Theo Hernandez of Al-Hilal and Josko Gvardiol from Manchester City excel on the left side, while Jules Kounde of Barcelona and Jeremie Frimpong of Liverpool are strong options on the right.

Best CB Player Role in FC 26

This year, we’ve favored a balanced Centre Back, which complements our wingback selections. Players like Gabriel from Arsenal and Jonathan Tah from Bayern are good examples of this type of defender.

These defenders enjoy strong, physical challenges and can move quickly enough to force opponents away from scoring opportunities.

Best CDM Player Role in FC 26

We enjoy seeing players make late runs into the penalty area to score with a powerful header, so we’ve named this tactic ‘Box Crasher’. Players like Declan Rice and Kim Little will try to join the attack and overwhelm the defense when the ball is crossed into the box.

Best CM Player Role in FC 26

To help our central midfielder contribute to both attacking and defending, we’re choosing a ‘Box-to-Box’ player role, focusing on winning the ball back.

Players such as Federico Valverde of Real Madrid contribute on both ends of the field – they defend with tackles and also push the attack forward.

Best CAM Player Role in FC 26

I’m really liking how we’re using the Playmaker (Build-Up) tactic. It’s awesome because it lets our most creative midfielder drop back a bit to get the ball, and that movement also draws defenders away from where they need to be, creating space for everyone else.

Florian Wirtz of Liverpool and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid are both excellent options, as they’re skilled at using their agility to either pass the ball wide, get it to the forward, or create opportunities on their own.

Best LW and RW Player Role in FC 26

Since we’re controlling the middle of the field and have players stretching the game wide on the flanks, using ‘Inside Forwards’ in attacking positions on the wings is a smart choice.

This setup will see players like Mo Salah, Vinicius Jr., or Ousmane Dembele begin on the wings and either move centrally or make runs towards the goal when the ball is crossed in from the other side.

Best ST Player Role in FC 26

For our striker, we’ve chosen “Poacher (Versatile)”. This type of player is consistently in the penalty area, similar to Alessia Russo or Alexander Isak, but they’re also able to drop back towards midfield to help create opportunities if they aren’t receiving enough passes.

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2025-09-24 16:37