It’s been a busy start to 2023 for fans of FIFA 23 with the comedown from the FIFA World Cup continuing.

January brought with it the voting process and annoucement of the EA SPORTS Team of the Year, many of whom lit up the tournament late last year. Millions of fans across the globe voiced their opinion on who should make the prestigious TOTY Final XI, honoring the world’s best of 2022.

The team sees Belgium’s Thibaut Courtois named in goals and he is one of four players from Champions League winners Real Madrid in the XI. 25 world-class defenders were nominated and after days of public deliberation, Achraf Hakimi, Éder Militão, Theo Hernández, and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk were voted in by the fans.

The midfield sees England’s only inclusion in the form of Jude Bellingham who has been in impressive form for Borussia Dortmund. He is joined by Kevin de Bruyne and Luka Modrić who played a key role in getting Croatia to the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup.

There are no surprises up front with Karin Benzema joining the PSG duo of Kylian Mbappé and Lionel Messi who all lit up the international stage in 2022 with Mbappé named the Golden Boot of the World Cup.

As in previous years fans also had the opportunity to vote in-game for their 12th man of the year, the final player added to the TOTY collective. The three players who narrowly missed out on the final XI were Erling Haaland, Federico Valverde, and João Cancelo. Last week, EA SPORTS announced Manchester City superstar Haaland as the 12th man with 60% percent of the vote. In 2022, Haaland’s stats were astonishing, with 37 goals in 32 starts, along with 120 shots and 34 chances created. Haaland started his Manchester City career with a bang, breaking the record for most goals in the first 5 (9) and 10 (15) Premier League appearances, and also becoming the first player to score in their first 4 away appearances.

The full TOTY lineup, including the 12th man player item, is available now on FIFA 23 and will be coming to FIFA Mobile in early February.

Meanwhile, Premier League stars have been dominating the headlines in the Team of the Week since its return. Man United duo Luke Shaw and Marcus Rashford were both recognised for their efforts since the New Year with TOTW nods while City’s Riyad Mahrez was one of the top performers of TOTW 13 following his goalscoring efforts of late.

New TOTW releases are available in FIFA Ultimate Team every Wednesday from 6pm BST.

Future Star kicks off in early February, so make sure to follow @EASPORTSFIFA on Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to keep up to date with all the latest news and updates.

Source: punditarena.com