Team of the Year (TOTY) is always one of the biggest promotions on the EA FIFA calendar and there are 80 players in the running to make this year's FUT Team of the Year.
Voting officially opened on Monday, Jan. 10 and runs until Jan. 18 with the results expected to be announced shortly after.
Here's everything you need to know about FIFA's Team of the Year, how it works, when it's announced and why it's good news for gamers.
Back the world's best. #TOTY starts tomorrow.
— EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) January 6, 2022
Vote begins January 10th 📅 pic.twitter.com/WWzgex0LDY
What is the EA FIFA Team of the Year?
The FUT Team of the Year is a special-edition squad of the best-performing players from the previous calendar year. The EA FIFA 22 FUT Team of the Year will celebrate the best players of 2021 and those players will get significant upgrades in the game.
The 11 players chosen in the Team of the Year as well as a 12th player voted by the fans will be among the highest-rated players in the game until the next edition of the game (FIFA 23) is released.
As a result, these players are hugely popular and many people save up their packs to open them during the Team of the Year promotion in the hope of packing one of these elite players.
This was last year's TOTY and 12th player with over 10 million fans submitting votes according to EA Sports:
FIFA Team of the Year release date
According to FUTZone, a reputable source for information on FIFA 22 promotions, the Team of the Year squad is expected to be released beginning on Friday, Jan. 21.
It’s nearly that time again. 👀
— FUTZone - FIFA22 (@FUTZONECENTRAL) January 4, 2022
Some TOTY info 🔵👇🏻
- Nominees should start on Friday, 7th Of January!
- TOTY - Official Start date - 21st of January
I am beyond excited! 🇪🇬👑 #FIFA22 pic.twitter.com/bh6Tfb7U35
The Team of the Year is not typically released at once, with batches of players unveiled during the course of the week before the full TOTY and the 12th player are all available in packs at the end of the promotion.
The finalists trickled in between Friday, Jan. 7 and Sunday, Jan. 9 with voting officially opening on Monday, Jan. 10. Here's the timeline:
- Fri, Jan. 7: Finalists announced — attackers
- Sat, Jan. 8: Finalists announced — midfielders
- Sun, Jan. 9: Finalists announced — goalkeepers & defenders
- Mon, Jan. 10: Fan voting begins
- Mon, Jan. 18: Fan voting closes
- Fri, Jan. 21: Reported release date for TOTY
FUT Team of the Year finalists
The FUT TOTY nominees were released between January 7 and January 9, with voting opening on Monday, January 10 and closing on Monday, January 18.
There is a total of 80 players on the various positional shortlists (see below), but only 11 will make the final Team of the Year with a 4-3-3 formation used.
Among the likely inclusions are Robert Lewandowski, who finished 2021 with more goals than any other player, while Lionel Messi lifted the Ballon d'Or.
Gianluigi Donnarumma or Edouard Mendy are both contenders for the goalkeeper spot, with Donnarumma possibly having the edge after being named Player of the Tournament at Euro 2021 and winning the Yashin trophy.
Manchester City defenders Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo are strong candidates to be part of the back line, while N'Golo Kante will be a popular selection as one of the midfielders after his Champions League heroics.
Mohamed Salah's strong start to 2021-22 should be enough to make the starting XI, but if not, he is likely to be included in the vote for the 12th player.
FUT Team of the Year finalists: Goalkeepers (7)
Name | Position | Club | National Team |
Thibaut Courtois | GK | Real Madrid | Belgium |
Gianluigi Donnarumma | GK | Paris Saint-Germain | Italy |
Ederson | GK | Manchester City | Brazil |
Mike Maignan | GK | AC Milan | France |
Emiliano Martinez | GK | Aston Villa | Argentina |
Edouard Mendy | GK | Chelsea | Senegal |
Jan Oblak | GK | Atletico Madrid | Slovenia |
FUT Team of the Year finalists: Defenders (25)
Name | Position | Club | National Team |
David Alaba | DF | Real Madrid | Austria |
Jordi Alba | DF | Barcelona | Spain |
Trent Alexander-Arnold | DF | Liverpool | England |
Cesar Azpilicueta | DF | Chelsea | Spain |
Leonardo Bonucci | DF | Juventus (Piemonte Calcio) | Italy |
Joao Cancelo | DF | Manchester City | Portugal |
Giorgio Chiellini | DF | Juventus (Piemonte Calcio) | Italy |
Alphonso Davies | DF | Bayern Munich | Canada |
Ruben Dias | DF | Manchester City | Portugal |
Christian Gunter | DF | SC Freiburg | Germany |
Achraf Hakimi | DF | Paris Saint-Germain | Morocco |
Theo Hernandez | DF | AC Milan | France |
Mats Hummels | DF | Borussia Dortmund | Germany |
Simon Kjaer | DF | AC Milan | Denmark |
Jules Kounde | DF | Sevilla | France |
Marquinhos | DF | Paris Saint-Germain | Brazil |
Jesus Navas | DF | Sevilla | Spain |
Reinildo | DF | LOSC Lille | Mozambique |
Cristian Romero | DF | Tottenham | Argentina |
Antonio Rudiger | DF | Chelsea | Germany |
Luke Shaw | DF | Manchester United | England |
Milan Skriniar | DF | Inter Milan | Slovakia |
Leonardo Spinazzola | DF | AS Roma (Roma FC) | Italy |
Kieran Trippier | DF | Newcastle United | England |
Kyle Walker | DF | Manchester City | England |
FUT Team of the Year finalists: Midfielders (26)
Name | Position | Club | National Team |
Nicolo Barella | MF | Inter Milan | Italy |
Jude Bellingham | MF | Borussia Dortmund | England |
Casemiro | MF | Real Madrid | Brazil |
Kevin De Bruyne | MF | Manchester City | Belgium |
Luis Diaz | MF | Porto | Colombia |
Fabinho | MF | Liverpool | Brazil |
Nabil Fekir | MF | Real Betis | France |
Bruno Fernandes | MF | Manchester United | Portugal |
Phil Foden | MF | Manchester City | England |
Leon Goretzka | MF | Bayern Munich | Germany |
Jorginho | MF | Chelsea | Italy |
N'Golo Kante | MF | Chelsea | France |
Joshua Kimmich | MF | Bayern Munich | Germany |
Filip Kostic | MF | Eintracht Frankfurt | Serbia |
Manuel Locatelli | MF | Juventus (Piemonte Calcio) | Italy |
Marcos Llorente | MF | Atletico Madrid | Spain |
Luka Modric | MF | Real Madrid | Croatia |
Mason Mount | MF | Chelsea | England |
Thomas Muller | MF | Bayern Munich | Germany |
Dani Olmo | MF | RB Leipzig | Spain |
Lucas Paqueta | MF | Lyon | Brazil |
Pedri | MF | Barcelona | Spain |
Declan Rice | MF | West Ham | England |
Son Heung-min | MF | Tottenham | South Korea |
Marco Verratti | MF | Paris Saint-Germain | Italy |
Florian Wirtz | MF | Bayer Leverkusen | Germany |
FUT Team of the Year finalists: Attackers (22)
Name | Position | Club | National Team |
Karim Benzema | FW | Real Madrid | France |
Federico Chiesa | FW | Juventus (Piemonte Calcio) | Italy |
Jonathan David | FW | LOSC Lille | Canada |
Jack Grealish | FW | Manchester City | England |
Erling Haaland | FW | Borussia Dortmund | Norway |
Ciro Immobile | FW | Lazio (Latium) | Italy |
Lorenzo Insigne | FW | Napoli | Italy |
Harry Kane | FW | Tottenham Hotspur | England |
Robert Lewandowski | FW | Bayern Munich | Poland |
Romelu Lukaku | FW | Chelsea | Belgium |
Lautaro Martinez | FW | Inter Milan | Argentina |
Kylian Mbappe | FW | Paris Saint-Germain | France |
Lionel Messi | FW | Paris Saint-Germain | Argentina |
Gerard Moreno | FW | Villarreal CF | Spain |
Neymar | FW | Paris Saint-Germain | Brazil |
Mikel Oyarzabal | FW | Real Sociedad | Spain |
Dimitri Payet | MF | Marseille | France |
Cristiano Ronaldo | FW | Manchester United | Portugal |
Mohamed Salah | FW | Liverpool | Egypt |
Luis Suarez | FW | Atletico Madrid | Uruguay |
Dusan Tadic | FW | Ajax | Serbia |
Dusan Vlahovic | FW | Fiorentina | Serbia |
Team of the Year SBCs and upgrades
In addition to the Team of the Year and the 12th player, additional upgraded players will be available through Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) and Objectives.
These are usually TOTY Flashback players, celebrating players who were either in previous Team of the Year squads, or else TOTY Moments players, which are awarded to players who had significant and memorable moments throughout the year.
These SBCs are usually available for a limited time only, while there also tends to be a special SBC for the TOTY kit which can only be redeemed during the Team of the Year promotion.