TOTY FIFA 22 vote: Finalists, release date and upgrades for FUT Team of the Year

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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.

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. 

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.

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