EA Sports have released their FC 24 Ultimate Team of the Season, which celebrates the top-performing players from across the prominent leagues around the world, all of whom have found their way into a revamped format of the end-of-season dream team.
In a change from the norm, the annual Team of the Season list isn't presented in standard "best XI" form. Instead, EA Sports have created an Ultimate Team of the Season list backed by Opta data.
The FC24 Ultimate TOTS is broken down into three lists: one of the best players from the top men's leagues in the world; one of the best players in the top women's leagues, and one for mixed leagues -- i.e., the best men's players who are currently playing outside of the very elite tiers.
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The three lists come together under the same umbrella to create one, ultimate 34-member squad made up of the very best players around the world in the 2023-24 season. There is no public fan vote to sway proceedings this year -- no ulterior motives, no agendas or allegiances. Just an official Team of the Season that is fully reinforced by real-world performance data.
Having scoured the EA Sports FC 24 Ultimate Team of the Season, here are our main takeaways.
'Big Five' leagues share the spoils
The spread of players across Europe's big five leagues is far more equal than we've seen in recent years with the English Premier League, Spain's LaLiga and the German Bundesliga all offering five TOTS players apiece while Italy's Serie A has three and France's Ligue 1 has just two.
When it comes to individual clubs, no team has more players included on the men's list than Real Madrid (Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Jr and Federico Valverde) with Manchester City (Erling Haaland and Phil Foden), Bayern Munich (Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala), Bayer Leverkusen (Jeremie Frimpong and Alejandro Grimaldo), Liverpool (Virgil van Dijk and Mohamed Salah) and AC Milan (Theo Hernández and Rafael Leão) all putting forth two players each.
Very happy to be chosen for the #TOTY, thank you to everyone that voted for me 💙 @EASPORTSFC pic.twitter.com/ivzpZekDLP
— Erling Haaland (@ErlingHaaland) January 22, 2024
The Men's Mixed Leagues list is full of star names who are currently playing further afield with three players from the Saudi Pro League, one from MLS, one from the Portuguese top flight and one from the Belgian Pro League.
Barca fail to dominate Women's Ultimate TOTS
When it comes to the women's Ultimate TOTS list, no club is represented more than once and that is despite Barcelona's all-conquering form in 2023-24. Indeed, the Catalans' only inclusion is Aitana Bonmati despite her side winning their domestic league title, the Copa de la Reina, the Spanish Super Cup and the UEFA Women's Champions League.
The eight players included in the TOTS hail from eight different clubs with Bonmati (Barca), Lauren James (Chelsea), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns), Tabitha Chawinga (PSG), Debinha (Kansas City Current), Lauren Hemp (Manchester City), Selma Bacha (Olympique Lyonnais) and Georgia Stanway (Bayern Munich) ensuring that the plaudits are shared out evenly.
The @easportsfc BWSL Future Stars are in...
— Barclays Women's Super League (@BarclaysWSL) February 16, 2024
The future looks 🤩!
Congratulations Lauren James, @MelvineMalard, @MayaLeTissier and @lauren__hemp!
#FutureStars pic.twitter.com/QZPSvX1jmS
Messi and Ronaldo both included
Fans of ever-present EA Sports' Team of the Season stalwarts Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo can breathe a sigh of relief as their twin footballing heroes have both made it into the 2024 edition via the aforementioned "Mixed Leagues" route.
Simply the best.
— EA SPORTS FC (@EASPORTSFC) May 31, 2024
The #FC24 Ultimate Team of the Season has arrived. #TOTS pic.twitter.com/L6f3khoDZk
Despite not currently plying their trade in a top league, veteran duo Messi and Ronaldo have played their way into the Team of the Season after both maintaining their stellar statistical output in MLS and the Saudi Pro League respectively.
Leverkusen title winners among TOTS debutants
Having never had a player included in the TOTS before this campaign, Bayer Leverkusen have seen their flawless Bundesliga title victory celebrated with two of their pivotal players being included in the 2023-24 selection for the first time.
Jeremie Frimpong and Alex Grimaldo are Leverkusen's two representatives on the list, meaning they are level with vanquished German foes Bayern Munich, who have also contributed two players in Harry Kane and Jamal Musiala, who is himself a TOTS debutant.
Nice job, @grimaldo35! 👏#TOTW | @EASPORTSFC | #FC24 pic.twitter.com/y7GbJ6VURN
— Bayer 04 Leverkusen (@bayer04_en) March 12, 2024
The only other Bundesliga star to find their way into the EA Sports TOTS also happens to have done so for the first time, namely Borussia Dortmund centre-back Nico Schlotterbeck. Elsewhere, Girona winger Sávio has been given a TOTS nod for the first time in his career, as has Monaco's attacking midfielder Aleksandr Golovin.
EA SPORTS FC 24 Men's Ultimate TOTS
Jude Bellingham, Real Madrid
Erling Haaland, Manchester City
Lautaro Martínez, Inter
Kylian Mbappé, PSG
Harry Kane, Bayern München
Theo Hernández, AC Milan
Virgil van Dijk, Liverpool
Jeremie Frimpong, Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Vini Jr., Real Madrid
Phil Foden, Manchester City
Declan Rice, Arsenal
Federico Valverde, Real Madrid
Robert Lewandowski, FC Barcelona
Mohamed Salah, Liverpool
Jamal Musiala, Bayern München
Rafael Leão, AC Milan
Alejandro Grimaldo, Bayer 04 Leverkusen
Alexandr Golovin, AS Monaco
Sávio, Girona FC
Nico Schlotterbeck, Borussia Dortmund
EA SPORTS FC 24 Women's Ultimate TOTS
Lauren James, Chelsea
Sophia Smith, Portland Thorns FC
Aitana Bonmatí, FC Barcelona
Tabitha Chawinga, PSG
Debinha, Kansas City Current
Lauren Hemp, Manchester City
Selma Bacha, Olympique Lyonnais
Georgia Stanway, Bayern München
EA SPORTS FC 24 Mixed Leagues Ultimate TOTS
Lionel Messi, Inter Miami
Cristiano Ronaldo, Al Nassr
Kalidou Koulibaly, Al Hilal
Angel Di Maria, Benfica
Riyad Mahrez, Al Ahli
Toby Alderweireld, Antwerp