Who are the EA FC 25 Icons? EA has been busy adding to the star-studded list of soccer royalty that you'll be praying to pull in Ultimate Team this year. Featuring phenoms of the men's and women's sides of the beautiful game, there are some immaculate ballers to be acquired this season.
As the EA FC 25 release date approaches, EA has revealed the eight new Icons that have cemented their spot in the sports game, following last year's impressive list of inductees which featured the likes of Bobby Charlton and Mia Hamm. To find out who the EA FC 25 Icons are and how they've made their mark, read on.
EA FC 25 Icons
Here are the eight new EA FC 25 Icons:
Player Nationality Rating Aya Miyama Japan 90 Gareth Bale Wales 88 Gianluigi Buffon Italy 91 Julie Foudy USA 90 Lilian Thuram France 90 Lotta Schelin Sweden 90 Marinette Pichon France 88 Nadine Angerer Germany 92We've prepared an overview of the EA FC 25 Icons to get you up to speed:
- Aya Miyama
- Gareth Bale
- Gianluigi Buffon
- Julie Foudy
- Lilian Thuram
- Lotta Schelin
- Marinette Pichon
- Nadine Angerer
Aya Miyama
One of the centerpieces of Japan's now-legendary 2011 World Cup winning side, Aya Miyama was a serial winner on the international stage. Having also won gold at the 2010 Asian Games, and silver at the 2012 Olympics, Miyama would go on to wear the captain's armband for Japan between 2012 and 2016 when she retired.
While Miyama never won domestic gongs, she demonstrated excellent goalscoring capability while playing as an eight, netting over 100 times between her two stints at Okayama Yunogo Belle.
Gareth Bale
Though the back end of Gareth Bale's career was flush with quips about him preferring to spend his days on Spanish golf courses to playing football, the Welshman was an absolute force at the height of his powers. While he cut his teeth at Spurs, firstly as a wing-back before being moved higher up the pitch, it was at Real Madrid where Bale went on a silverware tear.
In nine campaigns at the Bernabeu, Bale helped Madrid rack up three La Liga titles and an eye-watering five Champions League gongs, scoring 81 times in 176 appearances over the period. Blending power, ferocity, and outrageous sauce, the streets won't forget Bale in a hurry – especially after that bicycle kick against Liverpool in the 2018 Champions League final. Sheesh.
Gianluigi Buffon
The rivalry between Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon during the early 2000s was an absolute treat to witness – two monsters between the sticks squaring off time and time again. While Buffon never lifted the Champions League trophy, he did manage to help Italy hoist the World Cup in 2006. Oh, and he may have taken home a small haul of ten Serie A titles with Juventus.
Though he may not have ended his career having won everything the beautiful game has to offer, Buffon is undoubtedly a soccer legend. His ability to keep the ball out of the back of the net was exemplary. If anything, though, it's his frightening consistency – he was Serie A goalkeeper of the year a whopping 13 times between 1999 and 2017 – that makes him one of the best keepers of all time.
Julie Foudy
National Soccer Hall of Famer Julie Foudy is an icon both on and off the pitch. Having retired with two World Cups and two Olympic gold medals to her name, Foudy helped form the original golden era of US women's soccer. So influential was Foudy's cohort that its success in the 1999 World Cup helped germinate the market for the original Women's United Soccer Association (the precursor to the NWSL we have today) back in 2000.
Off the pitch, Foudy has been deeply involved with advocacy work and activism. In 1998, for example, she received the FIFA Fair Play Award for her work against child labor in sports equipment manufacturing. A shining beacon at every level of her career, it's unsurprising that Foudy is joining former teammate Mia Hamm on the EA FC 25 Icons list.
Lilian Thuram
Lilian Thuram isn't only a best-selling author – the Frenchman is also a World Cup and Euros winner, having helped France achieve back-to-back silverware in 1998 and 2000 respectively. Renowned for his impressive on-pitch intelligence and ferocity, Thuram was one of the best defenders in the world at his zenith.
Thuram was, for a long time, France's most-capped player, donning the armband 142 times throughout his career – Hugo Lloris took the title from him in 2022. Thuram made over 500 appearances at club level, representing Monaco, Parma, Juventus, and finally Barcelona. Though his domestic career didn't quite reach the dizzying heights of his international one, he was an immaculate baller who knew exactly when to stick a leg in.
Lotta Schelin
Lotta Schelin was an absolute beast up front during her playing days, averaging almost a goal per appearance throughout her career. In fact, she averaged over that while at Lyon, netting a ridiculous 143 times in 138 appearances. As you can imagine, she helped the French outfit haul in the accolades as Lyon lorded over the league for eight seasons on the trot. She's also a three-time Champions League winner, putting her in an elite category few could only dream of reaching.
Schelin's exquisite goalscoring form translated internationally, too. With Sweden, she found the back of the net 88 times in 185 appearances. Though she doesn't have a World Cup or European Championship to her name, Sweden came close multiple times over her illustrious career. At the very least, she did come away with Olympic silver at Rio in 2016.
Marinette Pichon
Marinette Pichon's story is a powerful one. From navigating a turbulent childhood, to becoming the first French woman to sign a professional contract internationally, to becoming an LGBTQ+ icon and fighting for equality in women's sports, it wouldn't surprise us if someone turned it into a biopic – oh wait, they did.
Pichon was, categorically, the best French forward of her time, scoring 143 times in the 115 domestic appearances recorded. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pichon scored France's very first World Cup goal when it participated for the first time in 2003. Pichon hung up her boots shortly after France failed to qualify for the 2007 World Cup, reportedly citing the lack of investment in the women's game as a major pain point – a real loss for the sport.
Nadine Angerer
Though it's hard to imagine how another keeper can be placed on the same 92-stat pedestal as the godfather of goalkeeping, Lev Yashin, Nadine Angerer makes a solid case. A two-time World Cup winner and five-time European champion, Angerer was nothing short of exceptional during her time on the pitch.
While she has plenty of international gongs to her name, it was only at the 2007 World Cup that Angerer managed to take the number-one spot from an injured Silke Rottenberg. After nearly a decade of being the second-choice keeper, Angerer made a huge mark by setting the tournament record for most consecutive minutes played without conceding a goal – a staggering 540. Domestically, Angerer soaked up the silverware with Turbine Potsdam, winning the Champions League alongside two Bundesliga titles. A serial winner, Angerer has now won a spot on the EA FC 25 Icons list.
All FC 25 Icons
Here is every Icon in EA Sports FC 25:
Name POS OVR Pele CAM 95 Zinedine Zidane CAM 94 Ronaldo ST 94 Ronaldinho LW 93 Johan Cruyff CAM 93 Mia Hamm ST 93 Nadine Angerer GK 92 Gerd Muller ST 92 Bobby Charlton CAM 92 Lev Yashin GK 92 Paolo Maldini CB 92 Garrincha RW 92 Ferenc Puskas ST 92 Birgit Prinz ST 92 Gianluigi Buffon GK 91 Roberto Baggio CAM 91 Thierry Henry ST 91 Cafu RB 91 Zico CAM 91 Franco Baresi CB 91 Carlos Alberto RB 91 Marco van Basten ST 91 Homare Sawa CM 91 Eusebio ST 91 Julie Foudy CM 90 Aya Miyama LM 90 Lotta Schelin ST 90 Rivaldo LW 90 Iker Casillas GK 90 Andrea Pirlo CM 90 Xavi CM 90 Raul ST 90 Bobby Moore CB 90 Ruud Gullit CAM 90 George Best RW 90 Camille Abby CM 90 Del Piero CAM 90 Dennis Bergkamp ST 90 Roberto Carlos LB 90 Lothar Matthaus CM 90 Alan Shearer ST 89 Javier Zanetti RB 89 Alessandro Nesta CB 89 Fabio Cannavaro CB 89 Hristo Stoichkov ST 89 Luis Figo RW 89 Samuel Eto'o ST 89 Ruud van Nistelrooy ST 89 Didier Drogba ST 89 Phillip Lahm RB 89 Kaka CAM 89 Hugo Sanchez ST 89 Eric Cantona ST 89 Socrates CAM 89 Emilio Butragueno ST 89 Gary Lineker ST 89 Kelly Smith ST 89 Carles Puyol CB 89 Peter Schmeichel GK 89 Kenny Dalglish ST 89 Jairzinho RW 89 Gareth Bale RW 88 Marinette Pichon ST 88 Lillian Thuram RB 88 Paul Scholes CM 88 David Beckham RM 88 Marcel Desailly CB 88 Michael Owen ST 88 Pavel Nedved LM 88 Rio Ferdinand CB 88 Andriy Shevchenko ST 88 Steven Gerrard CM 88 Riquelme CAM 88 Petr Cech GK 88 Edwin van der Sar GK 88 Wayne Rooney ST 88 Bastian Schweinsteiger CM 88 Franck Ribery LM 88 Fernando Hierro CB 88 Gheorghe Hagi CAM 88 Ronald Koeman CB 88 Michael Laudrup CAM 88 Patrick Viera CM 88 Laurent Blanc CM 88 Miroslav Klose ST 88 Robin van Persie ST 88 Gianfranco Zola CAM 87 Robert Pires LM 87 Emmanuel Petit CDM 87 Claude Makelele CDM 87 Frank Lampard CM 87 Xabi Alonso CDM 87 Fernando Torres ST 87 Nemanja Vidic CB 87 Frank Rijkaard CDM 87 Davor Suker ST 87 Patrick Kluivert ST 87 John Barnes LW 87 Ian Rush ST 87 Ian Wright ST 87 Roy Keane CM 86 Hernan Crespo ST 86 Ashley Cole LB 86 Michael Essien CDM 86 Luis Hernandez ST 86 Henrik Larsson ST 86 Juan Sebastian Veron CM 86 Sol Campbell CB 86 Gennaro Gattuso CDM 86 Gianluca Zambrotta RB 86And that's all you need to know about the new EA FC 25 Icons that are entering Ultimate Team's hall of fame. EA has also revealed the EA FC 25 Heroes list, which you should peruse in case you haven't had the chance to see who's made the cut yet.
