“ealayer_join_party_failed” error – can’t join or invite friends on FC 26

I’ve been getting this persistent error on EA Sports FC 26 (PC – Steam version) whenever I try to join or invite a friend:

“ealayer_join_party_failed”

Here are the details of the issue:

Platform: PC (Steam)
Both me and my friend are using EA App and we both appear online
We are on the same version of the game
NAT type is Open
We are playing on the same platform (PC)

I have already tried the following troubleshooting steps:

Restarted EA App and Steam
Cleared EA App cache
Reinstalled the game and EA App
Verified my network and firewall settings
Disabled antivirus temporarily
Checked that my Steam and EA accounts are properly linked

Despite all of this, the issue still persists.
Could this be related to an EA Layer / party service issue, or a connection sync problem between EA and Steam accounts?

Please let me know if there’s any known fix or additional steps I can try.

Thanks in advance for your help 🙏