FC 26 Gameplay Feedback – Core Systems Are Fundamentally Broken

This isn’t a tuning issue.

It isn’t “early patch adjustments needed.”

It’s a foundational intelligence problem.

Right now, FC 26 does not understand football at a systems level. Multiple core mechanics actively work against logic, positioning, and player intent.

Below is a breakdown of what’s going wrong.

1. Passing Logic Has No Spatial Awareness

Passing feels disconnected from player input and football fundamentals.

The engine consistently selects the wrong target.

Pass down, it passes up. Pass right it passes left.

Simple or obvious passing lanes are ignored.

Through balls are to overpowered and normal passes to underpowered. U got people that just exploit the mechanics of the game spamming the incisive pass with no logic other than its too strong.

The system shows no awareness of angles, pressure, or body positioning.

It often feels like the game overrides your decision and chooses chaos.

This isn’t difficulty. It’s just broken.

2. Bounce-Back Tackles

Winning the ball cleanly should end an attack.

Instead:

You time a tackle perfectly.

You clearly win possession.

The ball ricochets instantly back to the attacker.

The attack continues like nothing happened.

Repeatedly.

This creates artificial pressure and removes defensive reward. Tackling is reduced to a minor inconvenience instead of a skill-based action.

3. Overpowered Tackles From Behind, overpowered physical duels

Defenders can:

Stick out a leg from behind with zero body position.

Magnetically hook the ball away.

Win possession with no foul called.

Physical challenges are waaay to strong, i mean my 99 strength player get bullied of the ball like nothing by a 77 female. Physical only favours defender. Its completely idiotic gameplay.

Meanwhile, attackers lose the ball from the slightest toe contact as if the defender’s boot has superglue on it.

Skill dribbling is punished. Blind tackling is rewarded.

4. Defensive AI

Centre-backs:

Abandon the defensive line with no trigger.

Create massive gaps for through balls.

Defending in this game is just incredibly moronic.

Fullbacks randomly tuck inside instead of tracking the winger they’re supposed to mark. Centre-backs follow runners deep into the box instead of holding the line, completely killing any chance of an offside trap. Meanwhile CDMs and midfielders just jog back half-heartedly and don’t track runs properly at all.

The result is chaos every single attack. You’re constantly fighting your own AI more than the opponent. Defensive structure just collapses for no logical reason.

And yes, attacking AI is also pretty dumb — players making terrible runs or standing still — but at least that doesn’t completely break the game the way defensive AI does.

Right now the level of AI honestly feels like something from a game two decades ago. It’s incredibly poor for a modern football title. At this point it really feels like the people making these gameplay decisions don’t understand basic football structure or how defensive positioning should actually work.

There is no consistent defensive structure logic.

5. Corners = Instant Counterattacks (Again)

After a corner:

Your players are out of position.

One clearance turns into a 3v2 or 4v2 sprint.

No recovery AI logic activates.

This isn’t realistic counterplay. It’s systemic imbalance.

6. Attacking AI Is Either Static or Brain-Dead

Forwards:

Stand still next to defenders.

Make runs directly into marked areas.

Sprint into offside like a blind buffalo in a stampede.

Ignore obvious gaps between centre-backs.

There’s no timing, no staggered runs, no reading of play.

7. Dribbling and Creativity Nerfed Into Oblivion

Dribbling has been reduced to:

Clumsy collisions.

Coin-flip animations.

Random dispossession.

Creative play is punished. Exploit mechanics are rewarded.

Anything that requires skill rather than abuse of mechanics has been systematically weakened.

8. Goalkeeper Inconsistency

Keepers:

Concede from impossible tight angles.

Fail to react to near-post shots.

Miss routine saves.

Then pull off superhuman saves from point-blank range.

There’s no logic curve. It feels animation-driven, not physics-driven.

Certain angles should not be 100% goals.

9. “Impossible” Solo Goals

Players can:

Run straight through multiple defenders.

Ignore physical pressure.

Score from unrealistic shooting positions.

Meanwhile structured build-up play is unreliable.

The balance favors chaos over football.

10. Reward Structure Punishes the Average Player

Example:

24 attempts required.

20 wins needed for full rewards.

That locks a large portion of the player base out.

Instead of scaling rewards fairly, the system demands near-perfection.

It discourages participation.

11. Pack Weight & Progression Frustration

Whether intentional or not:

Pack luck feels heavily unrewarding.

Progression feels grind-gated.

Rewards don’t match effort.

If gameplay is frustrating and rewards are underwhelming, engagement drops fast.

12. Server Instability & Input Delay

Especially during objective tournaments:

Heavy gameplay.

Delayed inputs.

Inconsistent responsiveness.

Skill gap disappears when responsiveness isn’t consistent.

13. Rubberbanding & Objective Quitting

When players:

Rubberband to complete objectives.

Intentionally lose to avoid playing…

That’s not a community problem. That’s a gameplay satisfaction problem.

People avoid playing because the experience isn’t enjoyable.

Core Issue: The Game Doesn’t Reward Football Intelligence

Right now:

Reading the play isn’t rewarded.

Tackling cleanly isn’t rewarded.

Creative dribbling isn’t rewarded.

Structured defending isn’t rewarded.

Patient build-up isn’t rewarded.

Exploit-heavy, chaotic play is.

This isn’t realism. It isn’t difficulty. It’s low-level decision logic across multiple systems.

What Needs to Change

Rework spatial awareness in passing.

Remove or drastically reduce bounce-back possession immunity.

Tone down behind-the-back tackling magnetism.

Fix defensive line discipline AI.

Balance corner recovery logic.

Improve attacking run intelligence and offside awareness.

Restore dribbling responsiveness and reward skill input.

Stabilize goalkeeping logic based on angle and distance.

Overpowered females outmuscle big guys. Just seriously. Just give evryone pink hair and pink boots allready.

Adjust reward systems to scale more fairly.

Fix server responsiveness before adding more content.

If this is the intended gameplay direction, then it’s deeply concerning.

Because right now, FC 26 doesn’t feel competitive. It doesn’t feel realistic. And it definitely doesn’t feel intelligent.

A great example is when my midfielder just runs past the guy with the ball to go to his position instead of going for the ball

Tactics are terrible...

It feels like a football game that doesn’t understand football.  

U also have negative game mechanics. The game is full of them, like ur player slowing down, tumbling for 4 seconds, or the best way to prove it... If u try to pass at the back ur passes come unprecise and the first touch becomes difficult even from a small pass. So yes game is actively trying to make u worse.

Many more things as well but all these are core problems with the game.

But the really tragic part is... This is not at all fun or enjoyable.

Ping used to average around 30ms. Now it’s sitting at 38ms.

Either half the player base quit overnight, or the servers have somehow gotten worse. And honestly? It feels like the latter.

Gameplay is completely off. The connection feels delayed, heavy, unresponsive. Whether it’s bad ping or just broken mechanics, dribbling has been absolutely nerfed into the ground. Players turn like trucks, skill moves feel delayed, and responsiveness is nowhere near what it should be.

This isn’t “competitive difficulty.” It’s input lag and clunky gameplay.

Right now, it’s borderline unplayable.

Fix the servers. Fix the responsiveness. Because this? This isn’t it.

On a scale of 1 to 6 this is a clear 1. Its a really really terrible product and should never been released.

This reeks of lack of understanding, lazy solutions and a complete lack of care about football or your customers.

Just horrible 

If i ever want to just destroy and take everything thats fun out of something i would hire EA.

Sry for long post, but its just so much wrong with the game