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.

Simple or obvious passing lanes are ignored.

Through balls are to overpowered and normal passes to underpowered.

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

Defenders can:

Stick out a leg from behind with zero body position.

Magnetically hook the ball away.

Win possession with no foul called.

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:

Randomly step up to follow attackers into ur box creating space instead of holding line putting them in offside.

Abandon the defensive line with no trigger.

Create massive gaps for through balls.

Full-backs tuck in when they shouldn’t. CDMs don’t track runners. Defenders don’t understand risk management.

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.

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.

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

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

On a scale of 1 to 6 this is a clear 1