FC 26 Gameplay Feels Artificial, One-Sided, and Manipulated
FC 26 no longer feels like a fair, competitive football game. Instead of rewarding skill, tactics, and player attributes equally, the game regularly tilts the playing field in favor of one player at a time, creating lopsided matches where one side is clearly assisted while the other is actively hindered.
Players routinely defy physics and logic:
Opponent players jump over passes, intercept balls they’re not facing, or run straight through passes. Clean tackles result in the ball bouncing straight back to the attacker—often multiple times in a single phase of play.
Players with 60 pace catch or outrun 95–99 pace players, while your fastest wingers suddenly can’t beat anyone. Pace feels boosted or nerfed depending on which side the game is favoring.
Opponents recover from being beaten with impossible reach and strength, while your defenders fail to apply the same pressure under identical conditions.
Simple passes go wildly off-target at key moments—especially when controlling possession or protecting a lead—while the opposing player’s passes remain crisp under pressure.
Defenders step aside to open lanes, midfielders stop tracking runs, and attackers hide behind markers. This positional breakdown overwhelmingly affects one side more than the other.
Fullbacks randomly tuck inside, leaving wide areas completely exposed. Manual defending is punished while the AI fails to provide basic support.
In some matches, everything flows—touches are clean, rebounds fall favorably, shots go in. In others, your players feel delayed, heavy, and unresponsive, while the opponent benefits from perfect positioning and reactions.
When leading around the 75–80th minute, the opponent often receives:
Aggressive, flawless man-marking
Interceptions across every passing lane
AI defenders that auto-block everything
Meanwhile, your team’s movement and passing noticeably deteriorate.
Players will watch the ball roll past them or run away from danger, as if the system has decided they are no longer meant to influence the play.
Holding the ball causes increased mis-controls, slower animations, and poor passing—while the opponent retains full responsiveness.
Strength and size stats often don’t matter, with smaller or lower-strength players—particularly women—outmuscling far stronger opponents, breaking immersion and logic.
Identical challenges produce different outcomes depending on which player currently has the advantage.
When the game favors a player, meta cards become overwhelming; when it doesn’t, even top players feel unusable.
Skill gaps are overridden by advantage swings:
Tactical discipline and manual defending matter less than whether the game boosts your AI positioning, reactions, and ball retention.
Spending money reduces the impact of disadvantage:
Overpowered cards can partially brute-force through unfavorable gameplay, reinforcing the feeling that fairness is secondary to monetization.
FC 26 doesn’t consistently decide matches—but it frequently decides who gets the advantage, and that advantage affects:
Player responsiveness
AI positioning
Physical duels
Rebounds
Passing reliability
Match flow
When the advantage is on your side, the game feels smooth and enjoyable. When it isn’t, it feels like you’re fighting both the opponent and your own team.
That imbalance is what makes FC 26 feel frustrating, exhausting, and increasingly unfair.
