Error message in UT

Issue Summary

Every time I attempt to enter FUT (Football Ultimate Team) in EA Sports FC 26, I receive the following error message:

"An error occurred downloading the Football Ultimate Team squad update. Please try again."

This issue has been occurring for 2 days. The error appears after approximately 30–60 seconds of loading.

System & Platform Information

• Platform: PC
• Game launcher: Steam
• EA App: Installed and used alongside Steam
• Antivirus: Windows Defender only (no third-party antivirus)
• Duration of issue: 2 days (previously played without issues for almost a full year on this same PC)

What Is Working

• All other game modes (Career Mode, Kick Off, etc.) work normally
• FUT works correctly via the EA FC 26 Companion App / web app – confirming the account and FUT squad are intact
• EA server status page shows all services as operational
• EA account login works correctly

Troubleshooting Steps Already Attempted

All of the following steps have been completed without resolving the issue:

Game Files & Installation

• Verified integrity of game files via Steam (Right-click FC 26 > Properties > Local Files > Verify integrity of game files)
• Fully uninstalled the game via Steam, then manually deleted all remaining folders and registry entries before reinstalling:
  • C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\EA SPORTS FC 26
  • C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\EA Sports
  • C:\Users[username]\AppData\Roaming\EA Sports
  • C:\Users[username]\AppData\Local\Temp (contents only)
  • C:\Users[username]\Documents\EA Sports
  • Registry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA Games

EA App

• Fully uninstalled and reinstalled the EA App from ea.com/ea-app
• Cleared EA App cache from AppData\Local

Steam

• Cleared Steam download cache (Steam > Settings > Downloads > Clear Download Cache)
• Changed Steam auto-update setting to 'Only update when I launch the game'

Network

• Flushed DNS cache via CMD: ipconfig /flushdns
• Reset full network stack via CMD: netsh winsock reset, netsh int ip reset, ipconfig /release, ipconfig /renew
• Changed DNS to Google DNS (Primary: 8.8.8.8 / Secondary: 8.8.4.4)

Windows Firewall

• Added manual Inbound and Outbound rules in Windows Defender Firewall for the FC 26 executable (allowed on Domain, Private, and Public networks)
• Confirmed both Steam and FC 26 are allowed through Windows Firewall (Private + Public)

Hardware & Power

• Disabled 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power' for the network adapter in Device Manager
• Performed full PC restart (not sleep/hibernate) multiple times

Current Status

None of the above steps have resolved the issue. The error continues to appear every time FUT is accessed from within the game on PC. Given that the Companion App works correctly, the issue appears to be isolated to the connection between the PC game client and EA's FUT servers. Please advise on next steps.