Server region changed automatically from Middle East to Eastern Europe - FC 26

I’ve been struggling with matchmaking in FC 26, and it’s been getting worse since the recent updates. From Egypt, I consistently get thrown into lobbies with either Middle East players who have 5–10 ms ping while I sit at 45–55 ms, or South European opponents who also have around 10 ms while I’m still stuck at 50 ms. This creates a huge, unfair advantage in gameplay. My routing seems unstable, and instead of connecting me to the closest or most balanced server, the game keeps matching me across regions with completely different latency levels. The result is delayed responsiveness, heavy gameplay, and an overall inconsistent experience. I’ve tested my connection multiple times and the issue is clearly related to how FC 26 handles matchmaking and regional servers for players in Egypt. I really hope EA can address this and improve server selection and routing for our region.

The two most closest servers are either south europe or the middle east which means you’re playing at a disadvantage against players who actually live in these locations, this will not be sorted unless a server is made for the north african region exclusively or somehow make Egyptian players matchmaking priority is to face Egyptian players as well for now, something like making players with similar ping face eachother.

A North Africa server or at least some kind of matchmaking that prioritizes similar ping ranges (or Egyptian vs Egyptian when possible) would make things much fairer. Until then, players from our region will always start at a disadvantage no matter how good their local connection is.

We need ur help #EA @EA

We are suffering from this very bad match making ,

Kindly EA if there is no fix , no one will play 

Hello,

I’m one of the players who has been playing this game since FIFA 08 up until now, including EA FC 26. Over the years, there have always been small issues here and there, but nothing serious enough to make me feel exhausted, frustrated, or discouraged from playing online.

However, the current issue I’m experiencing in Ultimate Team online is extremely frustrating. There is constant lag, delay, and stuttering throughout almost every match. Some matches are worse than others. I can tolerate a bit of delay and try to play through it, but the heavy stuttering caused by high and unstable ping makes the game almost unplayable.

This has been happening for nearly two months now and it still hasn’t improved. At the start of the game cycle, I didn’t have this issue. There was some delay, but no severe stuttering or extreme ping spikes like this.

In FC 25, similar issues happened, but only toward the end of the game cycle, and it was never this bad.

I’m a player from Thailand. Maybe players from my region aren’t a priority, but this kind of problem keeps happening consistently. I can deal with most other issues and still enjoy the game, but constantly playing with high, unstable ping that spikes to 100ms, 200ms, even 300ms is just too much. It turns the experience from fun into pure frustration.

On top of that, I’m frequently getting disconnected from the servers, which didn’t happen in previous titles. Why does FC 26 have so many server-related problems compared to older versions?

For reference, I’m using a 2000/1000 Mbps internet connection, connected via LAN cable on a PS5. I honestly don’t know what else I can do on my end. There’s nothing more I can fix, and the issue remains the same.

If these stuttering and ping spike problems continue, I may have to stop playing the game entirely. I don’t see myself buying the next title if this experience continues. Several friends of mine have already quit because of various issues they’ve encountered.

The game just doesn’t feel fun anymore. Older versions felt smoother and more stable online.

I have tested my connection, and other online games run smoothly without any lag or instability. This issue seems specific to FC 26.

I genuinely hope things improve. I just want to play without constant lag, stuttering, and unstable ping. I don’t know if this is something that can be addressed, but I sincerely hope it can.

Thank you.

Hello EA Help Team,

I would like to report a possible issue with the Middle East servers for EA Sports FC.

Recently, many players in the Middle East region are experiencing higher ping and unstable connections during online matches. Normally, the ping is around 20–40 ms, but recently it has increased significantly and gameplay feels delayed.

There have also been regional events affecting network infrastructure in countries like the UAE and Bahrain, and we are not sure if this is impacting the EA servers or routing to them.

Could you please check the status of the Middle East servers and confirm if there are any ongoing issues or routing problems affecting players in this region?

Location: Oman

Platform: PC (Steam)

Thank you for your support.

Hi, I usually get 38-40ms in Abu Dhabi servers and 50ms in Saudi Arabian servers. For the last week, I have been connected to Saudi Arabian servers; even if I manually try to connect to the Abu Dhabi servers, it redirects me to Saudi Arabian servers, resulting in higher ping. Could u kindly tell me if the Abu Dhabi game server is unavailable due to the recent conflict, or is there another issue ?

Kind regards  

I think due to the conflict the dubai/abu dhabi servers are down i play from pakistan and am getting connected with players from manama or saudi arabia resulting in high ping.

Me and my friend are trying to match into a pro clubs game however it never lets us into a match in the middle east server, so we had to switch to south asia server and it worked, however today again south asia also doesnt work, therefore not allowing us to play, other servers have really high ping. Please Resolve this matter ASAP.