FC 26 Ultimate Team: The most inconsistent unrewarding gameplay in the series

After hundreds of games in FC 26 Ultimate Team, I can confidently say this might be the most frustrating FIFA/FC experience yet. Every year EA promise more realism and skill gap, but FC 26 feels like pure inconsistency wrapped in random outcomes. 

Gameplay: Defending is an absolute mess. Clean tackles bounce straight back to the opponent like the game WANTS you to concede. Manual defending isn't rewarded AT ALL, you're punished for trying to time challenges, whilst AI jockeying and auto blocks decide matches. Players switch sluggishly, animations override inputs, and the defensive line positioning feels completely random. 

Attacking has the same problem. Passing is inconsistent, player runs just stop mid attack and shooting animations take forever to trigger. Everything feels pre baked. You press a button and the game decides whether you're allowed to succeed. Skill based gameplay? Hardly. It's RNG in disguise.

Matchmaking: This might be the biggest problem of all. Divisions are meaningless because the matchmaking constantly throws you against people way above or below your skill level. One game you face someone who clearly belongs in Division 2, the next it's a beginner who's barely played. There's no consistency, and it completely kills motivation. Add in the weird regional matchmaking and input delay depending on opponent location, and it becomes a total lottery who actually gets to play proper football.

The game punishes players who try to play smart and rewards those who sprint and spam. Formations barely matter when rebounds, auto blocks, and random deflections decide games. You can dominate 90% of a match and still lose to one lucky through ball or rebound

Verdict: FC 26 doesn't feel like football. It feels like chaos disguised as competition. Instead of rewarding skill, positioning, and composure, it rewards abusing mechanics and praying for good connection. EA need to stop advertising realistic football gameplay when the core of the game is just inconsistent RNG and unfair matchmaking. Right now, FC 26 isn't about outplaying your opponent, it's about outlasting the game's randomness.