Player Career Mode Is Unplayable Because of Horrible AI Teammate Behavior
TL;DR: When controlling a single player AI teammates constantly turn over possession making irrational passes panicking in possession, and they take senseless shots, while CPU opponents play like a coordinated team. This creates a massive imbalance and ruins immersion. This has been happening for years and I am fed up. It’s a more glaring problem now. The biggest issue is the AI teammates when you’re controlling a single player. They play like they are being controlled by a toddler who has no idea what they are doing. There is no logic, no structure, and no awareness. Before I proceed I’m not sure, but for context I play LW (left wing) as this issue might differ slightly depending on the position you play on the pitch. My teammates, especially the midfielders will make a run toward the touchline with the ball and then make weird desperate diagonal passes straight to the opposition. They play like they are in a panic all the time. In general in almost every situation they make desperate do or die passes when there are better and simpler obvious options right in front of them. When they receive the ball in midfield they immediately start drifting toward the touchline for no logical reason, almost like they’re programmed to run sideways instead of driving the play forward or driving the play in a logical manner. And then, out of nowhere, they’ll launch this awkward, desperate diagonal pass sometimes while off balance or even while falling straight into the feet of the opposition. It’s just horrible decision making. Not only for that scenario, but like I said in general when they get the ball, they treat it like hot potato, making hasty, rushed passes with zero composure. It’s so weird that it actually becomes comical to watch. Sometimes they just make blind passes like who are you passing to? And besides these hasty nonsensical passes like they’re panicking for no reason, what makes it worse is they are obsessed with forcing the ball to me at all costs (losing the ball in the process), even when there are better passing options all around. Like, can we actually play as a team? There are other players on the pitch too. It shouldn’t feel like I’m the only target in every buildup. Furthermore strikers will consistently take horrible shots with their back turned to goal. They take desperate and ridiculous shots from awkward angles where there is no chance of scoring. They get the ball with their back to goal, space is tight, and instead of recycling possession they force an off balance shot that was never going to work. It is weird. It is strange. It makes no sense. And they do the same with passing too. Instead of finding an easy pass back they force something dumb. They get the ball anywhere in or near the box even with their back to goal, surrounded by defenders and instead of making a smart pass or holding play, they just blast a random shot. It’s like they don’t process what’s happening around them. Meanwhile, the CPU opponents play like they’ve got an actual playbook. They build out intelligently, press well, and move as a unit. They play intelligently, press with purpose, and control the rhythm of the game like a real team. It creates a massive imbalance where I’m forced to run around doing everything myself because my teammates are functionally useless. I have to overcompensate, running all over the pitch to drag my team forward because my teammates simply do not play at the same level. I play left wing but I am forced to abandon my position, drop deep, and carry the ball, force passes myself just to progress the attack. It should not be my job to play creator, controller, and finisher all at once because my teammates are useless in possession. This is not one or two bad matches. It is every match. And the fact that this has been going on for years and is now somehow even worse is frustrating. It is actually hard to believe that anyone genuinely play tested this game mode before release. It is ridiculous. It is absurd. Please fix this. Career Mode is supposed to feel immersive and rewarding. Instead, it feels like dragging a team of clueless NPCs through “90 minutes” of chaos. Please fix all this. Smarter AI teammate logic, better AI teammate decision making would completely change the mode.
FC 26 Career Mode - not loading saves
I go through the terrible new UI for entering manager career mode, and I navigate carefully to the load save option (instead of it just being like last year on the front page which was way easier to use might I add). Then I go to the save I want to use, and I get stuck on a blank screen where I cannot select anything or exit or anything, I have to close the game down. Please fix this as it is atrocious and completely unacceptable.AI overtakes under yellow flags / safety car / VSC
I’ve noticed a serious issue where the AI can overtake under yellow flags, safety car, and VSC conditions without any penalty or needing to give the position back. It’s happened to me multiple times — for example, being overtaken on a straight under a full yellow flag, with the AI making a move as if the rules didn’t apply. No warning, no penalty, no position swap. Another clear case: in Career Mode, I exited the pits under safety car conditions and crossed the pit exit line about 2 meters ahead of an AI car. They immediately overtook me and never gave the place back — again, no consequence. This is yet another example of how the AI is not subject to the same rules or simulations as the player. Combined with issues like unlimited ERS, unrealistic traction, and no dirty air effects, it really hurts immersion and fairness. Hope this gets addressed — it’s a major gameplay issue.
Gameplay & Career Mode - Some Suggestions
After a month of searching, I finally found a solution for FC 26 gameplay: reduced the CPU sliders to 10 overall. Now the game is less stressful and easier to defend. The statistics are realistic, the number of shots on goal is below 10 (halftime 2 x 10 min.), authencity isn't lost. But at that sliders level there's a bug. When CPU opponent has free kicks, it takes a minimum of 20 seconds to take it. Without any logic, that kicks always ends up somewhere outside the pitch. Can this be fixed? The added time of 1-3 minutes is not enough. Sometimes the referee whistles for the end of the match when my attackers start a counterattack. The added time should be increased to 4-5 min. minimum (in the Premier League even more). Also, the number of substitutions on the bench should be increased to 9-10 like in reality because 7 is not enough. I don't know how you haven't fixed that glitch so far? Normally I play 10 min. halftime (it's a habit), but gameplay with reduced CPU sliders is slower and this is not enough time. I tried 15 minutes, but this is too much. Can you finally increase the duration of halftime to 11, 12, 13, 14 min. This is what some users have been waiting for years. The results of other matches behind the league standings aren't transparent enough. This is so confused. It was done so much better in previous FC editions. Can you take it back? Can you at least separate the last round games with a red line? And something more: when a player scores a goal in added time, why doesn't it stand that the goal was scored in 90+1, 90+2, 90+3 min... ? Only 90 min.? Why? This mistake has been repeated for years. Finally, I have to tell you something seriously > sometimes you are up to 5 years late with changes. [CM edit - title for CAPS]
Co-op career desync and blocked: FIX URGENTLY!
Me (F1_gtFisichella) and my friend pippo100799 had recently started a co-op career with 16 races for the first season and last time we played until the 8th race at Silverstone. Today we login for starting the 9th race at Spa-Francorchamps, but we couldn't move forward because, since last time he logged out while in the silly season cutscene of midseason, it went back to his personal QG while i'm at the circuit on race weekend. The problem is that we can't advance to the sessions because he's stuck on QG and can't advance to the race weekend since in his interface there is no X button to advance (therefore, we can't race anymore). We tried everything from changing host to even expel my friend and inviting him back to career, but he still returns to QG without possibility to advance on race weekend. Looks like is a server problem since last time he logged out in the middle of cutscene while i went through all of it until the arrival on the track. Please fix it ASAP since we both want to continue the career since we're home for the holiday season. Thanks in advanceNo Replay Available After Race
After completing a career mode 100% race I've noticed multiple times now there is basically no replay footage of the race. When I select 'View Replay' it goes straight to the moment my driver finishes the race and there is no way to go back even one lap. So all of the replay footage consists of my driver getting the chequered flag and the 20 seconds afterwards... And that's it. It's happened to me at China as well as at Bahrain now. Hopefully this can get looked into. Thanks!
CM Suggestion: Clickable Match Results with Detailed Match & Team Overview
Hello everyone, I would like to suggest a small but meaningful addition to the game. Recently, it became possible to view league results in a more detailed way. I mean this: Building on that, it would be great if each individual match could be opened for more information as well. For example, when clicking on a match result in the league overview (especially in leagues where “detailed simulation” is enabled), a match detail screen could be shown. For other leagues, a simplified version would already be sufficient. This match view could include: Goalscorers (as far as I know, these are already simulated, so the data should exist) Substitutions (might not be simulated yet, but could be limited to detailed leagues) Starting XI + bench (data should already be available) Player ratings and yellow/red cards (again, only necessary for detailed leagues) Coach name (data already exists) Stadium information such as name and capacity (data already exists) The only potential challenge I can see is storing this data across seasons, but that should be manageable for a company like EA. 🤔🤣 Additionally, it would be great if clicking on teams in these views provided a more meaningful overview. I know it already exists, but currently feels quite limited. You can only see the player statistics and most of the information shown there was already accessible elsewhere before, just hidden in different menus. A short team overview when clicking on a team could include: Full team name Current coach Squad size Key players in a short overview (with links to scout or add to the shortlist, which already exists) Alternatively, the most recent starting XI, with ratings and with each player being clickable Home stadium with capacity The team’s fixture list for the current season The current league table of the competition the team is playing in Optionally, an overview of all other competitions the team participates in, such as the Champions League, Europa League, or domestic cup competitions (if applicable) In general, both ideas are inspired by apps like FotMob or OneFootball, which could serve as a rough reference for usability and presentation. Overall, this would be a relatively small addition, but one that could greatly improve immersion and realism. It would allow players to scout more effectively, prepare better for upcoming opponents, and gain a deeper understanding of leagues and teams — making the overall experience more engaging. I’m aware this might never be added, but I thought it would still be worth suggesting. 🤣🙏
Fix what matters
This post regards single player, manager career, kickoff, and tournament play on XBOX XS. Well done EA! I did not think it was even remotely possible, but you’ve managed to produce a worse product than FC25. It’s shocking, but you did it. 25 was an absolutely horrible experience from start to finish and so much was promised for 26 but you’ve delivered nothing good. NOTHING. This game is broken in so many ways it’s simply embarrassing and it just keeps getting worse. To be fair, it was playable upon release. We had no fouls, player contract issues in CM, users not getting any of their pre-order stuff, etc. but gameplay was acceptable. Where we are now, is back to pretty much FC25 gameplay. Defending just simply doesn’t function. Passing horrible. Headers dysfunctional. CPU players win all arial duals and 50/50s. Defending corners is laughable. User controlled players are slower and less agile and aggressive than CPU players 100% of the time. User players can’t out pace cpu players in any situation ever. And yes, we still have ZERO fouls. Absolutely absurd! You CANNOT have a football match either no fouling. It is absolutely ridiculous. I play NHL as well, and NHL 26 has no penalties. It’s super weird, that EA has decided to remove fouls and penalties from their sports simulations this year but it makes both games pretty well useless. EA, developers, testers, whoever needs this stamped on a priority work order and given to you, make FOULING the number one thing you sort out before you destroy anything else. I do not understand using so much time to ruin the game more than it already was, when you should be fixing fouling and cpu build up. 2 things that drastically impact the gameplay, are broken, and haven’t been touched since release.
