Every FIFA game cover athlete (2023)

The debut of the FIFA series, and the image on the cover basically says ‘what soccer pics do we have the right to?’ Unlike later games that feature an athlete at their prime, this one just features two guys. No offense, but, two guys nonetheless.

The Norwegian goalkeeper takes pride of place on the cover of FIFA Soccer 95, and was probably chosen simply because of this excellent action shot, rather than his talents specifically. Sorry, Erik.

Another fantastic action shot here of a devastating slide tackle. Well, devastating for soccer, at least.

This looks more like what we’ve come to expect from FIFA covers. David Ginola seemed to be chosen because of the talents and star power he had in that era – though his plain black and white kit feels a bit out of place.

Both the best and worst timing for David Beckham’s FIFA debut, this was EA waving the flag for British World Cup hopefuls, but it ended up with Beckham being characterized as stupid in a squad of heroes. Unfair now that we can look back, but David Beckham is still a superstar today, far removed from his football roots, so it’s probably safe to say that it worked out okay for him.

Dennis appears here with full kit and sponsorships intact. If you were a footie fan in this era, you’ll know why this man deserves to be on the cover. Arsenal fans won’t forget his service.

The first defender to get a solo cover appearance in the series, and justifiably so. He was one of the best players of any era to fill that role, and he deserves that place, even if he’s the second star to forget his kit for the photoshoot.

Ah, the infamous ‘invisible ink’ kit, one England wore in its international matches at the time. Awful. Paul Scholes is a respectable player though, even if his career never changed the game in any way.

Thierry Henry is still a well known name now, even outside of the sport, and that’s for good reason. The first wave of a new breed of football superstar, Thierry Henry defined this era of football.

The first cover with three stars on, with full licensed gear no less. What’s more is that they’re actually posing for the game cover, and not just playing the game while being shot candidly. It does make the group on the front look a bit like a rap album cover, mind.

Thierry Henry, the player so nice he was the first to feature twice. Ronaldinho joins the group, another legend of the sport.

This is the era of trios on the cover, and admittedly, you might not remember this trio of players. Andriy Shevchenko is considered to be the only player that delivered during this era of soccer. Shame.

Get used to these two names. Wayne Rooney is one of the biggest names in soccer even today, and you know the name Ronaldinho. Take a good look at their faces. Remember them. They defined football for a very long time. The dramatic rain scene is a first, too.

You know who they are. Yes, they dominated that much.

Just keep using the same guys, give them different angles. Who cares, they’re superstars.

Swap positions. That’ll do.

Poor Ronaldinho. I’d be outraged if I found out I’d been booted but they kept Wayne. Walcott was known for his sheer speed on the pitch, and Lampard had the capability to get a ball clean into the net from weird angles. Also Rooney is here.

Just as Kaka gets onto a FIFA cover, his career had peaked. A respectable player, Kaka slowly started to fall off after this. Rooney continued to persist through the eons, undying.

Rooney this time decided to invite Jack Wilshere onto the cover with him, even though at this point Wilshere had a fractured ankle that kept him out of the season entirely. Shame.

So this year Wayne Rooney is posing with- wait, what? Rooney isn’t even on it? The end of an era, truly, and the beginning of one for Lionel Messi, another superstar that almost everyone has heard the name of, thanks to a career filled with goals that really speaks for itself. With this it seems that EA has finally decided to pick different players for each cover.

Oh.

Lionel Messi is the new Rooney, and he decides who accompanies him on a FIFA cover. Eden Hazard is here, and would later become direct rivals, making this cover iconic.

There he is. At this point even Messi’s FUT card was dominant in the game.

Messi had a good run. Not a Rooney run, but a good run. This year sees Marco Reus take the stage, and that makes him the first athlete to take the cover that isn’t accompanied by either Rooney or Messi in 11 years. Despite that, Reus didn’t actually play much that season, only appearing on the pitch 17 times.

Yes, you are looking at the new dominant FIFA cover star. Ronaldo often gets his name confused for Ronaldinho by those who don’t keep up, and you can’t blame the non-football fans, because he’s just as big. Ronaldo is an incredible player, and one of the most precious in and out of the game.

A man that renowned wouldn’t be satisfied with just one cover. Of course he needed a second.

We now have multiple covers, one starring Virgil van Dijk, and another with Eden Hazard. Sorry Ronaldo, you didn’t last as long as the others.

Mbappé has been unignorable in soccer since raising the World Cup trophy with his team in 2018. Since then he’s moved clubs and done incredible things, so he’s an obvious choice for the new cover star.

Yes, it’s Kylian Mbappé. He’s just that good, okay?

Now this is a revelation for FIFA. The recent FIFA 23 cover reveal features both Kylian Mbappé again, but also Chelsea’s Sam Kerr, marking the first time a woman made the cover of a FIFA game. This also celebrates FIFA 23’s inclusion of British and French women’s leagues, and a women’s World Cup. Took long enough.

Written by GLHF.