Cristiano Ronaldo misses out on FIFA 23 TOTY nominee list

Luca Di Marzo
FIFA 23 Ronaldo not in TOTY

The FIFA 23 TOTY nominee list was revealed and Ultimate Team fans were shocked to find out that none other than Cristiano Ronaldo failed to make the shortlist.

The Team of the Year promo is set to take FIFA 23 by storm as a ton of incredible new cards make their way to Ultimate Team. If you’re new to Ultimate Team, you’ll be pleased to discover that EA shifts the power over to the players as they get a chance to vote for the TOTY.

The FIFA 23 TOTY nominees were revealed on January 9, with voting set to open on January 10. EA offers up a shortlist of 100 players split into Goalkeepers, Defenders, Midfielders, and Attackers.

Each year, players cast their votes in the hopes of influencing the final TOTY squad. However, this year FIFA 23 players were shocked to discover that some prominent names were left off of the nominee list including Cristiano Ronaldo.

Cristiano Ronaldo recently joined Saudi Arabian club Al Nassr and the highly publicized move arrived with an immediate rating decrease in offline modes from 90 to 88. It’s been a tough week for Ronaldo fans in FIFA 23 as the rating decrease was followed by an omission from the TOTY nominee shortlist.

Cristiano Ronaldo excluded from FIFA 23 TOTY nominees

FIFA 23 players have called the omission into question as many believe that Ronaldo has done enough to warrant at the very least a nominee, despite his decline in form.

One player responded with: “18 goals and 2 assists? More than half the list.” While there’s no denying that Ronaldo’s incredibly high standards have fallen off in the last year or so, his numbers don’t lie. As that player pointed out, his tally is superior to a lot of Attackers on the 100-player shortlist.

Another player also used his goalscoring numbers in 2022 to call his omission into question: “He literally scored 18 prem goals last season and finished 20th in balon dor? He is no nominee but someone like Joselu probably will be again. Its getting a little bit ridiculous now.”

While his failure to make the TOTY nominee list in FIFA 23 is quite shocking, one player revealed that not all hope is lost: “I’d say there’s a good chance EA give him a TOTY flashback SBC during the promo then.”

EA often hand out TOTY SBCs after the squad is revealed. Ronaldo fans who feel betrayed by his omission can hold on to the hope that EA might have something up their sleeve when it comes to the Portuguese legend.

In addition, the omission of Alaba and Rudiger also raised some eyebrows as one player points out, “they won the champions league.”

The nominees are locked in and we’ll have to wait to find out who makes the TOTY squad in FIFA 23 as well as who might receive an SBC during the promo.


For more, check out the best budget & cheap meta players for Ultimate Team, or the best FIFA 23 camera settings.

Image Credit: EA Sports

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