FIFA 23 Ultimate Team Icons: Xabi Alonso, Gerd Muller, Jairzinho & Campaign Icons
EA SportsIcon cards are a staple of the Ultimate Team mode and they’ll be making a return in FIFA 23. Here’s a list of returning Icons and a look at the new Icons coming to FIFA 23.
There’s nothing quite as exhilarating as packing an Icon card in Ultimate Team. FIFA 23 players will get the chance to do so once more as the legendary figures will continue to feature in Ultimate Team.
With every FIFA release the list of Icons available continues to grow and FIFA 23 will be no different. EA Sports tend to add around three new Icons per game, and they have revealed who these players will be.
Here’s everything you need to know about Icon cards in FIFA 23.
- What are Icon cards in FIFA 23?
- What are new Campaign Icons in FIFA 23?
- New & returning FIFA 23 Icon cards
- FIFA 23 Icon downgrades
What are Icon cards in FIFA 23?
Icon cards honor the best players to grace the pitch throughout football history. For starters, there are three versions of each Icon card: base, mid, and prime. Each version is an ode to the player’s career from when they entered the scene to when they achieved global superstardom.
Not only do Icon cards usually boast a high overall rating, but they offer your squad special chemistry attributes.
FIFA 22 Icons were difficult to find in packs, but it won’t be impossible in FIFA 23. If luck isn’t on your side, you’ll have an opportunity to secure Icons another way, as EA confirmed they’ll be bringing back Icon SBCs and Icon Swaps later on.
What are new Campaign Icons in FIFA 23?
While Icon Swaps and Icon SBCs will return, Icon Moments will no longer feature in FIFA 23. These incredibly boosted versions of Icons will instead be replaced by Campaign Icons in FIFA 23’s Ultimate Team.
In a statement concerning the new feature, EA claim that due to campaign content throughout the year, Icons tend to lose their value as the best cards in the game. Campaign Icons are meant to solve this issue by involving Icon cards in a selection of FUT campaigns.
EA defined their goals for the new Campaign Icons: “Through smaller, more frequent Campaign ICON releases as part of our campaigns, our hope is that ICONs will feel in line with campaign content as we go deeper into the FUT 23 cycle, helping maintain their legendary status.”
In a similar fashion to FUT Hero cards that were included in campaigns in FIFA 22, Icons will now appear in FIFA 23 campaigns from time to time.
All Icons in FIFA 23
Two Icons were removed from FIFA 22 for various reasons and both Marc Overmars and Diego Maradona will not return to FIFA 23. For the most part, players can expect the same selection of Icon cards from FIFA 22 to carry over to FIFA 23.
EA have not specified the details for these departures, but here are the Icon cards that have been removed from FIFA 23:
- Diego Maradona
- Ryan Giggs
- Deco
- Pep Guardiola
- Marc Overmars
- Filippo Inzaghi
Luckily, EA add a few new faces each year. In FIFA 22, players received Wayne Rooney, Iker Casillas, Cafu, and Robin Van Persie.
This time around, Xabi Alonso, Gerd Muller, and Jairzinho will be the three new faces to appear as FIFA 23 Icons.
Here’s a list of all the Icon cards in FIFA 23:
- Hernan Crespo (Argentina)
- Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina)
- Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina)
- Javier Zanetti (Argentina)
- Carlos Alberto (Brazil)
- Cafu (Brazil)
- Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
- Garrincha (Brazil)
- Jairzinho (Brazil)
- Kaka (Brazil)
- Pele (Brazil)
- Rivaldo (Brazil)
- Ronaldinho (Brazil)
- Ronaldo (Brazil)
- Socrates (Brazil)
- Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
- Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
- Davor Suker (Croatia)
- Petr Cech (Czech Republic)
- Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
- Michael Laudrup (Denmark)
- Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)
- John Barnes (England)
- David Beckham (England)
- Sol Campbell (England)
- Ashley Cole (England)
- Rio Ferdinand (England)
- Steven Gerrard (England)
- Frank Lampard (England)
- Gary Lineker (England)
- Bobby Moore (England)
- Michael Owen (England)
- Wayne Rooney (England)
- Paul Scholes (England)
- Alan Shearer (England)
- Ian Wright (England)
- Jari Litmanen (Finland)
- Lauren Blanc (France)
- Eric Cantona (France)
- Marcel Desailly (France)
- Theirry Henry (France)
- Claude Makelele (France)
- Emmanuel Petit (France)
- Robert Pires (France)
- David Trezeguet (France)
- Patrick Vieira (France)
- Zinedine Zidane (France)
- Michael Ballack (Germany)
- Miroslav Klose (Germany)
- Phillip Lahm (Germany)
- Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
- Gerd Muller (Germany)
- Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
- Michael Essien (Ghana)
- Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
- Roy Keane (Ireland)
- Roberto Baggio (Italy)
- Franco Baresi (Italy)
- Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
- Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)
- Gennaro Gattuso (Italy)
- Paolo Maldini (Italy)
- Alessandro Nesta (Italy)
- Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
- Christian Vieri (Italy)
- Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy)
- Gianfranco Zola (Italy)
- Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
- Luis Hernandez (Mexico)
- Hugo Sanchez (Mexico)
- Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands)
- Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
- Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
- Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands)
- Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)
- Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands)
- Clarence Seedorf (Netherlands)
- Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
- Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)
- Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
- Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
- George Best (Northern Ireland)
- Eusebio (Portugal)
- Luis Figo (Portugal)
- Rui Costa (Portugal)
- Gheorghe Hagi (Romania)
- Lev Yashin (Russia)
- Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)
- Nemanja Vidic (Serbia)
- Xabi Alonso (Spain)
- Emilio Butragueno (Spain)
- Iker Casillas (Spain)
- Fernando Hierro (Spain)
- Raul (Spain)
- Carles Puyol (Spain)
- Fernando Torres (Spain)
- Xavi (Spain)
- Henrik Larsson (Sweden)
- Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
- Ian Rush (Wales)
FIFA 23 Icon downgrades
Certain Icons will be downgraded to FUT Heroes in FIFA 23. Thanks to the reveal of every FUT Hero card in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team, we know that this only includes two players as of now.
Only Nigeria’s Jay-Jay Okocha and Japan’s Hidetoshi Nakata are going from Icons to FUT Heroes.
For more FIFA 23 news, check out our guide to the Web App, including all the tips and tricks for early Ultimate Team success.
Image Credit: EA Sports