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World Cup 2026 viewers who were unfamiliar with just how good Kylian Mbappe learned 10 separate times why the forward is among the planet's best. Now, the Real Madrid star is returning as the EA FC (formerly known as the FIFA video game franchise) cover athlete.
The confirmation from the company comes less than a week after Mbappe's France finished in fourth place at the 2026 tournament.
This will be the fourth time Les Bleus' goal-scoring machine will appear on the video game covers around the world.
Here's why the French star was selected for the Ultimate Edition's cover.
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Kylian Mbappe chosen as EA FC 27 cover athlete
On the heels of Mbappe's stellar World Cup 2026 campaign in which he earned his second-straight Golden Boot award as the tournament's leading scorer, EA Sports FC shared that the Frenchman would return to their video game's covers. This ends a four-year hiatus since the forward was most recently a cover athlete.
Mbappe was likely chosen as the Ultimate Edition's cover athlete due to his stellar 2025-26 season for his club and country. Across all competitions for Real Madrid, Mbappe accumulated 43 goals and six assists through 47 matches. At the World Cup, he tallied a tournament-leading 10 goals, along with four assists, through 8 appearances. He also became France's all-time leading scorer at the tournament with 22 goals in three campaigns.
This will be Mbappe's fourth time serving as the franchise's cover athlete, which ties him with former Brazilian star Ronaldinho as the player with the most appearances on the soccer game's cover.
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EA FC covers by year
The best-selling sports video game, as deemed by Guinness World Records, has featured a plethora of faces on its covers. Since 1993's FIFA International Soccer, the game's creators select an athlete, or athletes, who had a strong season to feature on the upcoming year's game.
Former Manchester United and England forward Wayne Rooney holds the record for the most appearances as a cover athlete during a seven-year span from 2005 to 2011. In 2022, Australian and former Chelsea F.C. Women star Sam Kerr made history as the franchise's first global cover athlete.
Here is the full list of cover athletes from the franchise's first release in 1993.
| Year | Game | Cover athlete(s) |
| 1993 | FIFA International Soccer | David Platt and Piotr Swierczewski |
| 1994 | FIFA Soccer 95 | Erik Thorstvedt |
| 1995 | FIFA Soccer 96 | Ioan Sabau and Andy Legg |
| 1996 | FIFA 97 | David Ginola |
| 1997 | FIFA Soccer 64 | Jordi Cruyff |
| 1997 | FIFA: Road to World Cup 98 | David Beckham |
| 1998 | FIFA 99 | Dennis Bergkamp |
| 1999 | FIFA 2000 | Sol Campbell |
| 2000 | FIFA 2001 | Paul Scholes |
| 2001 | FIFA Football 2002 | Thierry Henry |
| 2002 | FIFA Football 2003 | Roberto Carlos, Ryan Giggs, Edgar Davids |
| 2003 | FIFA Football 2004 | Alessandro Del Piero, Thierry Henry, Ronaldinho |
| 2004 | FIFA Football 2005 | Patrick Vieira, Fernando Morientes, Andriy Shevchenko |
| 2005 | FIFA 06 | Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho |
| 2006 | FIFA 07 | Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho |
| 2007 | FIFA 08 | Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho |
| 2008 | FIFA 09 | Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho |
| 2009 | FIFA 10 | Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard |
| 2010 | FIFA 11 | Kaka, Wayne Rooney |
| 2011 | FIFA 12 | Wayne Rooney, Jack Wilshere |
| 2012 | FIFA 13 | Lionel Messi |
| 2013 | FIFA 14 | Lionel Messi |
| 2014 | FIFA 15 | Lionel Messi |
| 2015 | FIFA 16 | Lionel Messi |
| 2016 | FIFA 17 | Marco Reus |
| 2017 | FIFA 18 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| 2018 | FIFA 19 | Cristiano Ronaldo |
| 2019 | FIFA 20 | Eden Hazard |
| 2020 | FIFA 21 | Kylian Mbappe |
| 2021 | FIFA 22 | Kylian Mbappe |
| 2022 | FIFA 23 | Kylian Mbappe, Sam Kerr |
| 2023 | EA FC 24 | Erling Haaland |
| 2024 | EA FC 25 | Jude Bellingham |
| 2025 | EA FC 26 | Jude Bellingham, Jamal Musiala |
| 2026 | EA FC 27 | Kylian Mbappe |
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