In the world of technology, the advancements achieved over the period of a year are huge. So it comes as no surprise that, as a game, FIFA has improved monumentally since 2010 when it was still in its initial stages of development.
With the excitement surrounding player ratings remaining the same, the game has taken great strides in ensuring the closest possible digital recreation of live football. Incidentally, with every new version, the most sought after players keep changing based on their form in corresponding seasons. Over the past seven years, the list of coveted players in FIFA has changed quite drastically.
Also read: Video: Watch Lionel Messi’s progression from FIFA 06 to FIFA 17
However, the one thing that has remained the same has been the dominance Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo have exerted over the footballing world. In fact, no other player, outside these two, has won the Ballon d’Or since Kaka bagged the award in 2007. The list of other footballers who have achieved greatness over the past decade is, however, far from being consistent.
For the 2016 Ballon d’Or award, Antoine Griezmann finished third in the voting while the other players who were considered included the likes of Gareth Bale, Luis Suarez and Neymar. On that note, we look back at the evolution of the ratings of the current top players on FIFA.
The ratings
Even back in 2010, Cristiano Ronaldo still dominated the cards with statistics that could only be called outstanding. He registered an overall score of 93, bagging high numbers in pace (92) and dribbling (93).
In retrospect, it would seem that little has changed, since Messi was never far behind even in 2010. With an overall rating of 91, Messi surpassed his competitor in both dribbling (96) and pace (94). However, with an exceptionally low score in shooting (85), one is forced to concede that the Little Master has undoubtedly had better seasons since then. The current Futhead rating awards him a score of 90 in shooting.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has always been a technical genius and he has the ratings to show for it. At an overall score of 90, Ibra scored high on dribbling (93). The same consistency cannot be seen in other players, though. Antoine Griezmann was virtually unknown back in 2010 as he does not seem to have a credible FIFA 10 card.
FIFA Index, however, registers his score at an abysmal low of 58. The Frenchman had just broken into Real Sociedad’s first team that year.
Another major miscalculation by EA was the extremely low score awarded to Thibaut Courtois. One of the most exciting goalkeepers currently, Courtois could not manage better than an overall total of 58 in 2010.
Luis Suarez, playing for Ajax at the time, failed to impress as well. He had a modest rating of 84 with less than impressive stats. Neymar, 17-years-old in 2010, was worth 73 with a maximum upgrade of 84.
Gareth Bale, at 76, was just beginning to establish himself as a world-class player although few would have anticipated the improvement he has shown since then. He scores modestly on pace (82), passing (73) and dribbling (71).
EA showed tremendous insight when it came to grading Eden Hazard. Hazard, 18-years-old in 2010, registered a decent score of 82 in pace and 72 in shooting. With an overall rating of 78, he was clearly quite impressive even in his early days.
Neither Robert Lewandowski (71) nor Mesut Ozil (76) was particularly eye-catching at the time. Additionally, Marco Reus (67) was just a silver rated player back then.
Sergio Aguero (85) was already established as one of the best forwards in 2010 while Alexis Sanchez (80) was slowly beginning to find his ground. Back then, Sanchez had 88 for pace and 85 for dribbling and was quite popular in his own right. Luka Modric, with Tottenham at the time, scored quite decently with an overall rating of 81.
Back in 2009, Mats Hummels signed for Borussia Dortmund for a fee of €4 million. In the subsequent games, he partnered with Neven Subotic to give Dortmund one of its most memorable defensive records. It is not a surprise, then, that EA considered Hummels a great talent as the then 21-year-old was given an overall rating of 77.
Bottom line
Clearly, FIFA is under constant pressure to keep up with the best players of the game. Over the past seven years, football has evolved and the game itself has seen the rise of many new and young talents. Players like Courtois and Kevin de Bruyne seem to have proved their harshest critics wrong by turning into very exciting players in their own right.
Also read: Stats: Players rated highest most number of times in EA Sports' FIFA
If there is one thing we can infer it is that over the past few years, the only thing that has remained unchanged is the domination Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi have managed. Even though the rest of the players have evolved and deteriorated, as individuals, it is hard to think of anybody breaking the duopoly Ronaldo and Messi holds over the game.
