The 10 Best Soccer Game Covers

From Messi to Ronaldo, astir of football’s top modern players person graced video crippled covers implicit the years. But which is the best? Well, there’s nary existent technological mode to determine this, truthful I’m beauteous overmuch going connected aesthetic-based vibes completely. I’ve besides beauteous overmuch stuck to the large 2 shot bid from the past fewer decades — FIFA/EA FC and Pro Evolution Soccer — but judge me, the temptation to instrumentality the likes of Peter Beardsley’s International Football was surely there. So, without further ado, let’s look astatine what I deliberation are the 10 champion shot crippled covers.

10. FIFA Road to World Cup 98 — David Beckham

Few radical successful the world, astatine slightest surely successful England, were arsenic celebrated arsenic David Beckham was successful 1998. Part of a flourishing Manchester United squad nether Sir Alex Ferguson and 1 fractional of a superpower of a personage mates alongside the Spice Girls’ Victoria Beckham, helium was an evident prime to spot connected a video crippled screen if you wanted it to sell. A clean, achromatic inheritance representation that features Beckham wearing fig 7 successful the iconic England World Cup 98 kit, it looked similar an adjacent amended determination by EA Sports aft helium curled successful a escaped footwear against Colombia successful the radical stages. Little did they cognize that his tourney would extremity successful catastrophe acknowledgment to a petulant reddish paper against Argentina a week later. I wonderment however galore copies were sold aft that.

9. FIFA 13 — Lionel Messi

FIFA 13 was the archetypal twelvemonth that saw the top subordinate of each time, Lionel Messi, grace the screen of EA Sports' long-running series. Having wrestled backmost dominance from Pro Evolution Soccer by now, getting Messi astatine the highest of his powers arsenic the poster kid felt similar the cherry connected apical of the resurgence. A beauteous screen successful which the Argentine’s reddish and bluish Barcelona kit pops against the achromatic and achromatic backdrop, the stadium featured is, interestingly, Newcastle’s St James’ Park and not the Catalan club’s home, Camp Nou. That’s because, contempt Barcelona’s astir celebrated subordinate being the screen star, EA had not managed to unafraid the licence for the stadium, alternatively replacing it with the generic El Libertador.

8. Pro Evolution Soccer 6 — Adriano + Various

The astir OP subordinate to ever beryllium successful a shot game, it was lone earthy that 1 time Adriano would find his mode onto a Pro Evolution Soccer cover. The bluish and achromatic stripes of Inter enactment fantastically against the golden background, and you tin archer by the determination connected his look that he’s putting each of his legendary 99-shot powerfulness into that strike. Arguably the finest shot simulation ever crafted, PES 6 featured antithetic players alongside the Brazilian depending connected wherever successful the satellite you were. For example, seeing Bayern were licensed this clip around, the German mentation saw Paraguayan striker Roque Santa Cruz basal tall, whereas the remainder of Europe had to look astatine John Terry. Oh well.

7. FIFA 97 — David Ginola

What a beauteous man. Those agelong locks flowing down him arsenic helium dazzled with the shot astatine his feet, slaloming done defenders arsenic if they were poles connected the broadside of an Alpine skis course, were immoderate of my astir formative shot memories. David Ginola is featured present successful the achromatic and achromatic stripes of Newcastle, but would soon transportation to Tottenham Hotspur, wherever he’d spell connected to triumph the Players’ and Writers’ footballer of the twelvemonth awards for a wholly underwhelming side. Trust me, I was there. Another cleanable screen with the subordinate placed beforehand and centre, it’s a classic, and inactive holds up 30 years later.

6. FIFA 17 — Marco Reus

The hipster's choice. Marco Reus won the nationalist ballot for who should beryllium connected the screen of FIFA 17, beating retired Eden Hazard, Anthony Martial, and James Rodriguez, and what a large prime it turned retired to be. The Borussia Dortmund fable successful that celebrated kit looks incredibly slick connected this one, with the yellowish partition looming down him. Nothing overmuch much to accidental astir this one, speech from the information that it conscionable looks lovely.

5. FIFA 06 – Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho

For galore years, Rooney and Ronaldinho dominated the FIFA cover, with the erstwhile appearing connected 7 successful a enactment betwixt 06 and 12, and the second featuring connected 9 successful full if you see World Cup and Street spin-offs. Wayne’s debut was alongside the Brazilian Ballon d’Or winner, and stands retired owed to its melodramatic precocious opposition representation decorated successful lashings of rain. It gives FIFA 06 a existent idiosyncratic consciousness to it compared to truthful galore of the cleaner images against plain oregon monochrome backgrounds that we were utilized to astatine the time. Maybe they did spell a small dense connected the vulnerability here, arsenic it looks arsenic if some players are lone feet distant from screaming into the sun, but it surely made it basal retired connected the shelf.

4. International Superstar Soccer 98 — Carlos Valderrama

That hair. Wow. Long earlier David Luiz oregon Marc Cucurella were astatine it, Carlos Valderrama was football’s curly king. The Colombian prima donned the screen of International Superstar Soccer 98 (before the bid aboriginal spun disconnected into Pro Evolution Soccer) successful North America, and I couldn’t person been immoderate much jealous. In Europe, we got an angry-looking Paul Ince facing disconnected against an intimidating Fabrizio Ravanelli successful achromatic and white, which is conscionable acold little appealing than the multicoloured allure of this Colombia kit and Carlos’ layers of cervix and wrist accessories. Pure luxury.

3. FIFA Football 2003 – Roberto Carlos, Edgar Davids, and Ryan Giggs

No country for smiles here, conscionable business. Three players astatine the highest of their powers crossed their arms and stared into our souls successful 2002. Brazilian left-back and king of the banana shot, Roberto Carlos. All-action Dutch midfielder, Edgar Davis. And since disgraced Welsh winger, Ryan Giggs. It’s a beardown lineup and 1 of the astir enduring screen images of the bid to date. If you were successful North America, you conscionable got Landon Donovan instead. Hardly a just trade, is it?

2. FIFA Football 2004 — Alessandro Del Piero, Thierry Henry, and Ronaldinho

One twelvemonth later, EA Sports went with the triple menace attack again, but alternatively of being scowled at, we had 3 of the world’s champion attackers sprinting towards us. Back successful 2003, this representation would person caused nightmares for immoderate defender who would person liked thing little than to person seen Juventus’ Alessandro Del Piero, Arsenal’s Thierry Henry, oregon Barcelona’s Ronaldinho moving towards them with the ball. There’s a beauteous equilibrium to it. Great premix of superstars. And an eye-catching scope of colours connected those jerseys, too. It’s the precise champion FIFA has had to connection implicit the years, and a precocious the bid is inactive chasing.

1. Pro Evolution Soccer 3

It was a bold determination for Pro Evolution Soccer 3 not to diagnostic a subordinate connected its cover, but it couldn’t person paid disconnected immoderate much arsenic world-renowned referee Pierluigi Collina took centre stage. It was a funny prime for galore reasons. Not lone due to the fact that the Italian authoritative didn’t really look successful the crippled itself, but referees weren’t adjacent shown connected the transportation astatine each until the pursuing year’s edition. It’s since gone down successful past arsenic 1 of the astir iconic shot crippled covers, though, acknowledgment to its sunset imagery pierced by those authoritative eyes, shiny bald head, and finished disconnected with the antheral himself’s autograph. A classy interaction from the large man.

Simon Cardy is simply a Senior Editor astatine IGN who tin chiefly beryllium recovered skulking astir unfastened satellite games, indulging successful Korean cinema, oregon despairing astatine the authorities of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him connected Bluesky astatine @cardy.bsky.social.