FIFA 23 TOTY: when is Team of the Year release date, nominations revealed and squad predictions

The likes of Kylian Mbappe and Lionel Messi are expected to feature in the FIFA 23 Team of the Year
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Gaming fans around the world are eagerly anticipating the release of the FIFA 23 Team of the Year.

The FIFA Team of the Year consists of the best performing footballers from the last 12 months of action. Last year’s team featured mouth watering upgrades for the likes Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi, N’Golo Kante and many more.

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The nominations for Team of the Year are voted for by the players of the game and in years gone by, we have also seen a 12th player nominated as well by fans.

But when can we expect the FIFA 23 Team of the Year to be released - and who are the front runners to make the football dream team? Here is everything you need to know.

When is FIFA 23 Team of the Year?

The FIFA 23 Team of the Year nominations were unveiled on Monday 9 January with the likes of Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe and Erlin Haaland all featuring in the top 100 players on the planet.

Voting for the 2022 Team of the Year began on Tuesday 10 January  and closed a week later on Tuesday 17 January.

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The football game makers officially reveal the FIFA 23 Team of the Year on Thursday 19 January.

Real Madrid are the defending European champions and many of their players will expect to make the FIFA 23 TOTY. (Getty Images)Real Madrid are the defending European champions and many of their players will expect to make the FIFA 23 TOTY. (Getty Images)
Real Madrid are the defending European champions and many of their players will expect to make the FIFA 23 TOTY. (Getty Images)

Who was nominated for the FIFA 23 Team of the Year?

After a scintillating 12 months of football, EA Sports shortlisted a total of 100 players who they consider to be the best performing players from across the globe. Here are the players who made the shortlist:

Goalkeepers:

  • Alisson Becker - Liverpool
  • Thibaut Courtois - Real Madrid
  • Mike Maignan - AC Milan
  • Ederson - Manchester City
  • Wojciech Szczęsny - Juventus
  • Kevin Trapp - Eintracht Frankfurt
  • Yassine Bounou - Sevilla 
  • Hugo Lloris - Tottenham
  • Emiliano Martinez - Aston Villa

Defenders:

  • Marquinhos - PSG
  • Cristinao Biraghi - Fiorentina
  • Joao Cancelo - Manchester City
  • Thiago Silva - Chelsea
  • Alphonso Davies - Bayern Munich
  • Jeremie Frimpong - Bayern Leverkusen
  • Eder Militao - Real Madrid
  • Ruben Dias - Manchester City
  • Grimaldo - Benfica
  • Achraf Hakimi - PSG
  • Theo Hernandez - AC Milan
  • Kalidou Koulibaly - Chelsea
  • Nicolas Otamendi - Benfica
  • Bremer - Juventus
  • Niklas Sule - Bayern Munich
  • Fikayo Tomori - AC Milan
  • Kieran Trippier - Newcastle United
  • Virgil Van Dijk - Liverpool
  • Josko Gvardiol - RB Leipzig
  • Jule Koune - Barcelona
  • Cristian Romero - Tottenham
  • Dayot Upamecano - Bayern Munich
  • Jonathan Caluss - Marseille
  • Reece James - Chelsea
  • Marcos Acuna - Sevilla

Midfielders:

  • Nicolò Barella - Inter Milan
  • Jude Bellingham - Borussia Dortmund
  • Steven Berghuis - Ajax
  • Marcelo Brozovic - Inter Milan
  • Bernardo Silva - Manchester City
  • Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City
  • Moussa Diaby - Bayern Leverkusen
  • Nabil Fekir - Real Betis
  • Seko Fofana - RC Lens
  • Pedri - Barcelona
  • Vincenzo Grifo - SC Freiburg
  • Rodri - Manchester City
  • Daichi Kamada - Eintracht Frankfurt
  • Joshua Kimmich - Bayern Munich
  • Filip Kostic - Juventus
  • Toni Kroos - Real Madrid
  • Sadio Mane - Bayern Munich
  • Merino - Real Sociedad
  • Sergej Milinkovic Savic - Lazio
  • Luka Modric - Real Madrid
  • Martin Odegaard - Arsenal
  • Parejo - Villarreal
  • Declan Rice - West Ham
  • Bukayo Saka - Arsenal
  • Aurelin Tchouameni - Real Madrid
  • Sandro Tonali - AC Milan
  • Federico Valverde - Real Madrid
  • Casemiro - Manchester United
  • Sofyan Amrabat - Fiorentina
  • Bruno Fernandes - Manchester United
  • Ritsu Doan - SC Freiburg
  • Enzo Fernandez - Benfica
  • Ivan Perisic - Tottenham
  • Adrien Rabriot - Juventus
  • Lorenzo Pellegrini - Roma
  • Christopher Nkunu - RB Leipzig

Attackers:

  • Iago Aspas - Celta Vigo
  • Wissam Ben Yedder - AS Monaco
  • Karim Benzema - Real Madrid
  • Rafael Leao - AC Milan
  • Neymar Jr - PSGVinicius Jr - Real Madrid
  • Ousmanne Dembele - Barcelona
  • Joao Felix - Atletico Madrid
  • Gabriel Jesus - Arsenal
  • Phil Foden - Manchester City
  • Cody Gakpo - Liverpool
  • Erling Haaland - Manchester City
  • Borja Iglesias - Real Betis
  • Ciro Immobile - Lazio
  • Harry Kane - Tottenham
  • Randal Kolo Muani - Eintract Frankurt
  • Dejan Kulusevski - Tottenham
  • Robert Lewandowki - Barcelona
  • Lautaro Martinez - Inter Milan
  • Kylian Mbappe - PSG
  • Lionel Messi - PSG
  • Darwin Nunez - Liverpool
  • Victor Osimhen - Napoli
  • Mohamed Salah - Liverpool
  • Heung Min Son - Tottenham
  • Martin Terrier - Stade Rennais 
  • Dusan Vlahovic - Juventus
  • Oliver Giroud - AC Milan
  • Antoine Grizemann - Atletico Madrid

Who is likely to make the FIFA 23 team of the year?

Here are some of the front runners to make the team based on their performance in 2022:

GK: Thibaut Courtois - Real Madrid

Spanish giants Real Madrid were the dominant force at domestic level and in Europe, and their first choice goalkeeper throughout the season was Belgium shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois.

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Courtois lifted the La Liga title for the third time in his career last season and helped Los Blancos secure a record breaking 14 Champions League titles.

RB: Achraf Hakimi

Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi made the Team of the Year on FIFA 22, and chances are he’ll appear on the Team of the Year for FIFA 23 following another strong showing.

Hakimi helped PSG to another league title last season and was one of the stars of the World Cup as Morocco became the first African nation in history to reach the World Cup semi-final.

CB: Eder Miltao - Real Madrid

Eder Miltao was another key player for the double winning side of Real Madrid. Miltao is blessed with incredible pace and has been an important asset to Carlo Ancelotti’s defence in Los Blanco’s fourth ever European double.

CB: Virgil Van Dijk - Liverpool

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Netherlands centre back Virgil Van Dijk enjoyed a fine campaign for Liverpool and helped the club to glory in both the Carabao Cup and the FA Cup.

Van Dijk is blessed with tremendous pace and strength and has been vital to Jurgen Klopp’s success.

LB: Theo Hernandez - AC Milan

Theo Hernandez played a key role in helping AC Milan lift their first Serie A title in eight years and was an ever present for the Italian giants.

At international level Hernandez also displayed a strong showing at the World Cup and helped France to finish runners-up in Qatar.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne - Manchester City

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Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne boasted an outstanding season for Manchester City last campaign and bagged the Premier League Player of the Season award for the second time in his career.

De Bruyne has established himself as an all-time great in the Premier League era and won his fourth league title in 2021/22.

CM: Luka Modric - Real Madrid

Luka Modric may be coming to the twilight years of his career at 37 but he still remains one of the most influential players on the planet.

Modric produced yet another formidable campaign for Real Madrid and featured in both the La Liga Team of the Season and The Champions League Team of the Season.

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The veteran midfielder also played a vital role in helping Croatia to the last four of the World Cup for a second consecutive tournament.

CM: Christopher Nkunu - RB Leipzig

Christopher Nkunu played an immense campaign in the Bundesliga last season and was awarded the league’s Player of the Season award.

The 25-year-old fired in a total of 20 goals from midfield last year and has carried that form through to this season with 12 goals from his opening 15 games.

RW: Lionel Messi - PSG

Lionel Messi has been amongst the top performers in world football for nearly two decades and his career has reached new heights yet again over the last 12 months as he guided Argentina to their first World Cup title since 1986.

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Messi was the Golden Ball winner at Qatar 2022 - he was the second highest goalscorer at the tournament and made the most assists of any player. He also became the first player in history to score at every stage of the competition.

ST: Karim Benzema - Real Madrid

Karim Benzema was the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner and was the outstanding player for Real Madrid during their historic Champions League triumph.

The French striker hit a combined 44 goals across all competitions and was the top scorer in both the league and Champions League. He narrowly edges out competition from Manchester City star Erling Haaland and Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski.

LW: Kylian Mbappe - PSG

Kylian Mbappe was one of the star performers at the World Cup and was just beaten to the Golden Ball award by Lionel Messi, despite becoming the first player since 1966 to score a World Cup final hat-trick.

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The 23-year-old scored a total of eight World Cup goals in Qatar whilst also being Ligue 1’s top scorer for the fourth time in his career.

Who made the Team of the Year on FIFA 22?

Last year’s edition featured eye-catching upgrades for a number of footballing stars. The highest rated player in the team was former Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewandowski, who had a near perfect 98 rating.

EA Sports shortlisted the 80 best performing players last year and this number was then narrowed down to a starting 11 by players of the game.

This was the 2021 Team of the Year:

  • Gk: Gianluigi Donnarumma - 96
  • RB: Achraf Hakimi - 93
  • CB: Marquinhos - 95
  • CB: Ruben Dias - 97
  • LB: Joao Cancelo - 94
  • CM: Kevin De Bruyne - 96
  • CM: Jorginho - 97
  • CM: N’Golo Kante - 96
  • LW: Kylian Mbappe - 97
  • ST: Robert Lewandowski - 98
  • RW: Lionel Messi - 98

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