The world’s best FIFA players give their first impressions of FIFA 20

The new football season has begun which means FIFA 20 isn’t too far away. The latest game of the EA Sports franchise is promising to shake things up as once again the gameplay will undergo an overhaul with new features.

Looking forward to the new game, Goal decided to get the opinions of the upcoming changes from some of the best FIFA 19 players in the world by asking the FIFA eWorld Cup finalists for their opinions on what new features of FIFA 20 will have the biggest impact.

For Team Vitality’s Fouad “Rafsou” Fare, he is excited to see more difficulty added to the game: “My team-mate Brian told me that passing is now tougher to do. It’s good because the players who are so quick with passing the ball are going to try and change their play-style because that won’t be as safe any more. For me, I can do both, so it isn’t a problem.”

In FIFA 19 it’s relatively easy to ping the ball around the pitch with passes landing at your team-mates’ feet nine times out of 10. In FIFA 20, simple passes will still be consistent but first-time passes and passes while under pressure my now result in slower or weaker hits, giving your opponent a better opportunity to intercept. However, you can now manually dink your passes to mix things up in a refreshing change.

Another change that has Rafsou excited is the removal of chained skill moves which he believes will be a huge change for FIFA’s competitive scene. PlayStation runner-up Nicolas “Nicolas99fc” Villalba echoed that sentiment: “I watched on Twitter some things about the skill-moves. For example, this year you could perform four elasticos in a row. 

“I scored a goal against MoAuba in the Playoffs after performing three elasticos… which isn’t realistic. That’s changed. If you perform a second elastico shortly after your player might lose the ball and I think that’s good.”

Nicolas also added that he’s hoping for more variety in gameplay for FIFA 20: “I want to see balance. FIFA 19 was about skills and crossing, which I didn’t like. Anyone can cross – you press and then it’s random if you get the ball in the air. I want a balanced game where any play-style will work.”

Finally, there’s Mohammed “MoAuba” Harkous who showed his mastery of FIFA 19 by being crowned this year’s FIFA eWorld Cup champion. The Werder Bremen player expertly used both timed finishing and moving the goalkeeper during the tournament. 

“Of course I’m happy timed finishing and moving the goalkeeper will remain in FIFA 20. It’s so important for the skill-gap,” the German told Goal before adding: “For tournaments, it’s so hard to hit green while you’re under pressure – it’s a skill and any skill expression is always good in FIFA. 

“I think all the complaints about not moving the goalkeeper good or not timing your shots good, you have to learn it. You can’t say in football you’re not allowed to cross good because I can’t defend it so you have to learn.”