FIFA 22 TOTY: PSG-packed team goes down like a lead balloon


The Team of the Year event is rumbling on in FIFA 22 Ultimate Team, but the signs suggest this year's team has not gone down well within the FUT community.

Selection for the Team of the Year is always highly contentious despite FIFA fans getting to have their say, as the weighting of the fan votes is a bit of a mystery.

With a 12th man still to come and Honourable Mentions also on the way there is still time for some popular cards to be released, so fingers crossed.

Popularity Contest

PSG's dominance in the TOTY XI has not gone down well, and it is plain to see on Futbin as their popularity indicator sees all the players in the negative numbers, except Lionel Messi.

In fact, Kylian Mbappe has proved so unpopular that his TOTY card is the fifth most disliked card in the game so far this season.

This is Mbappe's second appearance in the top 10 least popular cards after his absolute fraud of a Next Generation card, so EA is not doing much for their poster boy!

Chelsea maestro Jorginho is the only non-PSG Team of the Year item to receive negative ratings, although that was expected as his spot in the squad was controversial, to say the least.

Poor PSG

Let's get straight to it. Why were five PSG players selected in the Final XI in FUT 22?

By their standards (and standard of competition in Ligue 1), PSG's lack of a league title or glory in Europe is a failure.

Despite an alarming lack of silverware for the Parisians last season, five of their players were selected for huge upgrades in this year's TOTY event.

fifa 22 ultimate team team of the year
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FINAL CUT - This is the 2021 Team of the Year

However, of those five players, three were signed in the summer of 2021, and all three did win trophies in 2021 whether it was for their country or former club, so maybe they are not the problem.

Messi led Argentina to Copa America glory, while Gianluigi Donnarumma was Italy's hero in the Euro final penalty shootout.

Speedy right-back Achraf Hakimi picked up a Serie A winners medal with Inter too, so all three have strong claims for a place in the XI, and we can make our peace with it.

Two in, two out

In summary, we think that two PSG players should not have made the cut. Mbappe and Marquinhos.

By their lofty standards, last year would not have been seen as successful for either club or country, so the only logical explanation for their inclusion is to sell packs.

This may be cynical, but given their clear unpopularity among fans, it is the only way it makes sense.

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HARD DONE BY - Salah may have made the squad if he was on the cover...

The number of Liverpool fans voicing their opinions has grown exponentially since their first Premier League win, but even we can't argue that Mohamed Salah deserves a place over Mbappe.

Replacing Marquinhos is a little less obvious, but can you look further than Antonio Rudiger?

The German has been brilliant under Thomas Tuchel and his UCL medal tips the scales in his favour, in our opinion.

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