5 Best Career Mode Teams

After shedding the weight from the FIFA legacy, EA Sports FC 25 finally feels like an iteration of this soceer goliath that feels authentic.

FC25 is the first game in years to satisfy the gameplay cravings of players who were previously married to Konami’s now-defunct PES eFootball 2021.

While the pitch-side action reached new heights, the manager career in FC 25 feels pleasantly familiar.

There are immersion-breaking bugs to iron out (like your player calling you the opposing team’s name in email conversations), and occasionally broken social media feeds.

If you can look past that and the tragic licensing situation, this is the right edition to start a long career-mode campaign.

These Seven teams have different stories, contexts, and leagues, but they are guaranteed to satisfy a manager seeking a challenge.

7 Barcelona

2nd in 2023-2024 La Liga

Almost everyone who has played a career mode before has picked a big club with endless money for a power trip. But what if the money is gone?

Despite years of financial mismanagement marked by astronomical salaries (with Messi earning a modest $109 million a year) and transfer flops, FC 25 charitably gives you north of €120 million in the bank at the beginning of the career.

The budget comes with lofty expectations: managing Barcelona means trophies, trophies, trophies. If you are not ready to overtake Real Madrid, consider picking Spurs – they are used to not having trophies.

6 AS Monaco

2nd in 2023-2024 Ligue 1

Ligue 1 is two leagues rolled into one, and your job is to change that.

For Paris Saint-Germain, this is a sideshow to the Qatari-funded Champions League dream. The rest of the teams enjoy a competitive league with few European spots.

Monaco has enjoyed strong seasons (with two notable blips) since its magical championship run in the 2016-2017 season, but there is enough talent to break the PSG dominance.

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Monaco is hardly a poor team with a budget behind only PSG and Lyon in France, but there is no sugar daddy to afford shopping sprees.

A solid Monegasque career means fighting for trophies while buying cheap, developing players, then selling them for tens of millions, keeping only a handful of leaders to coach the youngsters.

5 Juventus

3rd in 2023-2024 Serie A

Rome is the first great Italian empire to suffer a tragic fall from grace, but Juventus is not far behind.

After nine consecutive Serie A titles between 2012 and 2020, Juve has had abysmal league campaigns with two consolation Copa Italia wins.

The squad you inherit is chaotic, with stars like Locatelli and Vlahović sharing space with functional but lackluster names such as Weston McKennie. There is money in the bank to turn things around, but the competition is stiff.

Despite the goofy names due to licensing issues, Inter and Milan have vastly superior rosters. Napoli has a more functional starting XI, and Roma, while similar to Juventus in the inconsistent quality, boasts a much better attacking trio.

With some solid buys to reinforce the starters, Juve has a solid foundation for a long career mode in a Serie A that is at its most competitive in over a decade.

4 Manchester City

1st in 2023-2024 Premier League

The rest of the Premier League has been praying for Man City’s downfall as the club faces scrutiny over its finances, but that is a problem for accountants, not managers.

Picking up where Pep Guardiola left off gives you a ridiculously strong squad with no real weaknesses, and a cozy £180 million transfer budget should you want to burn some more cash.

Some team leaders are on the wrong side of 30 and will need replacing eventually, but the second season brings back a lot of loaned talent, so there is no need to stress.

3 AFC Wimbledon

10th in 2023-2024 League Two

Wimbledon has seen the lowest of lows and highest of highs since standing up against the soulless MK Dons project in 2002. The club enjoyed a long streak in League One between 2016 and 2022 when it dropped to League Two again.

With a mediocre squad and a budget of only £1 million, the Wimbledon project needs a pragmatic and patient manager to succeed. This is where you come in.

The first season will be the hardest without any serious transfer, but with some luck and quality scouting, this earns a ticket to League One and a pair of decent free signings.

Unless you abuse the EA market, an AFC Wimbledon ‘success’ is not measured in titles but rather a timely return to the Premier League.

2 Schalke 04

10th in 2023-2024 2. Liga

In the 2017-2018 season, Schalke clinched silver in the Bundesliga and made it to the cup semi-finals.

The Gelsenkirchen stalwart has had a nightmare run since then, marked by early cup exits, a sensational relegation in 2021, and an immediate drop following its 2022 return to the top flight.

There is no need to mince words: Schalke is terrible today. The team finished 10th in the 2023-2024 2. Liga season, and by the looks of it, this season will be no different unless you do something about it.

The squad you start with is mediocre but has a serviceable core of young players that can grow into starters with some playing time.

Schalke has a budget of €9 million, which leaves some flexibility to pick up one or two starters in the 75-80 OVR range, especially if you fish from the free agent pool.

This is not about the money. It is about bringing dignity to Gelsenkirchen or bankrupting the club for good should you fail. Qualifying for the Champions League before the world ends would be magical.

1 Porto

3rd in 2023-2024 Primeira Liga

In 2004, Porto bested Monaco 3-0 in Gelsenkirchen to win the Champions League title. The year before, the Portuguese side had clinched the UEFA Cup, a feat repeated in 2011.

No international silverware has made it back to Estádio do Dragão since. To make matters worse, FC Porto only qualified for the Europa League this season, but maybe that is for the best.

The team offers you a young squad led by playmaker Pepê and the gloved wall by the name of Diogo Costa, a tight title challenge against Benfica and Sporting, and an unreal stadium atmosphere.

The resurgence of Sporting and a leadership crisis have plunged Porto to the third spot in the Primeira Liga, but the board in FC 25 wants nothing short of gold.

Much like Monaco, this is a team that needs to flip talent to balance the books, but if you can hold onto the leaders for a couple of seasons, you might just repeat the path of José Mourinho in 2004.

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Franchise

EA Sports FC

Released

September 27, 2024

Developer(s)

EA Canada , EA Romania

Engine

Frostbite

ESRB

Everyone // Alcohol And Tobacco Reference, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

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