Lionel Messi , FC Barcelona’s Argentinian wing wizard, edged out his Portuguese rival, Cristiano Ronaldo, in the upcoming FIFA 21 footie game players ratings following EA Sports’ reveal last night.

Rated at 93, Messi is FIFA 21’s highest-rated player. He is just one point ahead of Juventus forward Ronaldo who got a “measly” 92.

If it’s any consolation, though, Ronaldo is the highest rated striker, just one point ahead of Bayern Munich’s Polish striker Robert Lewandowski (91). This is followed by PSG’s French wonder kid and FIFA 21 cover star Kylian Mbappe (90) and Man City’s veteran Argentinean striker Kun Aguero (89).

Real Madrid’s French forward, Karim Benzema (89) and Spurs English forward Harry Kane (88) rounds up the list of the top-tier strikers in FIFA 21.

Forwards

Midfielders

In the wings, speed and dribbling are the main currencies as Messi’s former teammate and current PSG main man, Neymar leads the pack at 91. He’s closely followed by Liverpool pair, Mo Salah and Mane as the highest-rated wingers in the game.

There’s very little to separate Neymar from the both Liverpool wingers but I guess his higher dribbling and passing stats nudged him just a smidge ahead. Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard, Man City’s Raheem Sterling (both 88) and highly-sought English prodigy Jadon Sancho are not far behind.

 

Meanwhile in the middle, passing takes precedence over speed, with Man City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne being the highest-rated at 91. However, Real Madrid’s Casemiro snuck into the top tier for central midfielders thanks to his physical and defensive attributes, making him the highest-rated defensive midfielder in the game.

Man United talisman, Bruno Fernandes is the club’s highest-rated midfielder at 87, on-par with Liverpool’s Fabinho. Paul Pogba, who had a mixed season is still highly-rated, coming up high at 86.

That’s something Man United fans can cheer about, right?

 

Defense

In defense, Liverpool’s Dutch center-back Virgil van Dijk stands tall ahead of everyone else at 90 overall. Real Madrid captain, Sergio Ramos is still highly rated, coming in at 89 while Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly is third with 88.

Despite an awful season, Barca Spanish defender, Gerard Pique is still going strong at 86 and surprisingly, Man City’s Fernandinho who typically plays as a midfielder has been re-positioned as a center back.

Liverpool again dominate the wing-back position as two of their starters, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andrew Robertson are two of the highest-rated wing-backs in FIFA 21.  Spanish wingbacks Dani Carvajal and Jordi Alba are not far behind and I believe we can put that TAA vs AWB debate to bed with Man United’s right wing back receiving just an 83 rating.

Goalkeepers

I always felt that EA Sports is biased towards La Liga players and it is so apparent in the goalkeepers’ ratings. Whilst Jan Oblak (91) had a good season, how he was rated higher than Alisson (90), Marc-André ter Stegen (90), Thibaut Courtois and Manuel Neuer (both 89) bewildered me.

Speaking of bias, despite a mistake-ridden season, Man United stopper, David de Gea is still relatively high at 86, better than Gianluigi Donnarumma who is arguably the best keeper in the Italian league at the moment.

Best English Premier League Team (4-3-3)

In case you are wondering, here’s the starting eleven consisting of the best English Premier League players based on their FIFA 21 ratings.

Pretty decent team if you ask me. Which of these players were either overrated or underrated? Sound off in the comments section.

FIFA 21 is set for release October 9th on all current-gen consoles (including the Switch and Stadia) as well as on PC. It will also be made available on next-gen consoles.