EA has revealed the full list of leagues and teams for FIFA 22 – and there’s massive news for fans of the Indian Super League.
Former temporary home to the likes of David Trezeguet, Robert Pires and Roberto Carlos, the Hero ISL contains 11 teams and is the first full league added to the series since the Chinese Super League landed in FIFA 19.
The 11 sides added are as follows:
- ATK Mohun Bagan
- Bengaluru FC
- Chennaiyin FC
- FC Goa
- Hyderabad FC
- Jamshedpur FC
- Kerala Blasters
- Mumbai City FC
- NorthEast United
- Odisha FC
- SC East Bengal
EA says that the new additions take the tally of teams in the game past 700, with more than 100 licensed stadiums and 17,000 players. You can view the complete list at the official EA website.
To accompany the announcement, it's also unveiled a new partnership with Lega Serie A. The Italian top flight will now have a regular player of the month award in Ultimate Team, 16 fully licensed clubs (which should mean more player faces and stadia), and “more of the unique characteristics of Italian football” – EA’s words, not ours. At the very least that should mean league-specific broadcast overlays in exhibition and career mode.
The four clubs no longer licensed in FIFA are Juventus, Roma, Atalanta and Lazio. They’ll still have accurate player names, but be given generic kits and badges and be known as follows:
- Juventus: Piemonte Calcio
- Roma: Roma FC
- Atalanta: Bergamo Calcio
- Lazio: Latium
Badges and kits for the four missing clubs are exclusive to Pro Evolution Soccer successor eFootball 2022. Napoli will be too, from eFootball 2023 onwards – as revealed in a 12DOVE news story last April.
“EA Sports and Lega Serie A are entering into a multi-year agreement which allows for Serie A clubs to be authentically represented in-game, providing that the rights of those clubs are available and not currently contractually held exclusively by another party,” said a company statement. "EA Sports is respectful of pre-existing relationships that certain clubs have with third parties, but is equally committed to further growing its presence in Italian football both now and in the future."
The partnership will see the Supercoppa Italiana rebranded as the EA Sports Supercup from the 2022-23 season onwards.
FIFA 22 is released on Friday, October 1 and Ultimate Team is getting a whole new batch of old-school players – see nine of the best in our FIFA 22 Heroes guide.
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