photo by Brad Mills/USA Today Sports
By FRANCO PANIZO
EA Sports’ FIFA 16 was released in stores across the globe this week, meaning that gamers everywhere got to do one of their favorite things. Besides play, of course.
A popular trend for many fans of the annual video game is to look up and discuss the player ratings on their preferred clubs and international sides, including the U.S. Men’s National Team. This year comes with a bonus, however, as the U.S. Women’s National Team is also in the game for the first time.
As expected, the American women have much higher ratings in contrast to the men because of their status as a top dog and reigning World Cup champs. Carli Lloyd leads the way with a 91 rating, up five points from the demo, and following her are Abby Wambach and Megan Rapinoe at 90 apiece.
The highest-rated player on the U.S. Men’s National Team is Clint Dempsey, who was given an 81. Following him on the squad are Michael Bradley at 80 and Brad Guzan with a 79. Jozy Altidore comes in at a 74.
Other noteworthy ratings in the U.S. pool include Tim Howard at 80, Jermaine Jones’ 77, the 70 given to DeAndre Yedlin and Julian Green with his 68.
Player ratings can and will change since EA Sports updates them on a week-to-week basis based on how things are going at the club level. That said, here is a closer look at the initial FIFA 16 player ratings for the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, others in the men’s player pool, and current and former youth national team members:
American Player Ratings on FIFA 16
USMNT – 4 stars
Brad Guzan 79
Nick Rimando 76
William Yarbrough 69
Omar Gonzalez 76
John Brooks 76
Timmy Chandler 73
Tim Ream 70
DeAndre Yedlin 70
Brad Evans 69
Greg Garza 69
Ventura Alvarado 66
Michael Bradley 80
Fabian Johnson 76
Alejandro Bedoya 75
Kyle Beckerman 74
Mix Diskerud 71
Joe Corona 68
Clint Dempsey 81
Jozy Altidore 74
Aron Johannsson 74
Chris Wondolowski 72
Gyasi Zardes 72
Graham Zusi 71
USWNT – 5 stars
Alex Morgan 84
Abby Wambach 90
Megan Rapinoe 90
Carli Lloyd 91
Morgan Brian 77
Tobin Heath 85
Meghan Klingenberg 81
Julie Johnston 82
Becky Sauerbrunn 86
Ali Krieger 82
Hope Solo 87
Sydney Leroux 82
Christen Press 73
Lauren Holiday 82
Heather O’Reilly 81
Christie Rampone 85
Kelley O’Hara 82
Ashlyn Harris 80
Lori Chalupny 69
Amy Rodriguez 76
Shannon Boxx 71
Whitney Engen 80
Alyssa Naeher 76
Others
Tim Howard 80
Geoff Cameron 77
Jermaine Jones 77
Benny Feilhaber 75
Matt Besler 74
Maurice Edu 74
Lee Nguyen 74
Bill Hamid 73
Matt Hedges 72
Ike Opara 72
Dax McCarty 72
Ethan Finlay 71
Luis Robles 71
Sacha Kljestan 71
DaMarcus Beasley 71
Steve Birnbaum 70
Andrew Farrell 70
Wil Trapp 70
Alfredo Morales 70
Danny Williams 70
Eric Lichaj 70
Robbie Rogers 70
Jonathan Spector 70
Brad Davis 70
Harry Shipp 69
Josh Gatt 69
Sebastian Lletget 69
Miguel Ibarra 68
Rubio Rubin 68
Matt Miazga 68
Julian Green 68
Andrew Wooten 68
Teal Bunbury 68
Juan Agudelo 68
Sean Johnson 68
Charlie Davies 68
Michael Orozco 68
Terrence Boyd 67
Bobby Wood 67
Brek Shea 67
Tommy Thompson 66
Amobi Okugo 66
Marvell Wynne 66
Matt Polster 65
Fatai Alashe 65
Dillon Serna 65
Emerson Hyndman 64
Kellyn Acosta 64
Desevio Payne 63
Lynden Gooch 63
Erik Palmer-Brown 63
Paul Arriola 63
Bradford Jamieson IV 62
Marky Delgado 62
Cody Cropper 61
Romain Gall 60
Jordan Allen 59
Conor Donovan 57
Boyd Okwuonu 54
Andrija Novakovich 52
—–
What do you think about these player ratings in FIFA 16 for the USMNT and USWNT? Which players are overrated and underrated? Whose ratings surprised you the most?
Share your thoughts below.
christen press 73…. EA is an abomination
DaMarcus Beasley at 71 and Abby Wambach at 90 both seem inordinately high. I just can’t figure out what DaMarcus brings anymore, besides maybe locker room experience. Abby can be dangerous against the right opponent, but she isn’t the player she once was.
my ‘Be a Pro’ is in the 1st season and already a 75….wtf USMNT! Get it together…train like ‘Be a Pro’
Zelalem?
On loan to Rangers so he isn’t listed and Rangers are not in FIFA 16.
Jose Torres?
FIFA always seems to me that ratings have more to do with popularity than actual real like representation. EA should just buy Football Manager and just integrate the player ratings from there.
theirs are kinda poop too. english players are way overrated.
Josh Gatt at 69 even though he’s been injured for years and hasn’t been playing!?!?!?!?!
He is ahead of:
Rubio Rubin 68, Matt Miazga 68, Julian Green 68, Andrew Wooten 68, Teal Bunbury 68, Juan Agudelo 68, Charlie Davies 68, Bobby Wood 67, Brek Shea 67, Tommy Thompson 66, Emerson Hyndman 64, Paul Arriola 63, etc!!!!
assuming he’d have the same rating whether he is injured or not, I see nothing wrong with a 69 for him. 60s are usually unproven but talented players roughly 19-24
just mho 🙂
come on man, asking EA to nerf a dude who can’t catch a break?! 🙂
My character in the game is the highest rated American, and the first to captain Chelsea
I don’t know the status on kekuta manneh’s eligibility but he is a 69, a nice increase from last year.
i believe he can become a citizen in early 2016.
Dwyer, Nagbe and Manneh are 3 exciting NT propescts if all goes well.
Nagbe’s just become a citizen last week I believe. I’m most excited about Mannah though. The kid is determined to be a citizen and his skill has increased tremendously since last year. Would like to see how the USA looks with Mannah on LM and Yedlin on RM.
dont underrate dwyer as a successor to Dempsey tho
AKA the Bible for most USNT internet warriors.
Is Freddy Adu in the game? If so, I’m sure his ranking is upward of 83-84…
fifa doesnt include semipro leagues
I always think it is interesting to see who EA thinks the US should be starting, nice to know it isn’t Alvarado. I actually like this lineup for the Cup game (minus Chandler who isn’t available)
Dempsey – 81 Johansson/Altidore – 74
Zardes – 72 Bradley -80 Jones – 77 Bedoya -75
Fabian -76 Cameron -77, Gonzalez/Brooks 76 Chandler 73
Howard -80
Fielhaber is the other player over 75, to start he would have to play at LM over Zardes.
With Chandler hurt Yedlin moves into RB or Beasley goes on the Left and Fabian on the right.
This is actually really interesting.
Glad to see Julian Green has been nerfed
Beckerman and Chandler are overrated both should be 68-71
Ream and Williams underrated. Should be 71-73
Omar is closer to a 73-74
All in all good on the USMNT
Chandler’s rated where he is because of what he does in the Bundesliga, where he allegedly plays much better than with the national team.
You say allegedly because you don’t watch him play in the Bundesliga. Which means you only see him play a handful of times a year. Which means you can’t comment on his rating.
That’s exactly why he says allegedly. He’s acknowledging he doesn’t watch him play regularly. That’s why he passed no judgement on whether the rating was correct or not, and merely sought to explain it.
Some people just post looking to be jerks and pick fights, huh?
I’d almost bet money that RB is El Commandante or buzzy in disguise. Either that or he’s just their inbred cousin…
here is a good read that provides a lot of insight into how EA comes up with player ratings. this article is on Madden, but similar to FIFA. there are a lot of data points they capture and measure to create these ratings. not perfect, but at least they provide a methodology to why they gave a certain rating.
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/madden/
one thing is for sure, being the guy in charge of ratings, for any of these games, must be insane.
Miazga has a higher rating than Alvarado… c’mon Jurgen!
Opening this can of worms…
If Jurgen were to make the player rankings, how would they differ? I left their originals first, then my “Jurgen ranking” next.
Brad Guzan 79, 89 (he plays in Europe!)
Nick Rimando 76, 76
William Yarbrough 69, 32
Omar Gonzalez 76, 32
John Brooks 76, 86
Timmy Chandler 73, 98
Tim Ream 70, 92 vs. Peru but 52 vs. Brazil
DeAndre Yedlin 70, 82
Brad Evans 69, 71
Greg Garza 69, 75
Ventura Alvarado 66, 80
Michael Bradley 80, 79
Fabian Johnson 76, 96
Alejandro Bedoya 75, 75
Kyle Beckerman 74, 78
Mix Diskerud 71, 61
Joe Corona 68, 48
Clint Dempsey 81, 85
Jozy Altidore 74, 84
Aron Johannsson 74, 70
Chris Wondolowski 72, 80
Gyasi Zardes 72, 86
Graham Zusi 71, 60
Landon Donovan NA, 13
Tim Howard 80, 50
Geoff Cameron 77, 60 @ CB, 88 @ RB
Jermaine Jones 77, 84
Benny Feilhaber 75, -3
Hahah @ Benny at -3
LOLZ. In Jurgens game, a player gets a +8 automatically if played out of position.
You wasted a lot of time it looks like.
“wasted time” is a relative term…
abby at 90 lol
^This.