The FIFA 23 Team of the Year (TOTY) event is fast approaching in Ultimate Team, with the promo set to begin later this month.
One of the biggest promo events in a FUT calendar, the FIFA 23 TOTY event will celebrate the best-performing players from the last calendar year, with these players receiving heavily upgraded player items. Since FIFA 21, EA Sports has opened up the TOTY selection to the public, with players able to choose their FUT TOTY squad from a pool of nominees.
2022 was a big year for football, with Argentina winning the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Real Madrid lifting the UEFA Champions League, and Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Bayern Munich all winning their respective domestic leagues.
Big names are expected to feature in the FIFA 23 TOTY squad, and there is set to be a mammoth amount of themed content released by EA during the duration of the event. Here is everything we know about FIFA 23's FUT TOTY event so far including the latest leaks, predictions, release date, voting start date and what content to expect.
FIFA 23 TOTY expected key release dates
EA Sports has confirmed that the 100 FIFA 23 TOTY nominees will be revealed at 4pm GMT / 11am ET / 8am PT on Monday, January 9, 2023.
We expect the FIFA 23 TOTY Ultimate XI to be revealed on Thursday, January 19, 2023 at 6pm GMT / 1pm ET / 10am PT. We are also expecting the full Ultimate XI squad to be released into packs on Thursday, January 26 at 6pm GMT / 1pm ET / 10am PT, with the squad released into packs in batches before this date.
In FIFA 22, the nominees were announced over a period of three days, with EA revealing the attackers on Friday, January 7, 2022 the midfielders on Saturday, January 8, and the defenders and goalkeepers on Sunday, January 9. Voting for the FIFA 22 TOTY squad last year began on Monday, January 10, and ended on Tuesday, January 18.
After voting closed, EA then announced the official FIFA 22 TOTY squad on Thursday, January 20, with the squad then released in three parts, starting on Friday, January 21 with the attackers. Sunday, January 23 was the midfielders, Tuesday, January 25 was the defenders and goalkeepers, and Thursday, January 27 was the full XI.
The 12th man vote was released on Monday, January 24 before the chosen player was released on Friday, January 28. Based on this information, these are the key dates we are expecting for the FIFA 23 TOTY event.
09/01/23: TOTY Nominees revealed (CONFIRMED)
10/01/23: TOTY voting opens (CONFIRMED)
18/01/23: TOTY voting closes
19/01/23 TOTY Ultimate XI revealed
20/01/23: TOTY Attackers released in FUT 23 packs
22/01/23: TOTY Midfielders released in FUT 23 packs
23/01/23: 12th man vote opens
24/01/23: TOTY Defenders/Goalkeeper released in FUT 23 packs
26/01/23: TOTY Ultimate XI squad released in FUT 23 packs
27/01/23: 12th man released into FUT 23 packs
FIFA 23 TOTY voting
For the last two FIFA titles, the FUT TOTY squad has been chosen by a combination of public vote and EA themselves, allowing players to select the players they think have performed best over the last year. FIFA 21 was the first FIFA title with a public vote with EA revealing 70 nominees to choose from, and in FIFA 22 there were 80 nominees in total, released in three batches based on position (Attackers, midfielders, defenders and attackers).
EA Sports has confirmed that for FIFA 23 there will be a total of 100 nominees, with the TOTY voting confirmed to begin on Tuesday, January 10.
FIFA 23 TOTY leaks
Leaks have been a regular occurrence for almost every FIFA 23 promo, with most people now knowing the full squad before the official release. But, with the TOTY down to a fan vote, it's likely we won't see many TOTY Ultimate XI leaks, and if we do, it would be very close to the release date.
But, this hasn't stopped some information regarding the promo from being leaked, with reliable FUT leaker @FutSheriff and fellow leaker @UTSources reportedly leaking the confirmed voting start date and the official FUT 23 TOTY card design respectively.
EA look set to keep up their use of 3D backgrounds for the TOTY card design according to the leak, whilst the gold and blue colourway FIFA fans associate with TOTY remains, of course. And, according to FUT Sheriff, the FIFA 23 TOTY voting opens on Tuesday, January 10, though this is yet to be confirmed by EA.
FIFA 23 TOTY predictions
Real Madrid are expected to have multiple players included in the FIFA 23 Ultimate TOTY XI after winning the Champions League and La Liga, with Ballon d'Or winner Karim Benzema a potential inclusion in the squad. Paris Saint-Germain's Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappe could both make the squad following impressive 2022 World Cup campaigns.
The below players are just a prediction, none of these players are confirmed to be included.
- GK: Thibaut Courtois (Real Madrid and Belgium)
- RB: Joao Cancelo (Manchester City and Portugal)
- CB: David Alaba (Real Madrid and Austria)
- CB: Virgil van Dijk (Liverpool and Netherlands)
- LB: Theo Hernandez (AC Milan and France)
- CDM: Rodri (Manchester City and Spain)
- CM: Luka Modric (Real Madrid and Croatia)
- CM: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City and Belgium)
- RW: Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain and Argentina)
- ST: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid and France)
- LW: Kylian Mbappe (Paris Saint-Germain and France)
- 12th Man: Vinicius Jr (Real Madrid and Brazil)
The 12th man vote allows FUT 23 players to vote for one of three players. For the FUT 23 TOTY 12th man vote, we predict that Vinicius Jr could win, with Federico Valverde and Erling Haaland also nominated.
FIFA 23 TOTY expected content
In FIFA 22, 18 players were released in Packs, SBCs and Objectives as Honorable Mentions, a selection of players who just missed out on the Ultimate TOTY XI. We expect the same again in FIFA 23, whilst we could also potentially receive a TOTY swaps program, though this wasn't a feature during the FIFA 22 TOTY event.
As well as promo players, expect to see a selection of Promo Packs, themed SBCs and themed Objectives.