EA Sports unveil shocking FIFA 22 ratings for Celtic pair Kyogo and Ralston

By Euan Davidson

September 21, 2021

EA Sports have released the FIFA 22 [EA] player ratings and, as ever, they’re sure to cause some debate amongst Celtic supporters.

With a raft of new signings, some we’d never heard much about before, there was always going to be intrigue. How was the biggest football game in the world going to rate the likes of Liam Scales, Kyogo Furuhashi and Giorgos Giakoumakis?

With Callum McGregor’s showing at Euro 2020, could he jump up to an 80? What about the consistent goals and assists of James Forrest? Or former England hero Joe Hart?

Well, turns out EA Sports haven’t been that kind for FIFA 22 [Glasgow Times]. Our highest rated players are James Forrest, Callum McGregor and Christopher Jullien, each rated 75.

Kyogo, meanwhile? Despite his goal-scoring antics in Japan and Scotland, he’s rated a mere 72. Barkas outranks Cameron Carter-Vickers, with the Greek goalie also at 72, and the Spurs loanee at a 69.

Oddly, Swedish international centre-back Carl Starfelt also ranks at a 69, but ex-Crystal Palace man James McCarthy? 74.

Certainly, these are going to cause debate. As ever, EA Sports updates its ratings through the season, and FIFA 22 is unlikely to be any different in that regard.

But Kyogo? 72?!

Perhaps most surprising of all, resurgent Anthony Ralston, talked up for a Scotland cap: 64.

EA Sports’ ratings for FIFA 22 are going to make some Celtic fans unhappy

With PES becoming eFootball, and the dynamic of the game changing entirely, many fans who were excited by Celtic Park and face scans in Konami’s game may find themselves back playing FIFA.

It’s uncertain whether the popular League and Master League modes are returning to the Konami showpiece. If fans want to win the title and compete in the Champions League with Celtic, FIFA may be the place.

That’s a bit of a shame, with Celtic Park still not being included in the FIFA franchise. Meanwhile, there’s no evidence of face scans for many of the Celtic team, which takes away a fair amount of realism.

The ratings hardly help. There are no 90 or above players at Celtic, nobody was expecting that. But with Kyogo Furuhashi and Vasilis Barkas being rated the same amount, there’ll surely be a few fans miffed that the game version of Kyogo isn’t as good as he ought to be.

Fine, yes, it’s not a huge deal in the grand scheme of things. But you’re talking about a game that’s sold hundreds of millions of copies. And, a company that generates millions through in-game purchases [Forbes].

A little more research and realism for clubs like Celtic, with enormous fan bases, would go a long way.

FIFA 22 comes out on the 1st of October.

In other news: Charlie Nicholas slams rivals for treatment of former Celtic duo