EA has revealed the highest-rated players in FIFA 22, and not only has Lionel Messi beaten Cristiano Ronaldo to number one, but the Portuguese star isn't even number two.
Player ratings in sports games are always a hotly debated topic. Some players in the NFL have even taken their ratings up with EA, arguing that the number they received doesn't do them justice. When it comes to FIFA, the hottest topic regarding ratings when a new game is on the horizon is who will win the race to be the best player in the game, and for a while now it has been a two-horse race.
The winner of that race this year is Lionel Messi, as was officially revealed by EA earlier today. The Argentine, who left Barcelona for PSG over the summer, has received a white-hot 93 rating. That's the same as his rating in FIFA 21. Unsurprising as despite a change in club, Messi continues to be one of, if not the best player on the planet.
It's the unfamiliar face occupying the second-highest rating in the game that may signal a changing of the guard. It is not Cristiano Ronaldo. It's Bayern Munich's Robert Lewandowski, sitting pretty in the silver position with a rating of 92. Ronaldo has had to settle for a rating of 91, the same as Kevin De Bruyne, Jan Oblak, and Messi's new PSG teammates Neymar Jr. and Kylian Mbappe.
Other highly-rated players among FIFA 22's elite include Harry Kane (90), Mo Salah (89), and N'Golo Kante (90) who reminded the world just how good he is via his performances for France at Euro 2020. Player ratings are subject to change, of course, but only if you allow squads to update and EA to apply live rating tweaks to players based on their real-life form.
If Ronaldo continues his second stint at Manchester United the way he started it over the weekend, then his live FIFA rating will likely improve pretty quickly once FIFA 22 launches next month. However, it also seems like that the only way is up for Messi too. While he hasn't been lighting up Ligue 1 just yet, his performances for Argentina during the international break proved he didn't leave the old Messi behind when he left Barca.