The faces of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the latest installment of FIFA is a stark contrast from when they were first introduced in the game.
The two superstars have gone through nearly two decades of FIFA games – and as the technology by EA Sports improves, we can see how far removed the graphics are from when they made their introduction.
Manchester United star Ronaldo first came into the series for FIFA 2004 – and his look is a far cry from this year. The game was released when United still had the Vodafone logo and Sir Alex Ferguson was manager. It appears to be a default face – with black hair and nothing else to really suggest that it is Ronaldo.
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Messi made his entry into the series two years later, for FIFA 2006, when he was at Barcelona. Again the superstar is given a default face and merely some long brown and a short stature to give him away as being the Argentinian legend.
Little did we know at the time that the race for the highest-rated FIFA player would be solely contested by these two.
(Image: : FIFA/EA SPORTS)
In FIFA 23, Messi remains one of the top players – with his rating of 91 being joint with Barcelona striker Robert Lewandowski, Real Madrid forward, Champions League hero Karim Benzema, Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne, and his fellow Paris Saint-Germain team-mate Kylian Mbappe.
Just one below, Ronaldo shares his 90 rating with Liverpool ace Mohamed Salah, Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, Thibaut Courtois of Real, and Liverpool centre-back Virgil van Dijk.
But the highest-rated footballer is actually Alexia Putellas of Barcelona Women – who has a rating of 92. The 28-year-old helped her side win a domestic treble last season, all while emerging victorious inl 30 of their league matches. Putellas scored 18 goals and registered 15 assists in that period – with FIFA noting her campaign with the highest rating of all the players.
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