Matteo Brighi 97 – FIFA 03Ī genuine curveball, Brighi was the highest-rated player on FIFA 2003, beating cover stars Thierry Henry, Roberto Carlos and Ryan Giggs.
We can’t help but think it was a mistake not to have him on the cover, although that may have seriously affected sales in Catalonia. Slotting into this side on the right-hand side of midfield, Figo was at his pig’s head height of fame and infamy, having just won his first title with Real Madrid following his controversial move from Barcelona. Roberto Carlos 94 – FIFA 05Ī god of FIFA games thanks to that jackhammer of a left foot, Carlos appeared on the cover of the 2003 edition but was deemed to be at his best two years later. We still can’t get our heads around the fact he scored 26 goals in all competitions in 1991-92. The only former Bolton player on this list, Hierro was approaching the end of his Real Madrid career when he was given such a high rating by EA Sports, although he had just won a fourth La Liga title and would go on to end the 2001-02 campaign with a third Champions League. Milan, Juve, Inter, Parma Fernando Hierro 94 – FIFA 02 READ: Five of the best defences of Serie A’s golden era, ft. Sticking with Serie A, and once more with the 2005 edition of the game, Nesta was deemed to be at his peak after helping Milan win Serie A, conceding a measly 24 goals in 34 games in the process.īut it was his team-mate Andriy Shevchenko who graced the cover alongside Patrick Vieira and Raul. In the summer of 2004, Fabio Capello was appointed Juve manager and Thuram was mainly used as a centre-back, but he was named as a right-back in the 2005 edition of FIFA. Lilian Thuram 92 – FIFA 05Īnother Juventus player coming off the back of a disappointing season, Thuram was a defensive don on a host of football games in the mid-2000s. Weirdly, Buffon was coming off the back of a 2003-04 season in which Juventus finished just third in Serie A, with six teams conceding fewer than the 42 goals the Old Lady let in.Īnd the goalkeeper had also suffered disappointment at Euro 2004, as Italy were knocked out at the group stage despite being unbeaten.īuffon was, however, named in the UEFA Team of the Year and also won the IFFHS World’s Best Goalkeeper award, although he missed out on the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year honour to Dida. It was always going to be him, wasn’t it? The only question was which era Buffon made the cut. In a 4-4-f*cking-2, we’ve taken a look at the best XI to grace the game across all of its previous editions. Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo may have dominated world football for a number of years, but neither of them make it into the best XI of players to be featured on EA Sports’ FIFA.īoth Messi and Ronaldo have peaked at a rating of 94, which we’re afraid doesn’t cut the mustard to get into the ultimate Ultimate Team.