FIFA 22 Headliners Team 1 Players: How the Player Cards Upgrade in Ultimate Team

A new promotion has arrived in EA’s FIFA 22 video game called Headliners. The promo brings star footballers new cards in FIFA’s Ultimate Team mode. Among the players revealed on Friday are Kylian Mbappe, Virgil Van Djik, and Kalidou Koulibaly, They aren’t any ordinary cards either, as they’ll upgrade in the game’s FUT mode. Here’s a look at which players are featured for Team 1, and how the FIFA 22 Headliners promotion works.

Koulibaly, Mbappe among FIFA 22 Headliners Team 1 players

EA dropped the first team for the FIFA 22 Headliners promotion on New Year’s Eve for Ultimate Team mode. Headliners Team 1 brings us 11 players, ranging from a pair of 85 overall star footballers, up to a 93 OVR Kylian Mbappe. The Paris Saint Germain star’s card features a 99 Pace, 94 Dribbling, 90 Shooting, and 84 Passing. In addition, the FIFA cover star has five-star Skill Moves and four-star Weak Foot with this card.

Joining him is a former cover star, Virgil Van Dijk. The Liverpool center back’s 91 OVR item features 93 Defense, 87 Physical, 81 Pace, 75 Dribbling, and 74 Passing. Van Dijk has just two-star Skill Moves and a three-star Weak Foot on the card.

Other players revealed for the first team of Headliners include Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly, RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku, and Sevilla’s Marcos Acuna. Check out all 11 players’ front card art in the Twitter reveal below:

Complete Headliners Team 1 list:

  • Kylian Mbappe (ST, PSG) – 93 OVR
  • Virgil Van Dijk (CB, Liverpool) – 91 OVR
  • Kalidou Koulibaly (CB, Napoli) – 89 OVR
  • Christopher Nkunku (CAM, RB Leipzig) – 89 OVR
  • Giovanni Simeone (ST, Hellas Verona) – 88 OVR
  • Luis Diaz (LM, FC Porto) – 87 OVR
  • Yannick Carrasco (LM, Atletico Madrid) – 88 OVR
  • Antonio Candreva (RM, Sampdoria) – 85 OVR
  • Marcos Acuna (LB, Sevilla FC) – 88 OVR
  • Reece James (Chelsea, RWB) – 87 OVR
  • Patrik Schick (ST, Leverkusen) – 85 OVR

Check out more attributes and ratings for these player items at FUTHEAD’s page here.

How do the player cards work in Ultimate Team mode?

With the FIFA 22 Headliners, EA’s celebrating “the game’s most in-form players.” These are dynamic player cards with nice attributes already but can get upgraded more in Ultimate Team.

If a player earns an upgraded item in FUT for Team of the Week or Man of the Match, their Headliners item automatically gets the upgrade. The upgrade will happen on the Wednesday following them receiving a TOTW or MOTM item.

It’s worth noting that the cards will not upgrade for Player of the Month, Team of the Year, Team of the Season, or other campaigns besides the ones specified. 

Along with that particular upgrade, if a player’s club goes on a four-game win streak anytime for the rest of the season, the player’s item will get “an additional one-time permanent upgrade.” The win streaks begin as of December 31, so games played prior to this date won’t count in a streak.

Along with the player cards revealed above, we’re likely to see some additional cards arrive through FIFA Objectives or Squad Building Challenges. Headliners joins the game shortly after we saw the Winter Wildcards players in FUT, giving gamers more ways to upgrade rosters.

Visit our main FIFA news page to get how-to guides and other stories about EA’s game.