For years, that is FIFA and World Cup 26 licenses it used to feel like the top prize in a game of football. You know what comes with it. An official presentation package, real stadium branding, authentic tournament visuals, licensed national teams, famous World Cup typography and all the little details that make the event feel “real” in the game.
While this is most enjoyed by one game, I would say it’s in the past EA Sports In the FIFA era, World Cup content almost feels untouchable. Once every four years, it’s the event that makes you see the shiny trophies and the event content as the best. I still love it Main Icon Card from World Cup 22 renewshiny Bergkamp cards, for example.
Now that the 2026 FIFA World Cup is just a few months away, the situation feels very different, and if we’re honest, it’s quite surprising.
The end of EA and FIFA changed everything
Recent reports confirm that there is no single biggest football video game at the moment, EA Sports FC, owned by KONAMI eFootball franchise, Dream League Footballand even high potential recently soft launched UFL Mobilehas received the official license for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
It’s no surprise that all of these titles will definitely work on a World Cup mode, perhaps a knockout competition where you compete by selecting a National Team of your choice, and then win a trophy, and on the way, some prizes. You see, the excitement of the knockout round is still the same, but authenticity always comes first, right?
Now, when I understand all this, a question comes to my mind. Is the original FIFA World Cup license still worth pursuing? Are the advantages not worth giving these big titles a try?
The answer starts from what happened in 2022, namely when EA Sports and FIFA ending their long partnershipAnd FIFA 23 is EA FC 24 the following year, after rebranding. For almost 30 years, the two sides have worked together since 1993, and events under FIFA are presented as grand extravaganzas.
EA walked away from most of the club’s licensing and player rights through the new deal, but FIFA suddenly lost its biggest gaming partner. The governing body will have to start looking for someone new to carry the official FIFA name as well as the World Cup branding.
Why licensing the FIFA World Cup is no longer a “simple” deal.
At first, that is rumors pointing directly to Take-Two Interactive, the company behind NBA 2K. As early as 2024, there is serious talk of a FIFA-branded full console game, possibly even FIFA 2K25launched in the same year. Fans got excited. A realistic simulation with an official license sounds like a perfect rival to EA Sports FC.
But Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick was quick shut the hype. He explained that the FIFA license “it’s not that simple.” In contrast to the agreement for NFL or NBAFIFA’s name alone does not give away players, teams, or leagues.
These rights still have to be negotiated one by one with national federations, players’ unions and club organizations. Zelnick said the company is happy with the sports games it currently has and is in no rush to jump into something so complex. The dream of a FIFA 2K title has quietly faded back into rumors.
The search for FIFA’s next big partner
In December 2025, the spotlight turns to KONAMI. Reports say Japanese companies are at the top competitor for the FIFA license. Some sources even claim the deal could be a long-term partnership, not just one tournament. This looks promising because KONAMI has been working with FIFA’s esports division since 2024.
eFootball is the official platform for FIFA World Cupand the partnership has been extended until 2026. They are running Challenger Series And in-game events. For a while, KONAMI felt like the natural choice to finally bring the official World Cup branding to a major title.
But we’re in early May 2026, and nothing has been announced yet. eFootball will likely only prepare a general World Cup mode. If a major licensing deal has been agreed, many would expect some movement by now, especially considering the amount of preparation that typically goes into World Cup-related marketing campaigns and in-game integration.
Meanwhile, EA Sports FC still has many licensed players and teams even though it lost the FIFA name. I recently read that EA currently has 30 licensed men’s national teams, although only 19 are part of the World Cup group stage. This leaves a real gap if the company wants to recreate the 48 countries authentically, but there are reportedly more licenses to come.
But amidst all that, do you think FIFA branding is something players are looking for? Because, for example, I said as EA FC’s competition, KONAMI will be the biggest contributor to FIFA’s branding, due to losing a lot of licenses, we still have fake team names in the game, which I think is the only obstacle.
That missing piece is the reason why licensing still means so much to KONAMI. An official 2026 FIFA World Cup badge would instantly improve it for the tournament and give the game a credibility boost that no amount of free Epic cards can match. The same logic applies to Dream League Soccer and UFL Mobile. If they tried to strengthen their position at the level of the two big guns, they could definitely gain the same benefits.
FIFA collaboration has not shown brilliant benefits
While we were discussing which games could get a FIFA license, the board itself seems to have chosen a different strategy this time. Instead of handing over full rights to one big console or mobile partner, they’ve instead spread the brand across smaller projects over the past two years.
On the gaming side, mobile players already have it FIFA Rivals with official brandand what is to come FIFA HeroA 5-a-side fun arcade game, set to arriving this month. Another anticipated experience is FIFA x Netflix Games title developed and published by Delphi Interactive. Roblox also features it with Gamefam rebranding football experience.
It feels like FIFA is testing the waters with lots of small deals versus betting everything on one long-term partner like it did with EA for years. However, it hurts a little that we won’t get an authentic experience anywhere for now, at least in this edition of the World Cup.
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