Games like FIFA are designed to mirror real life football games, but it seems as though they’re actually starting to influence the way professional footballers play the game. From step overs and sprints to ball control and that all important shot, football is an exciting game and EA Sports has made it as real as possible with their FIFA simulation games. These games have gained excellent graphics and improved gameplay over the years, making everything more real. But how accurate are the FIFA ratings compared to the real-life stats?
How Player Evaluation Works
An independent team view the games and evaluate the data sent to EA so that each player is assigned with 35 attributes, the result of which provides a player’s overall strength. From how a player moves on the pitch to the precision of their passing, each little detail is noted and studied, right down to the physics of the ball. But how this information is used has got smarter as the technology has evolved and there is a relation between the strength of a player and the team that influences the strength of the league as a whole. In addition to a player’s ability, the team also have to estimate the player’s potential development.
Predicting the Champions League Winner
Looking at the top 50 players of FIFA and sorting them by clubs, with the assumption that the Champions League winners will have the best players, we can see that a winner can’t be predicted since only three of nine possible clubs actually won the Champions League. However, a semi-finalist can often be predicted, as without exception, from 2010 to 2018, the clubs with the most top 50 players made it through to the semi-finals. You can find tips for the latest matches on various sites, to help you figure out which team is the best, where you can later narrow it down to which is the best players.
Predicting the Top Goal Scorers of the Leagues
When it comes to predicting the top goal scorers, FIFA has a less reliable track record. It is typically only in some cases that a league’s forward with the best rating happens to be the league’s leading scorer. Over the five leagues, just 12 out of 45 cases match up with the game. And the leading scorer of the English Premier League has yet to be predicted correctly by the FIFA games. The most accurate predictions sat within the Spanish league but it’s still difficult to predict the leading scorer exactly, although easier to narrow down the list.
Would it be prudent/ folly to use Fifa Ratings as a start to search for new players by a club?
How bonafide are the overall ratings in terms of superficially looking for new players?
Is it laughable to use Fifa ratings as a go to benchmark in a debate about player worth?