Best starter squads
Just dropping into EA FC 26 Ultimate Team and want to put together a competitive squad? You’re in luck, we’ve put together some strong starter teams that cater to 10k, 20k, and even 50k budgets.
Of course, the market is always fluctuating, so the prices of these teams might vary from day to day, but they’re still a great place to start.
Best budget starter squads in FC 26
10k
EA SPORTS / Dexerto| Position | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| GK | Caoimhin Kelleher | Brentford |
| LB | Tyrick Mitchell | Crystal Palace |
| CB | Nikola Milenkovic | Nottingham Forest |
| CB | Joe Gomez | Liverpool |
| RB | Noussair Mazraoui | Manchester United |
| CDM | Carlos Baleba | Brighton |
| CDM | Andrey Santos | Chelsea |
| CAM | Harvey Elliot | Aston Villa |
| LM | Calum Hudson-Odoi | Nottingham Forest |
| RM | Savinho | Manchester City |
| ST | Benjamin Sesko | Manchester United |
If you want cheap cards that won’t break the bank, then the Premier League is the place to start. There’s a nice spread of ratings here, meaning the lower-rated cards don’t cost quite as much, allowing you to pick up some very good cards for not a lot of coins.
Manchester City’s Savinho and Aston Villa’s Harvel Elliot, in particular, are great early stars, giving you plenty of pace on the wing and creativity in the middle. So, while you might not quite be ready to take on the higher division, you’ll have a team that’s competitive and, most importantly, fun to use.
20k
EA SPORTS / Dexerto| Position | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| GK | Andriy Lunin | Real Madrid |
| LB | Alvaro Carreras | Real Madrid |
| CB | David Hancko | Atletico Madrid |
| CB | Dean Huijsen | Real Madrid |
| RB | Dani Carvajal | Real Madrid |
| CM | Gavi | Barcelona |
| CM | Aurelien Tchouameni | Real Madrid |
| CAM | Dani Olmo | Barcelona |
| LW | Ferran Torres | Barcelona |
| RW | Anthony | Real Betis |
| ST | Ayoze Perrez | Villareal |
LaLiga has a pretty big gap between its good players and its great players, which naturally drives up the cost of lower-rated cards. However, there are still bargains to be found that allow you to put together a strong team for just 20,000 coins.
The biggest investment is Aurelien Tchouameni, but he’s a top midfielder who will be in the meta for months, so he’s well worth spending the coins on. Meanwhile, Perez is the perfect early game striker, with bags of pace and tricky dribbling, but significantly cheaper than the likes of Griezmann or Mbappe.
50k
EA SPORTS / Dexerto| Position | Player | Club |
|---|---|---|
| GK | Wojciech Szczesny | Barcelona |
| LB | Marc Cucurella | Chelsea |
| CB | Nathan Ake | Manchester City |
| CB | Ronald Araujo | Barcelona |
| RB | Pedro Porro | Spurs |
| CM | Martin Zubimendi | Arsenal |
| CM | Gavi | Barcelona |
| CAM | Xavi Simmons | Spurs |
| LW | Salma Paralluelo | Barcelona |
| RW | Federico Chiesa | Liverpool |
| ST | Hugo Ekitike | Liverpool |
If you’ve managed to get 50,000 coins already, then you have a lot more options, but it doesn’t get much stronger than a Prem and LaLiga hybrid. That being said, you don’t want to blow all of your money right away and lose it all when the market inevitably crashes, so we’ve focused on cheaper options or players that we expect to hold their value.
Liverpool’s Hugo Ekitike is the obvious starter striker, so he should be your first purchase once you save up the funds. Then, Ronald Araujo will be on the pricey side, but he’s easily the best affordable center back right now. Just make sure to get Wojciech Szczesny to get him on full Chemistry.