Which legendary players will be debuting or returning as FIFA 23 Icons this year? It’s the number one question burning on every FIFA fan’s mind at the moment. From footballing legends like Pele, Johan Cruyff, and Zinedine Zidane, the FIFA series has celebrated some of the greatest to have ever played the beautiful game over the years, and this year’s iteration won’t be any different.
EA has now revealed most of its FIFA 23 Icons lineup, which includes a few new legendary players debuting. With this year’s game putting a focus on the upcoming World Cup, there are quite a few names that have made their mark on previous World Cups that make the list.
For those not in the know, Icon cards are some of the best in the game. Each player gets multiple cards – all celebrating different parts of their career – and these cards also have some extra use when it comes to squad building. Icons will give you two notches of nationality chemistry in the new FIFA 23 chemistry system, compared to normal players which provide just one notch.
So who has made the list this year? Which players are being heavily leaked as potential Icons? And who do we think has a chance of being added to the lineup? Here’s everything we know about these players as we creep ever closer to the FIFA 23 release date.
FIFA 23 Icons
EA Sports has confirmed its FIFA 23 Icons lineup, with virtually the entire lineup from last year returning. As well as these 100+ returning Icons, there are three new Icons that have been confirmed:
- Jairzinho (Class of 23)
- Xabi Alonso (Class of 23)
- Gerd Müller (Class of 23)
- Robert Baggio (Attacker)
- Dennis Bergkamp (Attacker)
- George Best (Attacker)
- Emilio Butragueño (Attacker)
- Eric Cantona (Attacker)
- Hernán Crespo (Attacker)
- Johan Cruyff (Attacker)
- Kenny Dalglish (Attacker)
- Alessandro Del Piero (Attacker)
- Didier Drogba (Attacker)
- Samuel Eto’o (Attacker)
- Eusébio (Attacker)
- Garrincha (Attacker)
- Thierry Henry (Attacker)
- Luis Hernández (Attacker)
- Miroslav Klose (Attacker)
- Patrick Kluivert (Attacker)
- Henrik Larsson (Attacker)
- Gary Lineker (Attacker)
- Luís Figo (Attacker)
- Michael Owen (Attacker)
- Pelé (Attacker)
- Ferenc Puskás (Attacker)
- Raúl (Attacker)
- Rivaldo (Attacker)
- Ronaldinho (Attacker)
- Ronaldo (Attacker)
- Wayne Rooney (Attacker)
- Ian Rush (Attacker)
- Hugo Sánchez (Attacker)
- Alan Shearer (Attacker)
- Andriy Shevchenko (Attacker)
- Hristo Stoichkov (Attacker)
- Davor Šuker (Attacker)
- Fernando Torres (Attacker)
- David Trezeguet (Attacker)
- Marco Van Basten (Attacker)
- Ruud Van Nistelrooy (Attacker)
- Robin Van Persie (Attacker)
- Christian Vieri (Attacker)
- Ian Wright (Attacker)
- Gianfranco Zola (Attacker)
- Michael Ballack (Midfielder)
- John Barnes (Midfielder)
- David Beckham (Midfielder)
- Michaël Essien (Midfielder)
- Gennaro Gattuso (Midfielder)
- Steven Gerrard (Midfielder)
- Ruud Gullit (Midfielder)
- Gheorghe Hagi (Midfielder)
- Xavi Hernández (Midfielder)
- Kaká (Midfielder)
- Roy Keane (Midfielder)
- Frank Lampard (Midfielder)
- Michael Laudrup (Midfielder)
- Jari Litmanen (Midfielder)
- Claude Makélélé (Midfielder)
- Lothar Matthäus (Midfielder)
- Pavel Nedved (Midfielder)
- Emmanuel Petit (Midfielder)
- Robert Pirès (Midfielder)
- Andrea Pirlo (Midfielder)
- Frank Rijkaard (Midfielder)
- Juan Román Riquelme (Midfielder)
- Rui Costa (Midfielder)
- Paul Scholes (Midfielder)
- Bastian Schweinsteiger (Midfielder)
- Clarence Seedorf (Midfielder)
- Sócrates (Midfielder)
- Juan Sebastián Verón (Midfielder)
- Patrick Vierira (Midfielder)
- Zinedine Zidane (Midfielder)
- Franco Baresi (Defender)
- Laurent Blanc (Defender)
- Cafu (Defender)
- Sol Campbell (Defender)
- Fabio Cannavaro (Defender)
- Carlos Alberto (Defender)
- Ashley Cole (Defender)
- Marcel Desailly (Defender)
- Rio Ferdinand (Defender)
- Fernando Hierro (Defender)
- Ronald Koeman (Defender)
- Philipp Lahm (Defender)
- Paolo Maldini (Defender)
- Bobby Moore (Defender)
- Alessandro Nesta (Defender)
- Carles Puyol (Defender)
- Roberto Carlos (Defender)
- Nemanja Vidic (Defender)
- Gianluca Zambrotta (Defender)
- Javier Zanetti (Defender)
- Iker Casillas (Goalkeeper)
- Petr Cech (Goalkeeper)
- Peter Schmeichel (Goalkeeper)
- Edwin Van Der Sar (Goalkeeper)
- Lev Yashin (Goalkeeper)
And that’s everything we know so far about the FIFA 23 icons. For more FIFA news, check out our guide to FIFA 23 crossplay, FIFA 23 ratings, and, of course, the FIFA 23 heroes – there are some cracking names on that list.