One of FIFA’s biggest strengths as a sports video game franchise is its annually-expanding collection of rosters, teams, and brands for players to assume and play as. For a team to be featured in the series, they must come to an agreement with EA Sports to share their likeness in upcoming FIFA installments. One previous casualty of this rule had been Juventus, which hadn’t been featured in the series since FIFA 19. Starting with FIFA 23, however, this trend will finally change.
Will Juventus be in FIFA 23?
For the first time in four years, FIFA 23 will feature the highly successful and storied Italian club, Juventus. As the winningest club in Serie A history at 36 total championship titles, Juve’s black and white “zebra stripes” kit has been iconic in both Italian and European soccer since the club’s foundation in 1897.
In 2019, Juventus made an exclusive rights deal with Konami to feature their branding in Pro Evolution Soccer. The consequences of this deal removed the club’s formal identity from the FIFA series, leaving its roster behind. For recent installments of FIFA, however, Juve had been replaced by a mysterious team named Piemonte Calcio.
Related: FIFA 23: All confirmed FUT Heroes
Piemonte Calcio, complete with its own unique kit and logo, featured the entirety of Juve’s roster as its players. While this club’s in-game logo states that it was established in 2019, the real Piemonte Calcio was an early 20th-century team that dissolved at the onset of World War I. As it had been out of commission for over a century by the time of FIFA 20’s release, its rights were likely the easiest for EA Sports to obtain.
As part of the announcement, EA Sports also revealed that club legend Claudio Marchisio is joining FIFA 23 as a FUT Hero. He’ll be joined by Yaya Toure, Park Ji-Sung, Ricardo Carvalho, and other players that haven’t been announced as of July 25. These players will then get upgraded versions when the real-world FIFA World Cup kicks off in November.
