EA SPORTS FC 26 — EA SPORTS FC™ 27 | The Grounds & Clubs Deep Dive

Your Club’s world just got a lot bigger. The Grounds is the most social way to play EA SPORTS FC™ 27, bringing up to 100 players together in a shared football playground, built around a central Terrace and three distinct districts inspired by football cultures around the world.

Available on PlayStation®5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch™ 2, The Grounds lets you meet up with friends, take part in Small-sided football matches and Kickabouts in the park, connect with renowned football mentors, and experience everything this football playground has to offer. With Clubs at the heart of this evolving world, you and your Clubmates have more ways to connect, compete, and progress your Club.

The World

The Grounds is built around a central Terrace that connects three distinct districts, each shaped by different football cultures. From social spaces and in-world activities to Clubs and Stadium competition, each area offers different ways to explore, play, and connect with others.

The world will continue to evolve throughout the year through new seasons, campaigns, and live updates, introducing changes to its atmosphere, activities, rewards, and ways to play.

The Terrace

This is where every session begins. The Terrace connects all three districts, enabling you to go directly to the Clubhouse Entrance for instant Clubs access, check out information kiosks to learn more about The Grounds, and browse the latest content in The Grounds Store.

The Clubhouse

This is where the Clubs experience lives in EA SPORTS FC™ 27. Now part of an evolving world, the Clubs Stadium and Clubhouse entrance will update based on your Club customisation and identity.

Montclair

Montclair captures the energy of French urban football through its cage pitches and metropolitan setting.

Zeiza

Zeiza celebrates Argentina’s Potrero spirit, a fusion of European and Latin style architecture.

Parkside

Parkside captures the working-class football heritage of the UK.

11v11 Stadium Access

Home to 11v11 Drop-in.

Rush Stadium Access

Home to drop-in Rush experiences, including Ranked Rush and Rush Tournaments.

Mentors

Mentors will guide you through everything The Grounds has to offer, with each player having their own specialist area:

• Alex Hunter - Returns from_The Journey_as your right-hand man, helping guide you through player improvement challenges inspired by his rise from prospect to champion. - Kylian Mbappe - Brings the influence of Bondy’s local pitches to football activities centred on Small-sided play, agility, and creativity. - Chloe Kelly - Draws on the culture of grassroots football in England through Kickabouts and other in-world activities built around creativity, freedom, and playing with friends. - Paulo Dybala - Draws on his move from Argentina to Europe through Clubs and Stadium events focused on teamwork, Club identity, and loyalty.

Ways to Play

Clubs Leagues and Playoffs

The Clubs experience now lives inside The Grounds, including the return of Leagues and Playoffs. Walk into your Clubhouse to jump straight into all of the ways to play in Clubs experience.

Clubs Live Tournaments

One of the biggest additions to Clubs in EA SPORTS FC™ 27 is the expansion of Live Events with Club Tournaments. These 11v11 competitions give you and your Clubmates another way to compete against other Clubs beyond Leagues and Playoffs. Tournament Events can feature different numbers of rounds, match rules, and rewards, helping keep the competition fresh throughout the year.

Club Tournaments can use House Rules to keep things fresh throughout the year:

• Mystery Ball

• King of the Hill

• No Rules

• Headers and Volleys

• Survival

• Long Range

Stadium Drop In

Stadium Drop In is a way for players to access matchmade Stadium features from the world of The Grounds including Stadium Rush, Rush Live Tournaments, and 11v11 Drop In. Accessing these modes will take you out of the world and into a classic matchmaking experience where you’ll be paired against players of a similar skill level.

Small-sided

Face off in competitive football across 1v1, 2v2, 3v3, and Rush matches on a variety of pitches throughout The Grounds. Matches last three minutes, with Rush offering an in-world version of the mode played on a dirt pitch, separate from the Rush Stadium experience.

For 1v1, both teams will have one CPU goalkeeper and one outfield player, while 2v2 and 3v3 will feature smaller goals and no goalkeepers. Score more goals than the opponent by the end of the time to win.

Battle for possession when the game begins as the ball is launched from the middle of the pitch. Shooting assistance is set to Manual and Passing Assistance is set to Fully Assisted with the rest of gameplay set the same as in regular 11v11 play.

Fouls are enabled and free kicks work as follows:

• When a foul is made outside of the penalty area, the player fouled will have to shoot from the exact spot the foul was committed

• When a foul is made inside of the penalty area, the player fouled will have to shoot from the designated penalty spot

• Players will have to shoot during a Freekick, passing and dribbling is disabled

• The rest of the players, teammates, and opponents will be positioned behind the Freekick taker and won't be able to get in front of the ball for a set time

• If the foul is not taken before that time period, the Freekick taker and the rest of the players will be able to move freely again

Kickabouts

Kickabouts mix football with other sports like Dodgeball, Basketball, or Bocce Ball to introduce a variety of new ways to play both cooperatively and competitively.

Bocce Ball

Bocce Ball is a three-player free-for-all played over three one-minute rounds. Each round becomes more difficult as new obstacles are added and the route to each target becomes less direct.

The Pitch is split into two areas. Balls continuously spawn in the Player Zone, while the Gameplay Zone contains the Targets, rings, obstacles, and Dead Zones.

Score points by passing or shooting balls into Targets. After a ball lands inside a target, a timer begins. When it expires, the target splits into smaller Targets, progressing from Large to Medium and then Small.

Players earn points for each ball still inside the target when it splits. Balls in the centre earn bullseye points, while balls knocked out before the timer expires do not score.

You can also earn points by sending balls through rings, even if another ball knocks yours through. After three rounds, the player with the most points wins.

See a breakdown of the scoring system below:

• Large Target: 100 points

• Large Target Bullseye: 200 points

• Medium Target: 500 points

• Medium Target Bullseye: 750 points

• Small Target: 1,250 points

• Small Target Bullseye: 2,000 points

• Ring: 300 points

• Dead Zone: -150 points

Team Keepaway

Team Keepaway is a 3v3 game played over one three-minute round on a medium-sized pitch surrounded by walls. The goal is to keep possession for as long as possible by passing the ball between teammates.

The game begins with the ball dropping in the center of the pitch and players fighting for possession. While on the ball, you’ll be able to perform any type of pass. While defending, you will be able to perform any type of tackle to recover the ball, but take care, as fouls will still be given**.**

The team with the most points when time expires wins. A team can also win immediately by taking a 1,000-point lead.

There are multiple ways to earn points in Team Keepaway:

• If player holds the ball, 5 points will be given each second

• If a player does a regular pass, 20 points will be given.

• If a player does a first time pass, 40 points will be given.

• If a player does 5 passes in a sequence, a multiplier will be applied for the next passes.

• 5 passes = x2

• 10 passes = x3

• If a player intercepts a pass, 15 points will be given - whatever multiplier was being applied to the opponents team will be given as a bonus to the intercepting team.

• If a player does a successful slide tackle, 20 points will be given.

• If a player does a foul, 100 will be taken away as a penalty.

The Big Race

The Big Race is a four-player free-for-all set across a full-sized pitch. Play a total of three races in one track, with each track having a maximum of two minutes to be completed. The race is divided into three different obstacle variations of the same track.

Complete the full race and try to get as many points as possible in each track. The Big Race starts with all four players positioned on the start line with a ball at their feet.

Only dribbling is enabled, guiding the ball through a race track full of obstacles such as Gates to go between, Lava Floors to avoid, Moving Colliders to dodge, and Defender Zones to dribble through. Once the first player crosses the finish line in each track, the rest of the players will have 15 seconds to finish. The player with the most points at the end of the race wins.

See a breakdown of the points system below:

• 1st - 9 points

• 2nd - 6 points

• 3rd - 3 points

• 4th - 1 points

Attacking Scenarios

Attacking Scenarios is a 2v2 competitive match on a medium-sized walled pitch. Consisting of four, one-minute long rounds, each round selects a random scenario from a pool of ten.

Starting with both teams on their end of the pitch, the scenario will be shown through a banner then added to the top of the screen before the ball is launched down the centre line and play begins.

For Attacking Scenarios there’s no goalkeeper, no fouls, no offsides or other similar rules. The only requirements that matter are those required in the current scenario. If a goal is scored but doesn't meet the current scenario's requirements, a new ball is launched back in immediately to continue play.

When a round's timer hits 0:00, the ball pops, ending the round and preventing post-round goals. The next round will begin immediately, starting with a new scenario. The team at the end of round four with the most points wins. If there’s a tie after the fourth round, a final fifth round will be played for one minute, using one of the two remaining unplayed scenarios. The first to score a goal wins.

See a breakdown of the scenarios and points system below:

• Bronze

• Dribble the ball in - 1 point

• Score a first time shot - 1 point

• Break a target when scoring - 1 point

• Score off of a wall bounce - 1 point

• Silver

• Complete three passes before scoring - 2 points

• Collect three balloons before scoring - 2 points

• Score an aerial goal - 2 points

• Gold

• Score from inside a zone - 3 points

• Score through one or more gates - 1 point per gate

• Ball Hog - Hold the ball to generate points to score - up to 6 points

Bucket Ball

Bucket Ball is a team-based 2v2 game on a medium sized pitch. The game is three minutes long, with a one minute overtime period for tied games. If either team scores during overtime the game ends instantly with the scoring team as the winner, if there's still a tie at the end of overtime, the game ends in a draw.

The game begins with a ball being dropped into the middle and players positioned on either side of the pitch. Battle for possession to get the first chance to attack. Score by sending the ball through the opposition team's hoop using precision lob pass and spike.

There are 3 main types of shots:

• Precision Lob Pass (performed using lob button)

• Precision Header (performed using lob button while the ball is in the air)

• Spikes (performed using shoot button while the ball is in the air)

Strategise with your teammate to try to score by either getting close to the hoop or taking a risk and shooting farther from the hoop. Higher jumps are activated with the shoot button to make it easier to perform a spike, or to defend

Once a team scores, kickoff starts from the side of the opposition team. In the event of a foul, a “free throw” is given to the fouled team. Once a free throw is granted, the fouled player has 10 seconds to shoot with a lob pass while the rest of the players are frozen. If the player doesn't take the shot in ten seconds, the game continues as usual. At the end of three minutes, the team with the highest score wins.

See a breakdown of the scenarios and points system below:

• 2 points for scoring during a free throw or scoring from inside the 3 pointer zone

• 3 points for scoring beyond the 3 pointer zone

• 2 bonus points are given for scoring with a spike (a total of 4)

Balloon Ball

Balloon Ball is a four-player free-for-all game on a medium pitch. Divided into three rounds, each round increases in difficulty based on the density of obstacles scattered around the pitch. Each player starts every round with three balloons attached and floating above their head. The last player standing with at least one balloon remaining wins the round.

Become the last player standing by popping all the opposition balloons while protecting your own. The game starts with all four players positioned at the four quarters of the pitch. Shoot the ball to pop other players’ balloons. Each hit pops one balloon and when all three are popped, the player is eliminated and teleported to the sideline to spectate.

A ball must be recently and forcefully kicked to pop balloons. A ball that has slowed to a crawl will cool off and not register hits. If the ball goes out of play, it’s automatically thrown back in after a short delay, launched toward the centre of the pitch.

As rounds progress, obstacles are progressively removed from the pitch, increasing the risk of being hit. At the end of each round, the last player standing earns the most points. All other players earn points based on their finishing position. The player with the highest cumulative score across all rounds wins the game.

A golden balloon power-up spawns periodically at a random position throughout the game. Collect the power-up by running into it or kicking the ball at it and gain one of three randomly allocated abilities:

• Invincible

• Become temporarily immune to balloon pops for a set time

• Tyres

• Tyres are fired toward opposition players, causing them to stumble or fall

• Boomerang Ball

• After hitting an opposition p