FIFA 23 Icons: Full List, New Leaks, And More

The FIFA 23 Icons are some of the most desirable cards to obtain in the game, as they are immortalisation of the legendary careers of some of football's greatest players. While FUT Hero cards have taken a bit of the spotlight away from the Icons, they are still some of the most exciting cards to get your hands on. So, for a full list of the FIFA 23 Icons, and some leaks of what to expect further, check out the rest of this guide.

• Want some more info on new content? Check out the FIFA 23 women's clubs that are arriving in the upcoming title.

What Are FIFA 23 Icons?

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If FIFA 23 is your first FIFA game, or you're new to the Ultimate Team game mode, then Icons can seem a bit confusing at first. To boil it down to the basics, Icons are special cards reserved exclusively for the legends of the game. This includes players like Pelé, Zinidine Zidane, and Paolo Maldini, among many others. They are also not to be confused with FIFA 23 Heroes, which are similar, but more suited for players of a slightly lesser stature.

Each Icon will receive four variants across the course of the year, meant to represent specific stages of their career. At the start of the FIFA 23 cycle, base and middle versions of the Icons will be available, then Prime versions a couple months later, and finally Prime Icon Moments, which represent one of the greatest goals, matches, or tournaments of each player's career.

Icons are not only great because of their insane stats, but they also circumvent the headache of chemistry in game, by soft linking to every single card no matter the country or league, and strong linking to any player that shares the same nationality. This means that they can effortlessly be slotted into any team, and they can make using certain obscure players a lot easier too.

• Check out the FIFA 23 release date so you can start counting down the days.

FIFA 23 Icons List

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Here's a full list of every Icon player available in FIFA 23, alongside some special versions of the cards like World Cup and TOTY:

• TOTY David Beckham
• TOTY Ruud Gullit
• TOTY Javier Zanetti
• TOTY Andrea Pirlo
• TOTY Hugo Sanchez
• TOTY Robert Pires
• TOTY Nemanja Vidic
• World Cup Pele
• World Cup Ronaldo
• World Cup Zinedine Zidane
• World Cup Garrincha
• World Cup Cafu
• World Cup Eusebio
• World Cup Johan Cruyff
• World Cup Roberto Baggio
• World Cup Lothar Matthaus
• World Cup Emilio Butragueno
• World Cup Bobby Moore
• World Cup Luis Figo
• World Cup Iker Casillas
• World Cup Samuel Eto'o
• World Cup Carles Puyol
• World Cup Fabio Cannavaro
• World Cup Kenny Dalglish
• World Cup Hristo Stoichkov
• World Cup Patrick Vieira
• World Cup Robin van Persie
• World Cup Michael Laudrup
• World Cup Didier Drogba
• World Cup Miroslav Klose
• World Cup Petr Cech
  
• World Cup Bastian Schweinsteiger
• World Cup Roberto Carlos
• World Cup Andriy Shevchenko
• World Cup Laurent Blanc
• World Cup Gary Lineker
• World Cup Gheorghe Hagi
• World Cup Emmanuel Petit
• World Cup Hernan Crespo
• World Cup Gianluca Zambrotta
• World Cup Luis Hernandez
• World Cup Davor Suker
• Alan Shearer (England)
• Alessandro Del Piero (Italy)
• Alessandro Nesta (Italy)
• Andrea Pirlo (Italy)
• Andriy Shevchenko (Ukraine)
• Ashley Cole (England)
• Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany)
• Bobby Moore (England)
• Cafu (Brazil)
• Carles Puyol (Spain)
• Carlos Alberto (Brazil)
• Christian Vieri (Italy)
• Clarence Seedorf (Netherlands)
• Claude Makelele (France)
• David Beckham (England)
• David Trezeguet (France)
• Davor Suker (Croatia)
• Dennis Bergkamp (Netherlands)
• Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast)
• Edwin van der Sar (Netherlands)
• Emilio Butragueno (Spain)
• Emmanuel Petit (France)
• Eric Cantona (France)
• Eusebio (Portugal)

• Fabio Cannavaro (Italy)
• Ferenc Puskas (Hungary)
• Fernando Hierro (Spain)
• Fernando Torres (Spain)
• Franco Baresi (Italy)
• Frank Lampard (England)
• Frank Rijkaard (Netherlands)
• Garrincha (Brazil)
• Gary Lineker (England)
• Gennaro Gattuso (Italy)
• George Best (Northern Ireland)
• Gerd Müller (Germany) 
• Gheorghe Hagi (Romania)
• Gianfranco Zola (Italy)
• Gianluca Zambrotta (Italy)
• Henrik Larsson (Sweden)
• Hernan Crespo (Argentina)
• Hristo Stoichkov (Bulgaria)
• Hugo Sanchez (Mexico)
• Ian Rush (Wales)
• Ian Wright (England)
• Iker Casillas (Spain)
• Jairzinho (Brazil) 
• Jari Litmanen (Finland)
• Javier Zanetti (Argentina)
• Johan Cruyff (Netherlands)
• John Barnes (England)
• Juan Roman Riquelme (Argentina)
• Juan Sebastian Veron (Argentina)
• Kaka (Brazil)
• Kenny Dalglish (Scotland)
• Lauren Blanc (France)
• Lev Yashin (Russia)
• Lothar Matthaus (Germany)
• Luis Figo (Portugal)
• Luis Hernandez (Mexico)
• Marcel Desailly (France)
• Marco van Basten (Netherlands)
• Michael Ballack (Germany)
• Michael Essien (Ghana)
• Michael Laudrup (Denmark)
• Michael Owen (England)
• Miroslav Klose (Germany)

• Nemanja Vidic (Serbia)
• Paolo Maldini (Italy)
• Patrick Kluivert (Netherlands)
• Patrick Vieira (France)
• Paul Scholes (England)
• Pavel Nedved (Czech Republic)
• Pele (Brazil)
• Peter Schmeichel (Denmark)
• Petr Cech (Czech Republic)
• Phillip Lahm (Germany)
• Raul (Spain)
• Rio Ferdinand (England)
• Rivaldo (Brazil)
• Robert Pires (France)
• Roberto Baggio (Italy)
• Roberto Carlos (Brazil)
• Robin van Persie (Netherlands)
• Ronald Koeman (Netherlands)
• Ronaldinho (Brazil)
• Ronaldo (Brazil)
• Roy Keane (Ireland)
• Rui Costa (Portugal)
• Ruud Gullit (Netherlands)
• Ruud van Nistelrooy (Netherlands)
• Samuel Eto’o (Cameroon)
• Socrates (Brazil)
• Sol Campbell (England)
• Steven Gerrard (England)
• Theirry Henry (France)
• Wayne Rooney (England)
• Xabi Alonso (Spain)
• Xavi (Spain)
• Zinedine Zidane (France)

There are a handful of Icons that have supposedly downgraded to the Heroes card type, meaning that we could potentially see a more selective Icon collection, meant only for truly the best of the best. For more information about which Icons have been downgraded, make sure to read our FIFA 23 Heroes guide.

• Want to know more about FIFA 23 crossplay? Don't miss our guide, which goes over everything you need to know to be prepared.

FIFA 23 New Icons

Three brand new FIFA 23 icons have been confirmed for the upcoming game, and they are the following:

• Jairzinho (Brazil)
• Gerd Müller (Germany)
• Xabi Alonso (Spain)

While there were rumours circulating that a few more Icons were due to arrive in FIFA 23, the three we have are certainly going to excite fans of the game. 

First and foremost, Jairzinho is likely to be the most desirable Icon for keen FUT Champions players. Even his Base Icon variant has impressive stats, with 91 pace, 88 shooting, and 90 dribbling combining to make a certifiably meta card. With a potential for five star skills and weakfoot, the Brazil flag in your Icon packs just received an added level of excitement.

Next on the new FIFA 23 Icons list is Gerd Müller, who is perhaps now known more unfortunately for having his impressive records broken. Holding both the most calendar-year goals and Bundesliga goals before Messi and Lewandowski broke them, Müller cemented himself into the history books as one of football's most prolific scorers. And with the three versions of his Icon card, you can at least guarantee that he will find the net 99 times out of 100.

Completing the set, Xabi Alonso is the final new Icon added in FIFA 23, and one players have been asking for ever since his retirement. Being one of the most iconic defensive midfielders of this century, Alonso is well deserving of the Icon card status. However, fans are slightly disappointed in the given stats of his card, feeling that they don't reflect his ability as a player. Who know how these will translate in-game though, so Alonso is still one to look out for.

• Plan ahead for your Career Mode future by checking out our FIFA 23 wonderkids list.

FIFA 23 Removed Icons

There are a handful of Icons that have been removed in the transition from FIFA 22 to FIFA 23, with some having explanations but others not. Here's a full list of the FIFA 23 removed Icons:

• Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan)
• Jay-Jay Okocha (Nigeria)
• Diego Maradona (Argentina)
• Marc Overmars (Netherlands)
• Deco (Portugal)
• Ryan Giggs (Wales)
• Pep Guardiola (Spain)
• Filippo Inzaghi (Italy)

Starting with the two obvious sections, Nakata and Okocha have both been explicitly changed to Heroes, and Overmars and Maradona were both removed from FIFA 22 due to controversy outside of the game. One can assume that Giggs has joined Maradona and Overmars in this category, but the other three Icons are a bit less clear.

You could argue that Deco, Guardiola, and Inzaghi might join Nakata and Okocha as Heroes, but it appears as if EA has already announced all of these changes. Iker Casillas and Cafu were originally omitted from the official FIFA 23 Icons list, but they have since been added back in, so it could just be a case of a delay in confirming licenses, but we will soon find out. 

These cards might be added at a later date, or we might see an explanation for why they have been removed, but at the moment they are all absent from EA's official Icon list.

• Struggling to pick a FIFA 23 starter team? Check out our guide for some ideas at every budget level.

So, that completes our guide on the FIFA 23 Icons, letting you know which Icons will be returning to the new game from FIFA 22, and a glimpse at some leaks for knowledge of what's to come. Make sure to check out this guide for the FIFA 23 World Cup game mode for some more information on how it will tie in with the modes you're used to playing.