FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3 guide: how to get Vieira, Ferdinand or Puskas for free

FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3 continues the tradition of giving you some of Ultimate Team's best players for free – so long as you're willing to put in hard graft rather than well-earned dollars. The latest Icons campaign for FIFA 21 offers Patrick Vieira, Rio Ferdinand or George Best in return for completing in-game objectives, although you need to get a shift on – it finishes at 6pm on Friday, July 30. How does it all work? Full details are straight ahead, in your FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3 guide.

What are FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3?

The FIFA 21 Icon Swaps system tasks you with completing in-game objectives in order to earn tokens. Once you’ve earned a specific number of tokens you can submit them in Squad Building Challenges, and be granted either legendary players or special packs as a reward. 

Inevitably, the best available players require the highest number of tokens. Patrick Vieira (CM, 91) sets you back 17 tokens, while Bastian Schweinsteiger (CDM, 92) requires far less grind: six Icons Swaps tokens is all you need to secure the German workhorse.

Icon Swaps 1 started on Friday, December 11 and ended on Friday, February 12. It featured six players in total. In addition to Henry and Vidic you could grind towards Frank Rijkaard (CDM, 90, 14 tokens), Ronald Koeman (CB, 91, 13 tokens), Davor Suker (ST, 87, 11 tokens) or Gheorge Hagi (CAM, 89, 9 tokens). 

Icon Swaps 2 began on Friday, February 19. Again, six players were available. In addition to Baggio and Deco you could save towards Emilio Butragueno (ST, 87, 15 tokens), Laurent Blanc (CB, 89, 13 tokens), Marc Overmars (LM, 91, 11 tokens) or Ashley Cole (LM, 89, 9 tokens). Other alternative rewards included a Prime/Moments Icon pack in exchange for 16 tokens, or a Mid/Prime Icon pack for 10 tokens.

Monday, May 10 saw the arrival of Icon Swaps 3. This time Patrick Vieira (CM, 91, 17 tokens) topped the list of available players, followed by Rio Ferdinand (CB, 91, 15 tokens) and Ferenc Puskas (CF, 94. 13 tokens).

Which 'new' legends can I get through FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3?

For a while Suker, from Icon Swaps 1, was the only one of this year's 'new' legends made available through Icon Swaps. Mercifully that changed in May 2021 – better late than never. The additions of Puskas and Schweinsteiger to Icon Swaps 3 meant we finally had more 'new' legends to save up for using in-game achievements. For profiles of all the classic players added this year, visit GR's FIFA 21 Icons guide.

How many coins do I save by using FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3?

That all depends on who you select, or pack. But as an example, here's what the six specific cards made available in Icon Swaps 3 would cost if you were to instead buy them off the transfer market, as of Wednesday, June 30. All prices are taken from the PS4 version of the game.

• Patrick Vieira (CM, 91) - 745,000 coins
• Rio Ferdinand (CB, 91) - 500,000 coins
• Ferenc Puskas (CF, 94) - 429,000 coins
• George Best (RW, 93) - 392,000 coins
• Hristo Stoichkov (ST, 93) - 248,000 coins
• Bastian Schweinsteiger (CDM, 92) - 209,000 coins

What are the FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3 objectives?

The most recent 15 objectives earn a maximum of nine FIFA 21 Icon Swaps tokens, split across FUT Friendly and Squad Battles matches. 

Icon Swaps La Liga (one token)

- Score in 10 separate matches using La Liga players in the Live FUT Friendly: One League, with at least 8 First Owned La Liga players in your starting squad

- Score using Outside Of The Box shots in 6 separate matches using La Liga players in the Live FUT Friendly: One League, with at least 8 First Owned La Liga players in your starting squad

- Win 4 matches in the Live FUT Friendly: One League with at least 8 First Owned La Liga players in your starting squad

Icon Swaps Serie A (one token)

- Score in 10 separate matches using Serie A players in the Live FUT Friendly: One League, with at least 8 First Owned Serie A players in your starting squad

- Assist with a through ball in 6 separate matches using Serie A players in the Live FUT Friendly: One League, with at least 8 First Owned Serie A players in your starting squad

- Win 4 matches in the Live FUT Friendly: One League with at least 8 First Owned Serie A players in your starting squad

Icon Swaps PL (one token)

- Assist in 10 separate matches using Premier League players in the Live FUT Friendly: One League, with at least 8 First Owned Premier League players in your starting squad

- Score using Finesse shots in 6 separate matches using Premier League players in the Live FUT Friendly: One League, with at least 8 First Owned Premier League players in your starting squad

- Win 4 matches in the Live FUT Friendly: One League with at least 8 First Owned Premier League players in your starting squad

Icon Swaps

- Score in 20 separate Rivals matches using First Owned players (one token)

- Win 15 Weekend League matches (one token)

- Win 6 Squad Battles matches on min. World Class difficulty with 11 Argentina players in your starting squad (one token)

- Win 6 Squad Battles matches on min. World Class difficulty with 11 Brazil players in your starting squad (one token)

- Win 6 Squad Battles matches on min. World Class difficulty with 11 UCL players in your starting squad (one token)

- Win 6 Squad Battles matches on min. World Class difficulty with 11 Silvers players in your starting squad (one token)

Which icons are on the FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3 rewards list?

The FIFA 21 Icon Swaps 3 rewards list is below.

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