FIFA 20 vs PES 2020 comparison: which teams and leagues are exclusive to which game?

The FIFA 20 vs PES 2020 comparison continues to split fans across social media. PES 2020 scored a big win last summer by locking EA out of the Juventus license, while earlier this year FIFA 20 expanded its Ultimate Team and career mode options with the addition of CONMEBOL football. What other major differences exist between the pair where all-important licenses are concerned? GR's FIFA 20 vs PES 2020 comparison guide explains all below.

FIFA 20 vs PES 2020 comparison: Exclusive Leagues

FIFA 19 saw a sea-change in the footballing market as EA recaptured the Champions League rights after ten years of the competition being exclusive to PES. That means that it’s again exclusive to FIFA 20, along with sister tournaments the Europa League and Super Cup.

Konami might have lost the rights to football’s biggest club competition, but in response it’s signed a fresh deal to implement the biggest international trophy of the coming campaign. While Euro 2020 has been delayed a year due to the coronavirus pandemic, you can still play out the tournament in PES as free DLC. All 55 nations who entered qualifying are included.

In response, EA announced in November that it had captured exclusive rights to the Copa Libertadores for FIFA 20. You can see the reveal trailer for it below. CONMEBOL competitions were added to the game in March.

Below is a list of individual leagues which are exclusive to each game. Serie A (Italy), Ligue 1 & Ligue 2 (France), Pro League (Belgium), Superliga (Denmark) and SAF Superliga (Argentina) appear in both FIFA 20 and PES 2020.

Some of FIFA’s exclusive leagues, such as the English Premier League, are also represented in PES but with fake logos and team names.

It’s worth noting that the Romanian League is new to FIFA 20.

PES 2020 Exclusive Leagues

- Brasileirao Serie A (Brazil)
- Brasileirao Serie B (Brazil)
- Russian Premier League (Russia)
- Thai League 1 (Thailand)

FIFA 20 Exclusive Leagues

- Hyundai A-League (Australia)
- Osterreichische Bundesliga (Austria)
- Campeonato Nacional Scotiabank (Chile)
- Chinese Super League (China)
- Liga Dimayor (Colombia)
- EFL Championship (England)
- League One (England)
- League Two (England)
- Bundesliga (Germany)
- 2 Bundesliga (Germany)
- 3 Bundesliga (Germany)
- Eredivisie (Holland)
- Calcio B (Italy)
- Meiji Yasuda J1 (Japan)
- K League 1 (South Korea)
- Liga Bancomer MX (Mexico)
- Eliteserien (Norway)
- Ekstraklasa (Poland
- Liga NOS (Portugal)
- SSE Airtricity League (Ireland)
- Liga I (Romania)
- Abdul Latif Jameel League (Saudi Arabia)
- Scottish Premiership (Scotland)
- La Liga Santander (Spain)
- La Liga 1 2 3 (Spain)
- Allsvenskan (Sweden)
- Raiffeisen Super League (Switzerland)
- Super League (Turkey)
- MLS (USA)

FIFA 20 vs PES 2020 comparison: Partner Clubs

One method both football games use in an attempt to score one-upmanship is bringing on board partner clubs. In some cases, it doesn’t make too much difference: Manchester United are a PES 2020 partner club but EA’s Premier League license means it can still include Old Trafford and the Red Devils’ crest and kits in FIFA 20.

In others, such partnerships are a genuine gamechanger. Both Spain’s Camp Nou and Italy’s Allianz Stadium, two of the biggest stadiums in world football, are exclusive to PES 2020 thanks to Konami’s deals with Barcelona and Juventus respectively. And yes, a little reminder that Juve really aren’t in FIFA 20 – although you can still use its players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Blaise Matuidi under the guise of Piemonte Calcio.

PES 2020 Partner Clubs

- Juventus (fully exclusive, so kits and stadium are only in PES 2020)
- Barcelona (stadium exclusive to PES 2020)
- Manchester United (also in FIFA 20 due to EA’s Premier League license)
- Bayern Munich (stadium exclusive to PES 2020)
- Arsenal (also in FIFA 20 due to EA’s Premier League license)
- AC Milan (believed to also be in FIFA 20, full confirmation TBC)
- AS Monaco (stadium exclusive to PES 2020)
- Celtic (stadium exclusive to PES 2020)
- Rangers (stadium exclusive to PES 2020)
- Palmeiras (fully exclusive to PES 2020)
- Flamengo (fully exclusive to PES 2020)
- Sao Paulo (fully exclusive to PES 2020)
- Corinthians (fully exclusive to PES 2020)
- Vasco da Gama (fully exclusive to PES 2020)
- Universidad de Chile
- Colo-Colo
- Schalke

FIFA 20 vs PES 2020 Icons comparison

EA has so many legends of the sport signed up to Ultimate Team these days that it’d take hours to scroll through them if we listed them here – instead, jump over to our FIFA 20 Icons guide for the full lowdown.

FIFA 20 icons: Pirlo — (Image credit: EA Sports)

PES 2020’s selection of legends for MyClub is more modest, yet still features some colossal names from years past. It’s the only football game this year to boast David Beckham, for example. More are expected to be added throughout the course of the season; we’ll update this post as and when that occurs.

- Andrei Arshavin
- Andres Iniesta
- Ronaldinho
- Johan Cruyff
- Diego Maradona
- Oliver Kahn
- David Beckham
- Pavel Nedved
- Hidetoshi Nakata
- Park Ji-Sung
- Romario
- Patrick Vieira
- Lothar Matthäus
- Gabriel Batistuta
- Francesco Totti
- Franco Baresi
- Daniele Massaro
- Christian Abbiati
- Dida
- Robert Pires
- Sol Campbell
- Gilberto Silva
- Freddie Ljungberg
- Emmanuel Petit
- Denilson
- Diego Lugano
- Francesco Toldo
- Paolo Maldini
- Walter Samuel
- Ricardo Rocha
- Cafu
- Javier Zanetti
- Roberto Carlos
- Esteban Cambiasso
- Paul Scholes
- Dejan Stankovic
- Ruud Gullit
- Youri Djorkaeff
- Zico
- Hidetoshi Nakata
- Luis Figo
- Ludovic Giuly
- Alessandro Del Piero
- Bebeto
- Alvaro Recoba
- Marcelo Salas
- Ivan Zamorano
- Adriano
- Patrick Kluivert

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I'm GamesRadar's freelance sports editor, and obsessed with NFL, WWE, MLB, AEW, and occasionally things that don't have a three-letter acronym – such as Chvrches, Bill Bryson, and Streets Of Rage 4. (All the Streets Of Rage games, actually.) Even after three decades I still have a soft spot for Euro Boss on the Amstrad CPC 464+.