FIFA 23 Heroes guide sees Yaya Toure return to Ultimate Team

FIFA 23
(Image credit: EA)

FIFA 23 Heroes celebrate famous ex-pros who don't quite merit Icon status. In FIFA 23 there are two different types. The 40 base Heroes feel much like they did last year, increasing Chemistry when used in tandem with players from the same league. An additional 21 Super Heroes get Marvel-style cards, tied to the Qatar World Cup! We explain how it all works below. Keep scrolling for complete FIFA 23 Heroes and FIFA 23 Super Heroes card lists. 

What are FIFA 23 Heroes cards?

FIFA 23 Heroes

(Image credit: EA)

Heroes items represent past greats who fall narrowly short of FIFA 23 Icons status, but still deserve immortalisation in digital form. Each is affiliated to a particular league in which they shone during their playing career. FIFA 22 favourites such as David Ginola and Abedi Pele are back again, while newcomers including Park Ji-Sung and an incredible Yaya Toure card. It’s the Ivorian’s first series appearance since FIFA 18.

And how about FIFA 23 Super Heroes items?

FIFA 23 Heroes

(Image credit: EA)

To tie in with FIFA 23 World Cup Swaps, EA linked up with Marvel for comic-styled FIFA 23 Super Heroes items. All of the players on the list, such as Diego Forlan and Rudi Voller, also have base Heroes cards too, generally rated 1-3 points less than their Super Heroes items. There are 21 in total, and you can see a full Super Heroes card list further down this page. Those weren't the only Qatar-themed pieces of content. Midway through the competition we also got FIFA 23 World Cup Phenoms.

How are FIFA 23 Heroes affected by the new Chemistry system?

FIFA 23 Heroes

(Image credit: EA)

Last year, Heroes cards atomically scored green links to anyone lined up next to them from the same league. But green links are gone this year, with Chemistry now scored out of 33 rather than 100. So what happens?  

Well, Heroes always have full Chemistry when in their Preferred Position. They also count as two increments towards your side’s League Chemistry Threshold, and count as one increment towards its Country/Region Chemistry Threshold. Handy.

You can bolster this element of FUT further with GR's FIFA 23 chemistry styles guide. 

What’s the deal with Okocha and Nakata’s Icon cards?

FIFA 23 Heroes

(Image credit: EA)

Jay-Jay Okocha and Hidetoshi Nakata are especially noteworthy FIFA 23 Heroes. After many years as in-game Icons, they’ve been downgraded this year to Heroes status instead. That's right: no FIFA 23 Base Icons cards for these guys, sadly. 

Both have Super Heroes and standard Heroes cards. Each Nakata card represents Serie A, throwing back to his days with Roma, Parma and Fiorentina. Okocha is affiliated to two different leagues, however. His Super Heroes card bears the Ligue 1 logo after starring with PSG, while the Nigerian maestro's Bolton days are also celebrated via his standard, Premier League-based Heroes item.

The complete FIFA 23 Super Heroes cards list

FIFA 23 Heroes

(Image credit: EA)

Below is the complete FIFA 23 Super Heroes cards list, along with their Marvel-influenced FIFA 23 nickname.

  • Diego Forlan AKA Sunstrike (ST, La Liga) - 91
  • Rudi Voller AKA The Flying German (ST, Serie A) - 91
  • Lucio AKA The Thunder (CB, Bundesliga) - 90
  • Jean-Pierre Papin AKA The Acrobat (ST, Ligue 1) - 90
  • Tomas Brolin AKA The Tornado (ST, Serie A) - 89
  • Yaya Toure AKA The Citadel (CDM, Premier League) - 89
  • Ricardo Carvalho AKA The Anticipator (CB, Premier League) - 89
  • Rafael Marquez AKA Kaiser Michoacan (CDM, La Liga) - 89
  • Javier Mascherano AKA Octo-Boss (CDM, Premier League) - 89
  • Jay-Jay Okocha AKA Double Take (CAM, Ligue 1) - 89
  • Hidetoshi Nakata AKA Stealth Agent 78 (CAM, Serie A) - 88
  • Claudio Marchisio AKA Il Principino (CM, Serie A) - 88
  • Landon Donovan AKA The Brave (RM, MLS) - 88
  • Dirk Kuyt AKA The Energiser (RM, Premier League) - 88
  • Harry Kewell AKA The Wizard Of Aus (CF, Premier League) - 88
  • Joan Capdevila AKA The Backfield Bull (LB, La Liga) - 88
  • Wlodzimierz Smolarek AKA Phase Shift (ST, Ekstraklasa) - 88
  • Saeed Ol-Owairan AKA The Emerald Falcon (CAM, MBS Pro League) - 88
  • Park Ji-Sung AKA Tigerheart (CAM, Premier League) - 87
  • Peter Crouch AKA The Robot (ST, Premier League) - 87
  • Sidney Govou AKA The Lion Of Lyon (CAM, Ligue 1) - 87

The full FIFA 23 Heroes cards list

FIFA 23 Heroes

(Image credit: EA)

Mixing 19 new players with a further 19 returning ones – plus former Icons Hidetoshi Nakata and Jay-Jay Okocha – this is the complete FIFA 23 Heroes card list.

  • David Ginola (LM, Ligue 1) - 89
  • Rudi Voller (ST, Serie A) - 89
  • Lucio (CB, Bundesliga) - 89
  • Jean-Pierre Papin (ST, Ligue 1) - 89
  • Fernando Morientes (ST, La Liga) - 89 
  • Abedi Pele (CAM, Ligue 1) - 89
  • Jurgen Kohler (CB, Bundesliga) – 89
  • Diego Forlan (ST, La Liga) - 88
  • Rafael Marquez (CB, La Liga) - 88
  • Javier Mascherano (CB, La Liga) - 88
  • Jay-Jay Okocha (CAM, Premier League) - 88
  • Ricardo Carvalho (CB, Premier League) - 88
  • Diego Milito (ST, Bundesliga) - 88 
  • Antonio Di Natale (ST, Serie A) - 88
  • Hidetoshi Nakata (CAM, Serie A) - 88
  • Claudio Marchisio (CM, Serie A) - 88
  • Mario Gomez (ST, Bundesliga) - 88
  • Yaya Toure (CDM, Premier League) - 87
  • Tomas Brolin (ST, Serie A) - 87
  • Harry Kewell (LW, Premier League) - 87
  • Joe Cole (RW, Premier League) - 87 
  • Ivan Cordova (CB, Serie A) - 87 
  • Jorge Campos (GK, Liga BBVA MX) - 87
  • Landon Donovan (CF, MLS) - 86
  • Joan Capdevila (LB, La Liga) - 86
  • Sidney Govou(ST, Ligue 1) - 86
  • Dirk Kuyt (CAM, Premier League) - 86
  • Park Ji-Sung (LM, Premier League) - 86
  • Wlodzimierz Smolarek (ST, Bundesliga) - 86
  • Robbie Keane (ST, Premier League) - 86 
  • Freddie Ljungberg (LM, Premier League) - 86
  • Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (ST, Premier League) - 86
  • Aleksandr Mostovoi (CAM, La Liga) - 86
  •  Jerzy Dudek (GK, Premier League) - 86
  • Sami Al-Jaber (ST, MBS Pro League) - 86
  • Saeed Ol-Owairan (RW, MBS Pro League) - 88
  • Peter Crouch (ST, Premier League) - 85
  • Tim Cahill (ST, Premier League) - 85
  • Clint Dempsey (CAM, MLS) - 85
  • Lars Ricken (CAM, Bundesliga) - 85
Ben Wilson

I'm GamesRadar's 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+.