If you’re looking for a new challenge in the planet’s biggest football game, say hello to our FIFA 20 Bundesliga guide. The German league is fully licensed for the first time in FIFA 20, which transforms things in two ways. Firstly, you get 13 new Bundesliga stadiums, making for a much-improved career mode experience [in theory - keep tabs on our FIFA 20 patch notes to track bug fixes]. Secondly, your all-German Ultimate Team squad is hugely improved with the addition of 180 player faces. This FIFA 20 Bundesliga tie-in is exactly what we need from Serie A and Ligue 1 in FIFA 21.
FIFA 20 Bundesliga player faces
FIFA 20 Bundesliga integration covers the top two German leagues, and follows similar moves to include the entire English Premier League, which began with FIFA 15, and the Spanish La Liga, as occurred from FIFA 19 onwards. The two leagues cover 36 clubs in total. One player no doubt delighted about having a new scan is Dortmund midfielder Axel Witsel, after he publicly pleaded with EA to update his likeness midway through last season.
Thanks but can we fix my in game face first? 👀😂 pic.twitter.com/3Ujh3lkIkLDecember 19, 2018
Inevitably Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, the two monsters of the Bundesliga, do especially well when it comes to face scans. Of the current Bayern squad, only Mickael Cuisance and Ron-Thorben Hoffman lack proper likenesses following the summer update. Dortmund’s treatment isn’t quite so comprehensive - Manuel Akanji should have been scanned by now - but it nonetheless has 18 players with real faces, including keeper Roman Burki, midfielder Thomas Delaney, and defender Dan-Axel Zagadou.
Some trivia notes: The oldest Bundesliga player newly scanned is Hertha Berlin keeper Rune Jarstein, who finally gets a proper FIFA 20 face at the ripe age of 34. The youngest is Bayer Leverkusen prospect Paulinho, who was 18 at the time he was scanned.
34 Bundesliga 2 players have real faces, although not all are new: Lee Chung Young (Bochum) and Mario Gomez (Stuttgart) have been in for a while. And there are three Liga 3 players with real faces too. Remember Jan Kirchhoff, Sunderland fans? Currently at KFC Uerdingen, he’s one of them.
FIFA 20 Bundesliga stadiums
13 new grounds from Germany are included this year, with more detail on Red Bull Arena Leipzig, PreZero Arena, and RheinEnergieStadion to be found in our FIFA 20 stadiums guide. This means that only four Bundesliga grounds are missing from FIFA 20: Bayern Munich, Paderborn, Freiberg, and Union Berlin. Sadly for fans of EA’s football series, Bayern have an official tie-in with PES, making its stadium a no-no. Freiberg fans can be a little more hopeful of inclusion in FIFA 21: rumours of Schwarzwald-Stadion having been scanned pre-date FIFA 19, so perhaps it’ll be a case of third time lucky next year.
The full list of German stadiums in FIFA 20 is as follows:
All Bundesliga stadiums
- BayArena (Bayer Leverkusen)
- BORUSSIA-PARK (Borussia Mönchengladbach)
- Commerzbank-Arena (Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Dusseldorf Arena (Dusseldorf)
- Olympiastadion (Hertha BSC)
- Opel Arena (FSV Mainz)
- PreZero Arena (Hoffenheim)
- Red Bull Arena (RB Leipzig)
- RheinEnergieStadion (FC Koln)
- Signal Iduna Park (Borussia Dortmund)
- VELTINS-Arena (Schalke 04)
- Volkswagen Arena (Wolfsburg)
- wohninvest Weserstadion (Werder Bremen)
- WWK Arena (Augsburg)
All Bundesliga 2 stadiums
- HDI-Arena (Hannover 96)
- Max-Morlock-Stadion (FC Nurnberg)
- Mercedes-Benz Arena (VFB Stuttgart)
- Volksparkstadion (Hamburger SV)
FIFA 20 Bundesliga best players
Looking to build the best all-Bundesliga Ultimate Team going? Then you need to save up for the fab fünf below. Note that I’ve only included base cards: at the time of writing, Lewa already has five cards in FIFA 20, prices for which inevitably fluctuate due to market trends. Grab each player’s base card to begin with, then upgrade when you’re a little more flush with the help of our FIFA 20 coins guide.
Robert Lewandowski (ST, 89)
An 89-rated striker for under 40K? Yup, and Bayern’s Polish prince is well worth the investment, with 91 positioning, 88 finishing, 85 heading accuracy and 84 strength. If you’re looking to pair him alongside a pace merchant then the predictable-but-effective choice is Timo Werner. An 83 OVR and 92 sprint speed make Werner a snip at 5,500 coins.
Marco Reus (CAM, 88)
The perfect CAM, Reus’ only shortcoming - if you can call it that - is that he’s not combative enough to drop back into a true CM role, and insufficiently robust to deploy as an out-and-out ST. Still, build a team around him in his default position and you score dividends from his 87 dribbling, 84 balance, 84 passing and 86 vision. He’s pricey, though: in the realm of 135,000 coins.
Manuel Neuer (GK, 88)
6ft 4in tall and blessed with the ‘comes for crosses’ and ‘rushed out of goal’ traits, Neuer is FIFA 20’s most dominant sweeper-keeper even if he’s regressed a touch in real life. Key stats include 87 handling, 85 positioning, and 87 reflexes, and the big stopper is absurdly cheap at 22,000 coins. Oh Neuer? Oh yes.
Mats Hummels (CB, 87)
I’ve built my favourite Ultimate Team squad around the giant German stopper for three years straight and continue to have no regrets. 51 pace sounds troubling, but he makes up for it with 90 defensive awareness and 89 interceptions - and is almost never beaten in the ear, especially with crosses toned down this year. Grab him for 15K and never look back.
Thiago (CM, 87)
The Brazilian’s lofty rating looks impressive, but he can be tricky to use. 64 sprint speed detracts from his ability to burst forwards, while 67 defensive awareness, 59 strength and his short stature can see you overrun without someone protective such as Witsel alongside him. Try Thiago at CAM with 91 ball control, 90 dribbling and 87 composure to experience his best. Cost: 14,500.
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