EA SPORTS FIFA 23 Beginner's Guide - Tips & Tricks
5-Minute Primer
EA SPORTS FIFA 23 is a massive game, but at its core, it revolves around two distinct experiences: playing actual matches of soccer, and building your ultimate fantasy team. If you are jumping in for the first time, the sheer number of menus, modes, and currencies can be overwhelming. Here is everything you need to know to understand the game within five minutes.
First, understand that Volta Football is the arcade-style, street soccer mode featuring small-sided games (3v3, 4v4, 5v5) with skill moves and flashy wall runs. It is incredibly fun, highly forgiving, and features its own separate story and progression system. Conversely, Ultimate Team (FUT) is the flagship mode. It is a card-collecting, team-building ecosystem where you buy player "cards" using virtual coins to build a starting eleven. You take this team into online matches to earn more coins and better players. Outside of these, Career Mode lets you play as a player or manage a club, while Pro Clubs lets you create a virtual avatar and play 11v11 matches with human teammates.
The most important concept to grasp immediately is The Transfer Market in Ultimate Team. Every player card has a price that fluctuates based on real-world soccer performances, promotions, and time of day. You do not need to spend real money to build a great team, but you do need to understand supply and demand. You will earn coins by playing matches (typically around 400-600 per game) and completing objectives. Finally, remember the golden rule of FIFA 23: pace is king. Due to the way the game engine processes player movement, faster players will almost always have an inherent advantage over slower, more technical players, especially for beginners.
First Hour Checklist
When you first boot up the game, do not immediately jump into an online match. Take these foundational steps to ensure you are set up for long-term success and aren't fighting the game’s default settings.
- Calibrate Your Controls: Go to the settings menu and switch your controller configuration to "Alternate" or "Competitive." The default setup maps the "Right Stick Switch" to a button that is easy to accidentally press, which will cause your defender to make erratic runs during crucial moments. Changing this alone will save you from conceding dozens of cheap goals.
- Adjust Slider Tuning: Navigate to the gameplay sliders. Increase the "Pass Error" and "Shot Error" slightly for both user and CPU. FIFA 23’s default settings make passing and shooting almost perfectly robotic, which creates unrealistic gameplay. Bumping the error up by 2-3 ticks makes the game feel much more organic and forces you to be deliberate with your inputs.
- Claim Your Pre-Order or Edition Bonuses: If you bought the Ultimate Edition, you have untradeable packs and loan players waiting in the store tab. Open them immediately. You will likely get a few high-rated "Loan" players—these are cards you can use for a limited number of games (usually 5 to 15) before they expire. Slot them straight into your team to make your early matches much easier.
- Complete the Beginning Tutorial Matches: Play through the basic Ultimate Team introduction. It gives you a baseline team and walks you through the fundamentals of shooting, passing, and defending. It is basic, but the coin rewards are necessary for your early economy.
- Glance at the Objectives Tab: Press the trigger button to bring up the Objectives menu. Notice the three categories: Foundation, Daily, and Weekly. Click into Foundation and look at the easy milestones, such as "Score 5 goals" or "Assist 3 goals." Always check this tab before playing so you can work on multiple objectives simultaneously.
Key Systems Explained
FIFA 23 is built on several interconnected systems. Understanding how they work beneath the hood will drastically improve your performance on the pitch and your efficiency in the menus.
AcceleRATE and Physical Play
This is the most significant gameplay change in FIFA 23. Every player in the game is assigned an AcceleRATE archetype: Lengthy, Controlled, or Explosive. You cannot change this; it is tied to the player's physical stats. Lengthy players start slow but accelerate rapidly past the 60% speed threshold, making them devastating in straight-line sprints. Explosive players accelerate incredibly fast off the mark but cap out at a lower top speed. Controlled players have a smooth, steady acceleration curve.
As a beginner, you should actively seek out Lengthy players. Players like Darwin Nunez, Erling Haaland, or Wissam Ben Yedder feel like cheat codes because their running animation forces defenders to trail behind them, unable to make clean tackles. To make a player Lengthy, they generally need a high Sprint Speed stat (usually 85+), a high Strength stat, and a lower Agility stat. You can use the "Chemistry Style" consumable item to boost these specific stats and push a player into the Lengthy archetype.
The Economy (Coins vs. FIFA Points)
There are two currencies in Ultimate Team. FIFA Points are bought with real-world money and are used to purchase Premium Packs from the store. Coins are earned entirely through gameplay. Beginners often confuse the two, but you must understand a harsh truth: buying packs with FIFA Points is statistically a terrible investment. The odds of pulling a player worth more than the pack's cost are incredibly low.
The most efficient way to build a team is through the Transfer Market using Coins. You act as a general manager, identifying players who fit your system, finding them at the lowest "Buy Now" price, and negotiating bids. Never sell a player without checking their current market value first. The economy is highly dynamic; prices crash when new, better players are released into "Packs," and they rise when the supply dries up (usually on Wednesdays and weekends).
Chemistry System
Chemistry dictates how well your players perform on the pitch. In FIFA 23, the system is based on Links. Players earn up to 3 points per link to an adjacent player on the formation board. A link is strong if the players share the same League, Nation, or Club. A perfect link (same league and nation) gives 3 points. An imperfect link (same league, different nation) gives 2 points. No links give 0 points.
You want every single player to have at least 3 Chemistry (out of a maximum of 3). If a player is on 0, 1, or 2 chemistry, they will suffer severe stat penalties—they will feel sluggish, pass poorly, and miss easy shots. To achieve this easily, build a team around a "Hybrid" concept. Pick a league with a deep talent pool (like the English Premier League or the French Ligue 1) and fill your starting eleven with players from that league. If you must use an outlier player, ensure the players immediately next to them on the pitch share the same nationality or league to bridge the gap.
Build / Character Choices
While FIFA does not have traditional RPG character creation (outside of Volta and Pro Clubs), your "build" is defined by the tactical formations and custom tactics you apply to your squad. Your choice here will dictate how you play the game for dozens of hours.
Best Starting Formations
Do not use custom formations at the start. Stick to the game's preset options until you deeply understand positioning. Here are the three best choices for beginners:
- 4-4-2 (Hold): This is the ultimate beginner formation. It provides excellent coverage across the entire pitch. The two central midfielders (CMs) stay back to protect the center, while the two strikers (STs) give you constant passing options in the final third. It lacks complexity but makes it incredibly difficult for opponents to exploit wide spaces.
- 4-2-3-1 (Wide): If you prefer to attack down the wings, this is the formation to use. You get two traditional wingers, a central attacking midfielder (CAM) to feed them the ball, and two defensive midfielders (CDMs) to lock down the middle. It is slightly vulnerable to counter-attacks if your wingers are caught too far forward, but it offers immense attacking flexibility.
- 4-1-2-1-2 (Narrow): This formation removes wingers entirely, packing the midfield and attack into the center of the pitch. It is incredibly overpowered in FIFA 23 because it forces your opponent to try and pass through a dense wall of players. It requires you to be good at short, quick passing, but it completely shuts down opponents who rely on crossing the ball from wide areas.
Custom Tactics Configuration
Choosing a formation is only half the battle; the other half is telling those players how to behave. Go to the Custom Tactics menu before every match and adjust these specific sliders:
- Defensive Depth: Set this between 40 and 50. If it is too high (like the default 70), your defensive line will push up too far, leaving massive empty space behind them for fast players to sprint into. Keeping it around 45 means your center-backs stay near the penalty box, neutralizing the "Lengthy" sprint exploit.
- Width: Keep defensive width at around 35-40. This forces your players to condense the middle of the pitch, preventing opponents from easily passing through the center. They will be forced to cross the ball from the wings, which is much easier to defend.
- Attacking Width: If you are using wingers, set this to 60 or higher to spread the opposition's defense out. If you are using a narrow formation, drop this to 30 so your players stay close together for quick one-two passes.
For Player Instructions, always set your Center Backs to "Stay Back While Attacking." There is no good reason for a center-back to run into the opponent's penalty box in a beginner's match. Secondly, set your CDM to "Stay Back While Attacking" as well. You need at least three players (two CBs and one CDM) behind the ball at all times to avoid being destroyed on counter-attacks.
Pitfalls to Dodge
Every FIFA player has a graveyard of embarrassing mistakes they made when they started. Avoiding these common errors will save you immense frustration and preserve your coin balance.
- Button Mashing the Tackle Button: The "Standing Tackle" button is not a weapon; it is a scalpel. If you hold it down or spam it while defending, your player will lunge forward and miss, leaving a wide-open gap for the attacker to run through. Instead, use the "Contain" button (which makes your defender jockey and shadow the attacker) and only press the tackle button when you are physically touching the opponent.
- The Sprint Trap: Do not hold the sprint button (R2/RT) while defending or while dribbling in tight spaces. Sprinting drastically reduces your turning radius. If you are sprinting and an opponent changes direction, your player will run in a massive circle, unable to catch up. Jog while defending, and only sprint when you have open space in front of you.
- Ignoring FUTBIN: FUTBIN is an external website (and app) that tracks the exact price of every player card in real-time. If you do not use it, you will likely list players on the Transfer Market for far less than they are worth, or overpay when buying. Always check FUTBIN before making a transaction.
- Forcing Skill Moves: Skill moves like the "Elastico" or "Flair Turn" look amazing, but attempting them in your own penalty box or against an opponent who is actively tackling you will result in losing the ball. Stick to simple ball rolls (flicking the right stick left or right) until you are completely comfortable with the game's pacing.
- Spending Coins on Pack Animations: The game will constantly tempt you with "Special Promos" featuring brightly colored cards and flashy animations. Opening a 100,000 coin pack and getting 50,000 coins worth of usable items is a devastating loss. If you have 100,000 coins, go to the Transfer Market and buy a guaranteed top-tier player like a Premier League striker. You will be much happier with a guaranteed upgrade than a lottery ticket.
- Autoswitching on Defense: The game's default auto-switching setting will frequently switch your controlled player to someone who is out of position, precisely when the opponent is about to shoot. Go to settings and change Auto-Switching to "Air Balls Only" or turn the Auto-Switch Move Assist down to low. You must manually switch players using the right stick or the L1/LB trigger to maintain defensive shape.
- Playing Out from the Back Unnecessarily: Professional soccer teams pass the ball around their own defenders to draw the opponent out. In FIFA 23, doing this as a beginner is suicide. The game's AI pressure is aggressive, and one missed pass inside your own box will result in a goal. If you have a goal kick or your goalkeeper has the ball, kick it long up the pitch or pass it to your central midfielders immediately. Do not take risks in your defensive third.
Next Steps
Once you have established your starter team, settled on a formation, and stopped making the most common defensive errors, it is time to look at the long-term horizon of FIFA 23. The game operates on a seasonal model, with new "Promos" dropping every single Friday. These promos introduce special, boosted versions of players. To prepare for these, you should start adopting a Squad Building Challenges (SBC) mindset.
SBCs are puzzles where you submit a squad of players that meet specific criteria (e.g., "Submit a squad of 11 players with a minimum 82 overall rating, 80 chemistry, and 4 French players") in exchange for a massive reward, such as a top-tier player card. Early on, you will complete basic SBCs that give you untradeable packs and players. As you get deeper into the game, you can complete advanced SBCs that require you to carefully buy players from the market, use them in the puzzle, and effectively "trade" lower-value players for a high-value star.
Start paying attention to the "Upgrade" SBCs available in the menu. These allow you to trade in a squad of low-rated bronze or silver cards for a higher-rated silver or gold pack. This is an excellent way to offload players you aren't using for a chance at something better. Additionally, begin saving your untradeable packs from daily and weekly objectives. Do not open them immediately. Save them for Friday evenings right before a new promo drops. Opening packs during a highly active promo increases your chances of packing a new, highly desirable card that you can either use or submit into another SBC.
Finally, transition your focus from winning every game to analyzing your replays. When you concede a goal, watch the replay. Did your defensive line get pulled out of shape? Did you sprint and miss a tackle? Did you fail to track a runner? Identifying patterns in your defensive failures is the fastest way to climb the competitive ranks. FIFA 23 is a game of inches and milliseconds; the player who makes fewer mechanical mistakes—not necessarily the one with the better team—will almost always win.
