FC 26 adds upgraded Pina alongside 3 new Heroes in full Winter Wildcards promo

EA Sports has revealed 3 new Heroes coming to FC 26 Ultimate Team as part of Team 1 of the Winter Wildcards promo: Ivan Zamorano, Claudio Pizarro and Jill Scott.

The Bayern and Werder Bremen legend Claudio Pizarro is famously the Bundesliga’s oldest ever player, after turning out well past 40 years of age – up front no less. But he’s making an appearance in FC 26 because he won the Hero Vote Poll a few months ago, with the Peruvian edging out notable nutter Steffan Effenberg and the prolific Brazilian striker, Elber.

The love for South American Heroes continues with Ivan Zamorano presented in his Real Madrid guise rather than part of the unbelievably stacked Inter squad which featured legends and Icons ranging from current Atletico Madrid manager Diego Simeone to Javier Zanetti and Ronaldo Nazario.

And probably most interestingly, Queen of the Jungle and centurion Lioness, Jill Scott, is also coming to shore up the midfield with a card which fits the “Gullit Gang” pre-requisite of all face stats over 80 – including a dominant 91 physical befitting her role as one of the most recognisable enforcers in women’s football.

Whether her in-game body type will actually let her put that strength out on the pitch (she will surely also have Bruiser) remains to be seen, but she could easily have the gangly aura of Patrick Vieira if the rest of her PlayStyles are right.

New Ultimate Team Heroes have been added mid-season before, including the likes of Enzo Francescoli in FC 24, but 3 at once looks to indicate that EA is leaning on Heroes to add fan-favourite players to the game with a lower threshold than Icons.

Plus they can be given away for free without upsetting the power curve as much as Icons, as shown by the free Classic XI Heroes handed out recently (I got Mario Gomez, F).

The rest of the Winter Wildcards team features a host of equally famous, and now infamous, players with some featuring 99 stats and alternative positions.

Highlights include striker and CAM versions of Balon D’or holder Ousmane Dembele, but also everyone’s love-to-hate Low Driven Shot master, Claudia Pina.

There are also incredibly strong-looking Gabriel and Fede Valverde cards, as well as downgraded, and therefore hopefully cheaper, versions of Icons like Johan Cruyff.

Images of all the new items are below:

For more on how to get the most out of these players, check out our round-up of the best formations in FC26. Or for some Career Mode legends, try out the best FC 26 Wonderkids.