Doumbia, Ibarbo, Emenike: FIFA's 50 most overpowered players of all time ranked | OneFootball

We’ve ranked the 50 most overpowered FIFA Ultimate Team cards of all time from ‘memorable’ to ‘controller breakers’ in celebration of the franchise’s final release.

So, the final game of the legendary FIFA series is finally upon us.

And for many of us FIFA nuts – current or former – it’s actually quite an emotional time when you think back to all the good times we’ve been blessed with over the years thanks to the iconic game.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s also been countless times that me, you and every other soul that set foot on Ultimate Team mode has wanted to rip their own hair out.

But we choose not to remember those times, and instead focus on what brought us the most joy.

Which, ironically, was often what brought us the most heartache. Confused?

Well, we’re merely talking about the army of Ultimate Team cards that, despite their rating, seemed to have been given a vast array of superhuman attributes, simultaneously making them the greatest thing to have on your team, as well as the worst thing to come up against.

This ‘OP Army’ as we’ll duly nickname them would often cost next to nothing on the transfer market.

They were in absolutely everybody’s team. And were usually – in fact no always – at the heart of any broken controllers sustained at your given FIFA nut’s home.

Therefore, in order to celebrate the life of FIFA in style, we’ve taken the decision to wander down memory lane whilst reminiscing about the good old days, as we rank the 50 most overpowered Ultimate Team cards ever.

Each player will be stationed across five categories that range from ‘memorable’ to ‘controller breaker’ with the only rule being that each player can only be included once.

Thereby meaning that Seydou Doumbia’s FIFA 13 card couldn’t be included if his FIFA 14 card is already present.

Sound good? Let’s jump in.

‘Memorable’

Kevin De Bruyne (FIFA 14), Julian Draxler (FIFA 14), Andre Schurrle (FIFA 14), Adel Taraabt (FIFA 14), Daniel Sturridge (FIFA 14), Yassine Chikhaoui (FIFA 15), Kevin Mirallas (FIFA 15), Stevan Jovetic (FIFA 14),

Plenty of dangerously cheap Premier League talent in this category with Jovetic, Sturridge, Taarabt, Schurrle, Mirallas and even De Bruyne gracing many a sweaty 15k team.

De Bruyne was playing for Chelsea at the time and his 80-rated card seems a million miles away from the 91-rated stormer he’s received in the latest edition of the game.

Jovetic was an 84-rated menace that proved an exceptional all-round number nine.

And we’re sure when it comes to Taraabt you need little reminding of the genius’ extravagant skills. The streets will literally never forget you, Adel.

‘Dangerously good’

Hatem Ben Arfa (FIFA 12), Kelvin (FIFA 13), Martin Caceres (FIFA 15), Hulk (FIFA 15), Kyle Walker (FIFA 15), Ahmed Musa (FIFA 15), Nedum Onuoha (FIFA 15), Robinho (FIFA 13), Wallyson (FIFA 12), Marcio Azevedo (FIFA 13), Ignazio Abate (FIFA 14), Jackson Martinez (FIFA 13), Taye Taiwo (FIFA 12), Lukasz Piszczek (FIFA 13), Joseph Yobo (FIFA 10)

Okay, so the general theme of the ‘dangerously good’ category is insanely overpowered defenders.

Caceres, Abate and Taiwo all plied their trade in the Serie A throughout various FIFAs and proved excellent value thanks to their extreme amounts of pace.

Whilst Piszczek played for Borussia Dortmund all the way up until 2021 and remained a brilliant card on pretty much every edition of the game throughout his time there.

Walker is an obvious inclusion, and another player that’s consistently impressed. Meanwhile, Onuoha’s FIFA 15 card was blessed with 83 pace and enough strength to shake off a fully grown horse.

We also have our first two silver cards within this category. Both Brazilian, Kelvin and Azevedo were surprisingly lethal inclusions in any team even though to this day, we aren’t quite sure why.

Hulk and Ben Arfa need no explanation given the duo are firmly engrained in the ‘streets will never forget’ section in everybody’s mind.

Whilst we also have Musa, Martinez, Robinho and Wallyson as central attacking assets.

‘Just silly’

Gervinho (FIFA 15), Freddy Guarin (FIFA 14), Maikon Leite (FIFA 12), Gabby Agbonlahor (FIFA 12), Antonio Di Natale (FIFA 13), Dede (FIFA 13), Naldo (FIFA 14), Mario Balotelli (FIFA 14), Wellington (FIFA 12), Alexandre Pato (FIFA 13), Stephan El Shaarawy (FIFA 12), Felipe Santana (FIFA 13), David Luiz (FIFA 13), Loic Remy (FIFA 14), Samuel Eto’o (FIFA 13), Jack Butland (FIFA 17), Ferland Mendy (FIFA 21)

The nostalgia in this section is actually too much. Where to even start?

We guess the first thing to note is how many Brazilian players make this section. There is no less than four iconic centre backs from the nation in Dede, Naldo, Luiz and Santana – all of which were fan favourites in FIFA 13 and 14.

But we also have Leite, a legendary silver right-winger. As well as Pato and Wellington, two more lethal strikers that could have bested any centre back under the right direction.

Di Natala, Eto’o and Balotelli were all rated 84 or above, so maybe it’s a stretch to brand them as truly ‘overpowered’ players, but they did play like 89+ rated stars for the most part.

Whereas Real Madrid left back Mendy represents the most recent inclusion of any player in the top 50. Any avid FIFA players of the more recent games will know how unstoppable Mendy is.

‘Unplayable’

Marvell Wynne (FIFA 13), Jonathan Biabany (FIFA 15), Fabrizio Miccoli (FIFA 13), Ramires (FIFA 14), Nilmar (FIFA 12), Alexander Esswein (FIFA 13)

Let’s address the elephant in the room? Who on earth is Marvell Wynne and why did they bless him with 96 pace?

The 66-rated silver legend was something of an anomaly in Ultimate Team and, considering he’s a silver, would have cost you a small fortune to attain.

The only other defensive player in this category is Brazilain Ramires, who happened to be a Chelsea player at the time and is now worthy of cult hero status. He was essentially the game’s N’Golo Kante before the Frenchman had even rocked up and won the league with Leicester.

We have one winger in this section in the form of Jonathan Biabiany. He was another with 96 pace but we’re sure it must have been much more because it felt like you were playing with boosters on.

Meanwhile our forwards are represented by Miccoli, Nilmar and Esswein.

All unbelievable cards in their own right that would guarantee you a hat full of goals – although, the same can’t be said in real life given Miccoli is now serving a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence for extortion.

‘Controller breakers’

Seydou Doumbia (FIFA 15), Victor Ibarbo (FIFA 14), Emmanuel Emenike (FIFA 13)

Na, these guys were actually a cheat code and should have flat out been illegal.

You just knew that any team lining up with Emenike, in pretty much any FIFA 13-15, was going to do damage.

The Nigerian nightmare was simply unstoppable with his brute force and lightning quick pace. Give him a sight of goal and there was only one outcome. Line him up with Eto’o or Musa in a Russian League team and you were laughing all the way to division one.

But how about the Ivory Coast sensation Doumbia? Much like Emenike, the legend was so iconic you could have picked practically any of his FIFA cards and wreaked havoc with any of them.

We’ve opted for his FIFA 15 edition in which he could be married up in a deadly trio with Gervinho and Ibarbo.

And God help the poor soul that had to face those three relentless savages. Insane pace, frighteningly quick levels of agility and three right foots that should have been nowhere near as good as they were, we reckon FIFA must have made this lot OP on purpose.

Gervinho wasn’t quite on the level of Doumbia and Ibarbo and so you’ll remember coming across him in the ‘just silly’ category, but come on, they were all still an absolute outrage.