FIFA 26's Biggest Player Rating Shifts: Who Soared and Who Sank?

Right now, November 2026, we’re deep into the 2025-26 Premier League season and after eight matchdays the table already feels like a tightly wound spring. Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool are all locked on 20 points, each staking their claim like three alchemists fighting over the same philosopher’s stone. In North London, Arsenal and Tottenham are jostling for a top-four seat, while Bournemouth and Wolves have turned into those quiet underdogs everyone suddenly fears. Down at the bottom, Huddersfield and Cardiff are still hunting for a first win, and the likes of Fulham, Southampton and West Ham are tiptoeing along the cliff edge. All that drama has already bled into FIFA 26’s Kick Off and Ultimate Team modes, where the Winter Refresh is beginning to feel less like a routine data update and more like an orchestra retuning mid-symphony.

As a career‑mode addict and FUT grinder, I’ve been obsessed with who’s bubbling up and who’s fizzling out. EA Sports doesn’t just pluck rating changes from the ether – they mirror the real numbers, and WhoScored’s comparison of average match ratings between last season and this one has become my cheat sheet. It shows players whose form has been altering as slowly and irreversibly as a cheese ripening in a cave, and others who have deflated faster than a soufflé yanked out of the oven too soon. I spent a rainy afternoon pulling together the ten biggest growers and the ten biggest droppers, and here’s what I found.

🟢 The Top 10 Most Improved (Rating Boost)

Let’s kick off with the players who’ve come out of the blocks like they’ve strapped a spare engine to their boots.

1. Callum Wilson (+0.73) – The man is rewriting his own ceiling. Last term he was a decent poacher; now he’s a predator who can smell a chance three moves ahead. In FIFA 26 his positioning has become telepathic.

2. Gylfi Sigurðsson (+0.62) – A renaissance midfielder who’s playing like he’s finally unlocked the control panel inside his own head. His long shots and set‑piece delivery are back to their swaggering best.

3. Troy Deeney (+0.57) – The old‑school target man has added silk to his steel. Hold‑up play now starts attacks like a well‑oiled pinball launcher.

4. Ryan Fraser (+0.50) – Pocket‑sized dynamite on the wing. Defenders can’t keep up with his stop‑start acceleration – it’s like trying to catch smoke with a butterfly net.

5. Eden Hazard (+0.46) – Almost unfair. He was already elite, but this season he’s weaving through defences as if the grass has been greased only for him.

6. Bernardo Silva (+0.46) – Quiet genius turned headliner. His ball retention under pressure has jumped so much that trying to press him is like wrestling a waterbed.

7. José Holebas (+0.43) – Veteran full‑back delivering crosses with the precision of a laser‑guided paper plane. Set‑piece assists have doubled.

8. James Milner (+0.39) – Defying the calendar again. His stamina feels infinite, and his tackling timing has reached a new, guru‑like calmness.

9. Glenn Murray (+0.39) – The wily fox in the box has gotten even wilier. His movement between centre‑halves now looks scripted by a mystery novelist.

10. Étienne Capoue (+0.38) – Midfield enforcer who suddenly adds playmaking sprinkles to his crunching tackles.

🔴 The Top 10 Biggest Declines (Rating Drop)

For every riser there’s someone whose form has melted away like a Fudgsicle in a heatwave.

1. Lewis Dunk (-0.71) – Harsh. A cornerstone centre‑back who seems to have lost his compass. Positional errors have become common.

2. Christopher Schindler (-0.61) – His reading of the game, once a masterclass, now looks a page behind. Interceptions have plummeted.

3. Jordan Pickford (-0.51) – The shot‑stopper’s save percentage has nosedived. Once a wall, now a door that keeps swinging open.

4. Wilfried Zaha (-0.48) – The dribble wizard’s end product has hit a black hole. No goals, no assists to speak of so far.

5. Florent Hadergjonaj (-0.45) – Full‑back who can’t find the right gear. Passing accuracy has fallen off a cliff.

6. Mousa Dembélé (-0.42) – The Spurs midfielder isn’t gliding past challenges anymore. Injuries might be chipping away at his grace.

7. Paul Pogba (-0.41) – Still capable of magic, but the weekly rhythm has vanished. His card in Ultimate Team feels less reliable.

8. Ayoze Pérez (-0.34) – Flashes of skill blend into anonymous spells. The consistency dial has been turned way down.

9. Abdoulaye Doucouré (-0.32) – Box‑to‑box engine that’s lost a few horsepower. Stats are dipping across the board.

10. Mohamed Salah (-0.32) – Before you grab your pitchforks, remember his 2024‑25 season was god‑tier. A slight dip from that impossible summit is still a dip. He’s gone from a lightning bolt to a very bright bulb.

🎮 What This Means for FIFA 26

If you’re building a squad in Ultimate Team or managing a Career Mode save, these rating waves are your market indicators. Snapping up an improved player before his price skyrockets feels like investing in a startup the day before it goes viral. Meanwhile, selling a star whose rating is about to be downgraded saves you from the equivalent of holding stock in a company that just announced a profit warning. Milner and Hazard becoming more valuable on the virtual pitch is a clear signal that real‑world form is the ultimate meta. And while Salah and Pogba still shine in spurts, their lower ratings remind us that even digital talent mirrors the sweat and fumble of reality.

By season’s end these stats will morph again. Wilson and Sigurðsson are on a trajectory for special cards, while Dunk and Pickford will fight to reverse the slide. The beautiful thing about FIFA 26 is that you get to play curator – trading, upgrading, and sometimes betting on a redemption arc. Who do you think will surge or sink further? Drop your predictions below, and I’ll see you on the leaderboard.