FIFA 23 Vinicius Jr World Cup Path To Glory Player Review

There were panic stations around my club this weekend as the vote for Path To Glory Vinícius Júnior was the clear winner of our review poll… and then proceeded to go extinct at 2.3 million coins, eclipsing my total of 2 million coins by some distance.

Patience, and the sale of some discard informs that were collecting dust eventually brought my total to the required levels and left me with 246 coins.

With the need to wait on this review I actually completed the runner up in our poll, World Cup Hero Saeed Al-Owairan, in 15 matches of Weekend League prior… which left Vini facing the more difficult task of the final 5 matches of WL, followed by the re-qualifcation grind, and finally topped off by a few Division Rivals matches to round out 15.

The squad was one heavily reliant on untradeables due to my lack of coins and definitely left the weight of success heavily on Vini Jr.’s shoulders.

It was a complete return to my 4-2-2-2 formation this weekend and after a lot of pondering I decided to play the Brazilian as the frontman in my ragtag band. Ultimately this came down to two key points: 1. I couldn’t justify taking a 2.2 million coin card and sticking it out on the wing. 2. I wanted to see if the Real Madrid man could challenge the current goal record for FIFA 23 reviews, recently set at 25 by Eto’o… which if you look below… did not happen.

The application of the DEADEYE chemistry style just makes sense here and rounds off an already impressive set of statistics.

With my club firmly in administration, all was set for a wild ride across various gametypes as Vinícius Júnior proved to truly be the Path to Glory all review long in the following squad:

Starting Squad 

In-Game Squad

Overall 

Rating: 9/10

Pace Rating: 9/10

Dribbling Rating: 10/10

Shooting Rating: 9/10

Passing Rating: 9/10

Physical Rating: 7/10

Defending Rating: N/A

I must admit that I am becoming more and more disillusioned with the EXPLOSIVE player type. You can certainly feel the initial boost of pace, but any distance to cover makes that fact null and void. That is not to say that players cannot overcome this fact with crazy statistics… but it is certainly not my favorite choice.

The World Cup promo started with a bang and brought loads of grindable content for the future. The Path to Glory cards are an excellent live addition to accompany the World Cup and I am looking forward to the drama of the tournament and the subsequent impact on these cards already.

Despite the obvious fact that Brazil stands as heavy favorites to progress… I do find the heavy price tag interesting… with the first upgrade potential coming not until December 3rd.

Main Statistics – Dribbling

Dribbling Rating: 10/10

Skills: ★★★★★

Traits: Flair

Really enjoyed the dribbling with this card… very left stick friendly given the 93 Dribbling and incredibly responsive to the 95 AGILITY & 84 BALANCE.

The 5 STAR SKILLS will be a huge early benefit for those that have Golden Hands… and of course if Brazil do progress through the semi-final it will be another +1 Inform for Vini given he already has the 5★.

I have long believed that the FLAIR trait aids dribblers in certain movements on the ball and this was no different using this card. Vinícius had the ball on a string and created a lot of goals, assists and just general mayhem in and around the box.

I mentioned the EXPLOSIVE player type is not a favorite of mine, but in these tight dribbling moments the ability to burst forward out of challenges is a fantastic luxury.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 4/5

Massive price tag. On a fantastic card. With unbelievable potential. But just some food for thought before pulling the trigger.

In this price range, 1.8 - 2.3 million, there are not many options.  But one that certainly stands out is IF Kylian Mbappe.  Currently 200k cheaper and superior to Vini in almost every single statistic.

With this in mind it is not until December 2nd-ish that they are close to equal, and then Brazil would have to win their Round of 16 match to see Vini surpass Mbappe, and only just, around December 6th.

Now if Brazil wins their quarter finals match and this card gets a 5 STAR WEAK FOOT alongside the other boosts then it is going to be a scary endgame specimen.

My biggest issue is of course that anything can happen and this is a massive gamble… the month of holding when there are currently superior options also seems a bit wild.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

My issue was never with the card and always with the price… performance wise, this card is a nightmare to nullify for your opponents and a dream to deploy in your squad.

+ Just short on the 4 STAR WEAK FOOT, for now, but there were a few moments where it showed. The 80 COMPOSURE seemed to show itself in traffic at times as well. But from there the DEADEYE does all the rest. 96 FINISHING & 95 SHOT POWER are specific standouts and certainly a healthy return of goals across some difficult matches.

+ Double down on DEADEYE which works wonders on the otherwise pathetic passing. Up to 93 SHORT PASSING was key to everything that went well when involving Vini in intricate play. The 86 VISION proved brilliant for breaking down opponents' press, in which case the 76 LONG PASSING held up fine.

+ I mentioned the lack of love for the explosive player type… but it is worth noting how insane the 96 ACCELERATION feels with this card. One miscalculated move by defenders in the box and they can never recover.

For 2 million coins a card had better be just about, if not completely perfect. Vini is close, but those upgrades could start to fix the outliers.

– While the 96 ACCELERATION is blistering, the 96 SPRINT SPEED felt like Vini was running with one of those training parachutes at times. That is a bit of an elaboration, but the amount of times top tier defenders tracked me down was insane.

- You are not buying this guy to be a powerhouse and drive through challenges and bullying defenders… but the 65 STRENGTH is quite poor in the end.

Closing Words

If you have to liquidate your club and build your starting 11 out of untradeables to get Vinícius Júnior into the mix… I would pass.

The wait time to get the card that you really want out of the Path To Glory process is almost an entire month away and who knows what will happen before then. Additionally, you are gambling on Brazilian success while 89 Cruyff and 91 Eusebio are essentially already there.

If Vini had finished everything and lit the world on fire then I would 100% be singing a different tune. In fact 20 goals and 4 assists in 15 matches is already a wonderful return. But when you deal with massive price tags, the returns have to match that, and for me Vini fell just short.