FIFA 23 Road to the Final Starts Friday! Latest News, Predictions, How Upgrades Work & More

Road to the Final Kicks off this Friday in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team, as European nights return to our TV screens!

With the biggest teams from across Europe competing for the UEFA Champions League, Europa League & Europa Conference League trophies, Road to the Final (RTTF) is the opportunity to get involved!

Expect live, dynamic player items that have the potential to upgrade as teams progress through each tournament, with potentially massive boosts to stars in some of the best teams in European competition.

Let’s take a dive into all the content you can expect to arrive during the Road to the Final event, including all the information regarding how upgrades will work this year in Road to the Final!

Road to the Final Release Date

Road to the Final is set to release this Friday, February 17th in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team, as confirmed by the latest loading screen!

It’s currently unclear as to whether RTTF will be a one or two-week event, so check back soon to find out!

How Do Road to the Final Cards Upgrade?

We’re still awaiting official confirmation from EA Sports to confirm whether Road to the Final cards will upgrade in the same way as previous years, but let’s take a look at the expected upgrade path for these new, dynamic items.

In addition to the initial boost given to Road to the Final cards at the start of the promo, in previous years players selected in RTTF have had the potential for up to 5 additional upgrades.

1 - Win 1st Knockout Game After RTTF Begins
2 - Qualify For Quarter-Finals
3 - Qualify For Semi-Finals
4 - Qualify For The Final
5 - Win the Competition

If EA follows a similar pattern to the Path To Glory cards from the World Cup event, we can expect +1 IF Upgrades for progression to the next ladder of the competition, as well as additional traits, 5 Star Weak Foot & 5 Star Weak Foot additions to cards.

You can check out some of the upgrades received by players included in the FIFA 22 Road to the Final event here.

Some key notes regarding upgrades:

Matches played before Road to the Final, such as Bayern 1 - 0 PSG and Spurs 0 - 1 Milan will not count towards the first possible upgrade.

The RTTF Players do not need to have featured in the games to receive an upgrade, as the upgrade is tied solely to the overall team’s progression in the tournament.

If a player’s team is knocked out of any of the competitions, they will no longer be eligible to receive an upgrade.

Upgrades to Road to the Final items take a few days to update in game once the games are completed.

Road to the Final Card Design

The Road to the Final card design remains unchanged from previous years, check them out below!

Road to the Final Predictions

Being non-performance based, it’s tricky to decide exactly who may included in EA’s final Road to the Final selection, but nevertheless, here are a few that we’d like to see!

Manuel Neuer - GK - 90 > 91 OVR

A goalkeeper is not a necessity in this type of side and can often be ignored by EA. I feel as though Munich is guaranteed a spot on this side though and with multiple other options containing items like OTW, PTG or other high-rated special cards it leaves the door open for Neuer who has been untouched to date.

Nuno Mendes - LB - 80 > 88 OVR

With Munich and PSG facing off in the round of 16, it means only one of these two potential cards I have opened with, be able to receive an upgrade. Neuer will benefit from that more with this potential Nuno Mendes already being an elite card. As for PSG’s options, I narrowed it down to a few with Verratti and Mukiele being two other strong contenders.

Fikayo Tomori - CB - 84 > 88 OVR

There are several strong defensive options which jump out this year and despite only a few making the cut last year I can see a couple more this time around with some of the options being highly desirable ones. Should AC Milan make a deep run in this competition Tomori would become one of the best CB’s ever to be seen in FIFA.

Manuel Akanji - CB - 81 > 88 OVR

When you look back at all the promotional cards City have received already this season it does limit the realistic options for a spot in this promotion. City without a doubt feature though thus making it an easier guess. For me, it’s got to be either Akanji or Gundogen and with the former being the better FIFA card it makes sense for it be him.

Luis Diaz - LW - 84 > 89 OVR

With Liverpool performing poorly in the Premier League this season they will be turning full attention to the Champions League but a tough matchup against Real Madrid awaits them. There are a plethora of options for Liverpool in terms of this promotion but I anticipate it will go to either Diaz or Jota. I have opted for the Colombian.

Nico Barella - CM - 86 > 89 OVR

The Italian sides can be dangerous this year in the Champions League with Inter, AC and Napoli all standing a good chance of progressing from the round of 16. All three feature in my prediction with Inter’s inclusion being Barella. Looking at past promotions this FIFA he stands out as the best option for Inter

Eden Hazard - CAM - 84 > 89 OVR

I don't expect many positional changes to happen for this promotion but a couple of realistic ones may occur, Hazard being one. With Hazard being out of favour for quite some time now he is used primarily for promotional sides by EA. World cup stars was his only inclusion so far with that also being as an SBC. A potential RTTF card would go down well among the community and he is almost the perfect candidate for one, see Bale last season.

Ousmane Dembele - RW - 83 > 88 OVR

Annoyingly both Manchester United and Barcelona have drawn each other in the first knockout round this year but both sides will likely feature in this promotion regardless. With just a Winter Wildcards promotional card to his name, Dembele is long overdue for another

Konrad Laimer - CM - 83 > 88 OVR

A lot of these players included in the prediction are household names. Laimer does not fall into that same category but with high base stats is a card that will take players' attention. Unfortunately, Leipzig open up against Manchester City but you never know with the current situation City is in, Leipzig could be a surprise.

Moise Kean - ST - 78 > 88 OVR

Juventus are in all sorts of trouble off the field but their side is still a very respectable one and they have every chance of making a deep run into the Europa League. I fully expect them to feature in this promotion and Kean could be a very good card come to the end of his live upgrades.

Joao Felix - ST - 84 > 89 OVR

Chelsea against Dortmund is a hard call to make and I don’t think that both from this fixture will feature, with six sides from the CL likely to miss out. Felix has a lot of hype around him both as a card and as a player right now. For that reason, I have opted to go for the Portuguese man. The PL bias will likely carry Chelsea through the selection process too.

Substitutes

Bartra - CB - 81 > 86 OVR

The Conference League was difficult to select from when going off last year's tally of three. With limited sides containing gold options or even being in the game. Trabzonspor is a rather unorthodox side to include in this but with some gems like Bartra, Hamsik and Peres it's not off the cards.

Marcus Acuna - LM - 85 > 88 OVR

With Sevilla’s recent history in this competition, it makes sense that EA will include them in this promotion. I originally wanted to go with Navas but with an RTTK card last season, it then put me off his chances. Instead, I have opted for Acuna who usually ends up with a high-rated card one way or another. Maybe an RTTF will be his FIFA 23 version.

Ricardo Horta - CAM - 81 > 87 OVR

You could argue Fiorentina’s spot in this side but with so many Serie A options already I can see them losing out to their opponents Braga, who may go under the radar in this competition. Horta is their realistic option with a very nice-looking card, pre-potential upgrade as well.

Gelson Martins - RM - 77 > 86 OVR

Should EA follow the same format as last season most of the Europa League spots in terms of sides pick themselves. This is the final one and could go numerous ways but I expect either Monaco or Leverkusen to end up receiving it. From those two sides, there is a fan favourite without a promotional card yet. That is, of course, Gelson Martins.

Giacomo Raspadori - ST - 79 > 86 OVR

Napoli was a hard side to include with their main players either recently featuring in a promotion or receiving a live item earlier in the season. With many tipping them to be dark horses in the competition alongside the fact they are walking Serie A as it stands I would be surprised to see them miss out. One potential option is Raspadori who would make a very strong card after a few upgrades.

Anthony Martial - ST - 80 > 87 OVR

As hinted under Dembele there was a United player to come. That player is Martial. His season at Man United has been hampered by injuries but in terms of FIFA, he can become a very desirable card. Should United manage to dispatch of Barcelona the Frenchman’s price will likely rocket.

Ciro Immobile- ST - 86 > 88 OVR

Immobile is not remotely close to the numbers he has managed in previous seasons, this has led to just one special item during FIFA 23 so far. With Lazio being one of the biggest names left in the conference league they are very likely to receive a player on this side and with SMS having a PTG the best options are Immobile and Anderson.