9 Greatest EA Sports Wonderkids Who Exceeded Expectations (Ranked)

Every year, EA Sports FC outlines the young athletes most likely to become some of the best players in the world. It’s their attempt at predicting the future; sometimes they pull it off to the point, but they often get it wrong, predicting players who never truly live up to the hype.

The world’s greatest wonderkids always have pressure. Fans want them to rise through the academy to the first team, going on a journey that separates the best from the worst. If EA Sports predicts a player to become world-class as well, which they have been doing for decades, it only adds to the pressure.

Therefore, via research from the experts at Betting Lounge, we have decided to outline how some of FIFA’s greatest wonderkids went further than the company’s predictions. They took the top ten players under 20 years old with the highest potential from every FIFA/EAFC game since FIFA 10 before looking at their highest rating. The ones outlined here exceeded even their wildly high expectations.

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9

Gianluigi Donnarumma

Highest Potential: 88, Highest Rating: 89

Gianluigi Donnarumma is one of the best goalkeepers in the world — and, from a scarily young age, he was tipped to do exactly what he has done. The Italian broke onto the scene at boyhood club AC Milan. At the age of 16 years and 242 days when he made his debut, he was the third-youngest goalkeeper to start a match in the history of Italian football.

After impressing and becoming AC Milan’s first-choice goalkeeper, he eventually moved to Paris Saint-Germain in 2021. He’s continued to impress, despite a few wobbles, and it means his highest rating in his career so far, 89, is one higher than his FIFA 17 potential of 88.

8

Philippe Coutinho

Highest Potential: 87, Highest Rating: 88

Back in FIFA 13, Philippe Coutinho, who was at Inter Milan, was impressing everyone as a young and raw, but talented, playmaker. He was tipped for greatness, as highlighted by his potential of 87, and a move to Liverpool allowed him to break into the mainstream spotlight.

At Anfield, he became a fan favourite, famous for his elegance and sophistication in the final third. In truth, the worst decision he ever made came when he moved from Merseyside to Barcelona, with the Brazilian’s career slowly deteriorating after that. However, he still exceeded his potential of 87 by one.

7

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen

Highest Potential: 89, Highest Rating: 90

Just like Donnarumma, Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been an ever-present name when deciding accolades for goalkeepers around the world. The German, despite recent struggles, was an ever-reliable figure for both Barcelona and his country, Germany, and it saw him exceed his FIFA 13 potential of 90.

At the time, he was just 20 years old but already playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach’s first team. A move to Barcelona followed in 2014, and since then he has ‘completed football’. Choosing a reliable goalkeeper in any FIFA/EAFC game was always a struggle. Some simply don’t cut it, but that was rarely an issue for the German. A 90-rated star at one point, Ter Stegen thoroughly impressed.

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6

Eden Hazard

Highest Potential: 90, Highest Rating: 91

Eden Hazard is widely considered to be one of the greatest Premier League players of all time. When FIFA 10 was released, the Belgian was playing for French side Lille, and EA Sports tipped him to become a 90-rated star. It was high expectations for the youngster at the time.

However, he exceeded them. A move to Chelsea in 2012 saw him become one of the best Blues legends ever, as he gave defenders nightmares with his quick and frantic dribbling. His highest FIFA rating was 91, which came as a move to Real Madrid all but ended his career. It could have been so much more if the 15-time Champions League winners helped him adjust to life in La Liga better.

5

Thiago Alcantara

Highest Potential: 86, Highest Rating: 88

Thiago Alcantara retired in 2024, bringing an end to a career which saw him play for three of the biggest clubs in the world — Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Liverpool. At all of them, especially the first two, he shone, dictating the tempo of matches effortlessly and helping transition the ball from defence to attack.

Going back to FIFA 12, the Spaniard, at Barcelona at the time, was given a potential of 86, however – after moving to Germany – he went two steps further and became an 88-rated star. The midfielder was a key cog in the system and, as soon as he was unavailable through injury, it was noticeable. Thiago is considered one of the most underrated players of all time by some for very valid reasons.

4

Toni Kroos

Highest Potential: 88, Highest Rating: 90

Toni Kroos is, without a doubt, one of the best central midfielders of all time. He also retired in 2024, bringing an end to his professional club career in the best way possible, winning the Champions League after beating Dortmund 2-0 at Wembley. Going back 14 years, Kroos was at Bayern Munich and he was tipped to become an 88-rated player.

However, after moving to Real Madrid in 2014, he exceeded those expectations. The German adapted to life in the Spanish capital effortlessly, and he quickly formed a legendary partnership with Luka Modric, a Ballon d’Or winner. Football changed and the pace of the game sped up, but Kroos, despite his age, remained just as effective.

3

Raheem Sterling

Highest Potential: 86, Highest Rating: 89

Raheem Sterling has had a disappointing few years. He moved to Chelsea hoping to become the face of their renaissance, but he was quickly dropped to the reserves. For the 2024/25 campaign, the Englishman is on loan at Arsenal with little success, yet that never used to be the case; he was formerly one of the world’s best wingers.

In FIFA 15, whilst at Liverpool, he was given a potential of 86, which was hardly surprising when he won the Golden Boy award in 2014. He moved to Manchester City at the end of the 2014/15 season, where he became a key cog in the system for Pep Guardiola’s side. EA gave him a rating of 89 eventually, three higher than his potential as a wonderkid.

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2

Thibaut Courtois

Highest Potential: 87, Highest Rating: 90

Thibaut Courtois has had a chaotic career. He signed for Chelsea in 2011 before going straight out on loan to Atletico Madrid for three years. Within that, he was given a potential of 87 in FIFA 13 after impressing in the Spanish capital. Eventually, in 2014, he became Chelsea’s number one.

There was no doubt he was successful, but he eventually wanted to move back to the Spanish capital, although this time to Real Madrid. At the Galacticos, the Belgian was even better, winning countless trophies and becoming famous for producing one of the best goalkeeping performances ever in the 2022 Champions League final against Liverpool. After that almost unbelievable performance, EA rated him at 90, three higher than his potential.

1

Neymar

Highest Potential: 88, Highest Rating: 92

Finally, Neymar takes top spot as the greatest wonderkid to exceed expectations. From a young age, the Brazilian winger was tipped to be one of the best players in the world. His meteoric rise at Santos caught the eye of football fans, as well as the scouts at Barcelona, where he earned himself a £70 million move to the coast.

At Barcelona, he formed one of the best attacks of all time alongside Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi, but he wanted more — he wanted to be the ‘main man’. Therefore, Neymar made a record-breaking move to Paris Saint-Germain in 2017, where he spent three seasons as a 92-rated player. His individual performances were out of this world, but there’s still a feeling that he wasted his career in Ligue 1; they failed to win the Champions League, after all.

Information and research via Betting Lounge (correct as of 10/12/24)