Assessing the Indian national team in FIFA 19

The Blue Tigers once again find themselves featured in the latest version of the highly-popular game.

In order to milk the massive gaming community in India and the huge fan following towards the FIFA games, EA first introduced the Indian national team back in 2012 with the release of FIFA 13. It was the first time any Indian gamer had the chance to select their domestic team and players as playable characters. Finally, the Indian fan-base could have Sunil Chhetri or Jeje Lalpekhlua under their control and score against the best teams of the world.

In what was a recognition of Indian fan-base and their passion for gaming and football, EA also received many complaints and cases of dissatisfaction. Having genuine licenses and vivid real-life likeness of the players is FIFA’s best selling point. Much to the disappointment of Indian fans, the avatar of Indian players and their official kits were only stock templates used across in FIFA for lesser-known players or clubs.

With the introduction of FIFA 19 on platforms such as PS4, Xbox and PC by Electronic Arts back in September, 2018, Indian national football team is making it's sixth feature on the run. Has the representation and portrayal of India seen an improvement? We assess…

Overall Ratings

India is the lowest ranked International team in the game, with only one star rating out of five. Although this has been a consistent representation. Since India is still not a very strong team, having said that, considering India’s forward leap in rankings and the recent 13-match unbeaten run, an improvement in the star rating was anticipated by many fans.

Official Kits

Yet again, Indian national football team does not have it's recognised official kit. Instead, a stock template of blue & orange colored kit for home & away has been emplaced.

Team Stats & Strategy

Unsurprisingly, the stats of the Indian team are mediocre at best, with attack as 62, midfield as 60 and defense as 60. It gets mighty difficult to play on a harder AI difficulty, but it’s a rather accurate representation to be fair.

The team, by default, is set up balanced in both attack and defense with their attacking style set at "long balls".

Player Likeness

Indian fan-base had expressed its disappointment when the player did not have authentic real-life avatars. Perhaps the developers at EA did not pay heed to the fans and yet again only included three out of 23 Indian players with real-life avatars, namely Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. It looks like Indian fans will have to continue to push EA to include more updated players faces through a patch or an overall face update that takes place on frequent occasions.

Indian team setup in FIFA 19

Lineup and Player Ratings

Here is the list of players included in the Indian national team for FIFA 19 along with their overall ratings:

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (63), Amrinder Singh (58), Vishal Kath (55)

Defenders: Sandesh Jhingan (65), Anas Edathodika (62), Arnab Mondal (57), Salam Ranjan Singh (59), Narayan Das (60), Pritam kotal (61), Subhasish Bose (58), Jerry Lalrinzvala (56)

Midfielders

Udanta Singh (60), Pronay Halder (61), Anirudh Thapa (59), Holicharan Narzary (60), Rowlin Borges (58), Mohammed Rafique (58)

Forwards

Jeje Lalpekhlua (63), Sunil Chhetri (67), Balwant Singh (58), Lalrindika Ralte (61), Ashique Kuruniyan (56), Robin SIngh (59)

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It can be observed that Sunil Chhetri is the highest rated player in the squad with 67 overall points. The side is captained by the Kerela Blasters defender, Sandesh Jhingan.

Rest of the players across the board could have had better ratings considering their current form. Credit where due though, the physical attributes of all the players are better and more accurate compared to previous editions, given India’s improved fitness levels and athleticism in real life football.

As far as potential is concerned, youngsters like Kuruniyan and Lalrinzuala develop the most if used in career mode, reaching a rating of 65 or more.

Despite the focus on including India in the game, having facial-similarities between the players in-game and their real-life counterparts remains an unsolved issue. The overall rating of the team and the players can be expected to rise given India continues to reach new heights in the real world.

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FIFA 19 is the one place where an Indian football fan can take any Indian player to UEFA Champions League by signing them in the Career Mode. The gaming community in India is massive and it can be even more profitable for EA if they put extra effort in presenting more accurate portrayal of Indian football.

Could the Indian Super League clubs feature in future editions of the game? Upcoming AFC Cup in 2019 and improved continental performance by the domestic clubs can be detrimental in having a wider representation of Indian football in future editions of FIFA games.