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FC 24 career mode details and deep dive

EA Sports FC 24 career mode brings back manager and player careers, with new ways to lead your club and challenge for the biggest trophies.

Screenshot of Vinicius Jr scoring a goal for FC 24 career mode guide

FC 24 career mode is one of the most in-depth ways to play EA’s soccer simulator, handing you the difficult job of managing a team under several expectations from the board. In this guide, we’ve got all the details on what’s new in this year’s version of the fan-favorite game mode, as well as a few tips on how to get started.

So head downstairs article-wise to get caught up on all the new additions and prepare for kick-off. Soccer tactics are a bit like when you play chess, so you’re going to want to learn the difference between a gegenpress and parking the bus if you want a career as illustrious as that of Pep Guardiola or Jurgen Klopp.

What is FC 24’s career mode?

FC 24’s career mode is the core single-player experience in the game, where you lead a team to victory as either a manager or a player. To do this, you’re going to want to grab as many FC 24 wonderkids to support your team’s future and keep a keen eye on EA FC ratings to find the best of the best.

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What is FC 24’s manager career mode?

FC 24’s manager career mode lets you control almost all the facets of a club, from training regimes to recruitment. It’s not as in-depth as something like Football Manager, but it’s still much more sophisticated than the early FIFA games. You also get to take control of your team with each game, so you can control the style of play and pace of the game.

What is FC 24’s player career mode?

In a player career, FC 24 career mode lets you live your dream of becoming a professional soccer star. You start by customizing your player, where you can design them to look like you or invent a character you’re going to roleplay. You also choose your position and style of play, before diving into matches. You can play as that single character in a game or take control of the full squad if you need a bit more to do.

FC 24 career mode header showing a man in a suit and bow tie against a gold background. They have shaved hair.

What’s new in FC 24’s career mode?

There are some new additions to FC 24 career mode, bringing some changes to both the manager and player career options.

What’s new in FC 24’s manager career mode?

FC 24 brings a new Total Management system to manager mode, which combines tactics and coaching into one system. There are also some match preparation adjustments, new cinematics, and other cosmetic changes.

FC 24’s career mode lets you, as manager, become involved in various club decisions. The new Tactical Vision system lets you control the way your team approaches a game. There are seven different tactical philosophies to choose from:

  • Standard: A balanced approach to the game, focused on maintaining a shape that will help you stay strong defensively while still offering a threat going forward
  • Wing Play: Makes use of the full width of the pitch when in possession, getting the ball out to attacking players close to the touchlines quickly and using overlapping full-backs to add to the threat from those areas
  • Tiki-Taka: A possession-based style of play. Comfortable on the ball all over the pitch, your players use short passing and rotations while waiting for opportunities to play in attackers who’ve run into channels or gaps between opposition defenders.
  • Counter-Attack: Low-risk and a low block are the key to this style of play. Players defend the penalty area and then, once possession is regained, get the ball forward quickly with attackers ready to run into space behind the opponents’ defensive line.
  • Gegenpressing: This strategy is based around a high press. Your team tries to win back the ball in the opponent’s third, wherever possible, using turnovers to create goal-scoring opportunities before the opposition can settle back into shape.
  • Kick & Rush: A style of play built around strength and athleticism enables your players to often bypass the midfield, getting the ball forward quickly to your powerful strikers who can exploit space behind defenders and battle for second balls and knockdowns.
  • Park the Bus: Your team bases its game around solid, uncompromising defending. You’re always disciplined and well-organized out of possession, usually employing a very low block, throttling opponents’ attacks before winning the ball and trying to get forward yourselves.

You can also create a custom setup, where you can adjust individual players, to further fine-tune everything. Within each of the prescribed options above, you have some customization, but you can’t change absolutely everything – it wouldn’t make sense to have a counter-attacking philosophy without forward runs as a focus for chance creation, for example.

Tactical vision now also affects scouting, allowing you to search for players that will fit into your team’s style of play. As before, you can also search by age, position, and other filters, though this year there’s a tactical fit filter, overall condition filter, and playstyle filter – all three allowing you to further fine-tune your hunt for the next superstar.

Meanwhile, coaching plays a bigger part in FC 24 career mode. You can hire coaches for each section of the team – attack, midfield, defense, and goalkeeping – who will then help those sections improve. Coaches focus on tactical improvements as well as player development.

A coach can have varying tactical knowledge novice, accomplished, or expert – with some applying this tactical skill specifically to one tactical vision. For example, one coach may be an expert at the gegenpressing tactical vision, but a novice at all the others. Coaches can be trained to improve their skills in each department – and the more matches they play, the more XP they gain. Depending on the coach’s skill set, certain player attributes can improve, too.

Alongside all this, there’s also player development, where coaches can make development plans to improve specific players. You can also hire and fire coaches to build out the perfect backroom staff lineup as you climb the ranks and vie for promotion.

There’s quite a bit more in FC 24’s manager mode, with match day preparation and training, a new tactical view that lets you watch a simulated match, and a bunch more cosmetic options to design your manager avatar. There are also new cinematics for the Ballon d’Or awards, an open-top bus victory parade, and manage and player of the year award ceremonies.

FC 24 career mode header showing two people, one in a suit with both arms aloft, another in a football kit with one arm aloft.

What’s new in FC 24’s player career mode?

FC 24’s career mode adds new player agents, playstyles, and a bunch of other stuff so that when you’re in a player career, you have even more of a chance to customize your character and their aims.

Player agents let you have more control over contracts and transfers. These NPCs negotiate with clubs for you, with end-of-season evaluations from your current club to assess how likely you are to stay with the team, or how much of a chance you have of heading to a target team.

A target team is the club that you want to move to next. There are different objectives to complete to get the club interested in your talents, and the agent is there to tell you if you’re aiming too high. You’re not going to jump from Notts County to the Chelsea first team, buddy.

Your agent can also give you recommendations, like a new club to head to or your performance throughout a season. They’re there to help you understand your wage potential, a team’s tactical vision, and all manner of other aspects crucial to your career. Clubs also give you objectives, whether it’s to continue your current contract or sign up with a new team. Some are mandatory, while others are optional.

There’s a lot more to agents, of course, with the chance to set a weekly wage expectation, head out on loan, or end up as a free agent. You’ll want to stay on top of your career, performance, and goals to reach the heady heights of the big leagues.

To further customize your career, you can also pick between personality traits; maverick, heartbeat, and virtuoso. These then allow you to pick a playstyle that changes how you behave on the pitch. Not all playstyles are available to every personality, so choose wisely.

Can I continue a save from FC 24 career mode to FC 25 career mode?

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to transfer your progress in FC 24 career mode over to the 2025 installment of EA’s soccer simulator. While you can carry over FC points and your Ultimate Team profile, that’s as far as it goes. So, you’ll have to start a new career mode when FC 25 arrives.

There you have it, all you need to know about EA FC 24 career mode. If you’re looking for a soccer simulator with an anime twist, check out our Blue Lock PWC codes guide and Blue Lock PWC tier list.