EA Sports FC 26: FUTTIES closes on August 21 — what to do with your coins before FC 27

It's the time of year that Ultimate Team regulars know by heart and that newcomers discover too late: FUTTIES ends on Friday, August 21, 2026 at 7:00 PM Paris time, on its Team 4. Right after, Pre-Season kicks off, the final campaign of the cycle.

And behind this transition lies the question that will determine the real value of your season: what to do with your coins? Because the default answer — keeping them — is the worst of all.

The rule that changes everything: what carries over to FC 27, and what doesn't

A reminder of how it works, because it's consistent from one edition to the next and is regularly misunderstood:

• Your coins are not transferred. The balance stays on FC 26. You'll start FC 27 from zero.
• Neither is your club. Players, consumables, items: none of it carries over.
• FC Points, on the other hand, are transferred. It's the only currency that survives the edition change.

The consequence is brutal and final: a million unspent coins at the moment of the switch is a million coins lost. Hoarding "for the next game" makes no sense. The only decision that matters is when to spend, not whether.

The end-of-cycle schedule

• August 21, 7:00 PM (Paris) — end of FUTTIES, on Team 4. Since the cycle started later than usual, the campaign wraps up a notch earlier than its traditional five weeks.
• August 21 — launch of Pre-Season.
• Around September 10 — last brand-new daily content. After this date, no more new SBCs, no more new objectives, no more new promos. Servers stay open for playing and trading.
• Mid to late September — release of FC 27.

Pre-Season: it's not a card promo, it's an investment

You need to approach Pre-Season with the right expectations. This isn't a campaign for exceptional cards: it's a campaign of objectives and SBCs whose rewards are packs to be opened in FC 27.

That's precisely what makes it the best possible use of your end-of-cycle resources. The coins and fodder invested in Pre-Season are the only ones that still generate value after the switchover. Historically, these carryover packs represent the equivalent of several tens of thousands of coins on day one of the new game, when the market is at its peak and even a decent card sells for a lot.

In concrete terms: save some fodder for Pre-Season. Don't empty your entire club into next week's FUTTIES SBCs.

The nine days ahead: order of priority

You have until August 21st for the FUTTIES part, then until early September for the rest. Here's how to prioritize.

1. Finish the short-deadline SBCs. The FUTTIES token swap challenges and dated objectives are the first to close. They're also the ones that cost fodder: doing them early avoids having to buy back cards at inflated prices in the final hours — an absolute classic at the end of every promo.

2. Build the team you could never afford. This is the time of year when icons and exceptional cards cost the least, because demand collapses as the end approaches. If you wanted to play with a dream lineup, the window is open now, and it won't reopen.

3. Finish your last competitive rounds. Division Rivals and Champions rewards keep coming, and they feed directly into the Pre-Season SBCs. A strengthened squad at low cost also means a better rank, and therefore better rewards.

4. Open the packs you've been saving. Many players hold on to packs "for later". There is no more later. An unopened pack on the day of the switch is a lost pack.

5. Set aside a budget for Pre-Season. The only spending item that holds value beyond August 21st.

The most common mistake: waiting until the last day

Every year, the end-of-cycle market follows the same curve. The prices of fodder cards — the 83, 84, 85 ratings needed for SBCs — go up as deadlines approach, because everyone is buying at the same time. Conversely, big attacking cards crash, because no one is building a squad to last anymore.

The resulting strategy is simple: buy your fodder now, buy your star cards as late as possible. Over nine days, the gap can easily add up to hundreds of thousands of coins for an active club.

What if you don't plan on getting FC 27?

The logic is completely reversed. Without a switch to prepare for, Pre-Season loses all its appeal — its rewards are only useful on the next edition. In that case, spend everything before FUTTIES ends, focusing on immediate enjoyment: the starting XI you always wanted, the cards you never tried, the modes you wanted to test out with a decent squad.

FC 26 servers will remain accessible after September 10th: it will still be possible to play. It's just that nothing new will arrive anymore.

The recap

• Today through August 20th: finish off the SBCs and FUTTIES objectives, buy fodder while it's still affordable;
• August 21st, 7:00 PM: end of FUTTIES, start of Pre-Season;
• August 21st through September 10th: invest in Pre-Season, the only spending that survives the switch;
• Before FC 27 launches: coin balance at zero, all packs opened, FC Points kept.