FC 26 Greats of the Game Team 1 — June 19, 6 PM UK Drop: R9, Zidane, Kempes & Rivelino Confirmed

Verdict First: Single Team only — no Team 2 coming. If you've been stockpiling fodder for the Festival's tail end, tomorrow is the moment. No second chance for Kempes or Rivelino.

The Greats of the Game Team 1 promo launches tomorrow (Friday, June 19) at 6 PM UK / 7 PM CET. This time EA has confirmed it: R9, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Cruyff, Henry, and Puskás return in GotG versions, plus two brand-new ICONs making their FC 26 debut — Mario Kempes and Rivelino. And critically: no Team 2 announced. The entire Festival fodder window collapses into this week.

Exact Schedule

The 8 Confirmed Team 1 Legends

Here's who's locked in for tomorrow. Exact ratings and PlayStyles+ will be visible in-game at launch — we don't quote numbers until the cards are live.

How Will Each ICON Be Obtained?

For FC 26, a multi-ICON release typically splits across 3 acquisition paths, and each card follows only one of them: Pack release (open packs with coins + luck), SBC (build squads with fodder), Objective (complete in-game challenges).

Disclaimer: the split below is based on community leaks (Operation Sports, FutPoliceLeaks, FutSheriff) and historical patterns of Greats of the Game promos. EA confirms officially on June 19 at 6 PM UK — we'll update this guide after the drop.

What this means for you

Good news: the two most-anticipated ICONs (Kempes and Rivelino, first-ever FUT appearances) will likely be guaranteed via SBC or objective — no pack luck needed. You know ahead of time that if you finish the SBC or complete the objective, you have them at 100%.

The flip side of SBCs: based on historical patterns (FC24 / FC25), GotG ICON SBCs typically span 20+ steps across the week — high-rated fodder (usually 84+), themed squads (likely World Cup '78-coded given the promo theme), specific nation/league hybrids, forced chemistry. Without a fodder stash prepped in advance, it's easily a full evening lost in the SBC menu between player searches and chemistry math. The exact Kempes / Rivelino SBC structure will be known on June 19 at 6 PM UK — we'll update this paragraph with the real costs.

For those who'd rather skip the grind, the itemd2r SBC service is generally live 1–2h after the EA drop — we handle the full build (fodder, hybrids, chemistry) and you collect Kempes or Rivelino directly, without ever opening the SBC menu.

What to prep now: the 6 marquee ICONs (R9, Ronaldinho, Zidane, Cruyff, Henry, Puskás) will be accessible via packs — which is actually good news, because you have two ways to land them: open packs (the luck route, free if you've already got pack fodder banked), or buy directly off the transfer market with coins (the 100% guaranteed route). On the market, budget 1M–3M coins for Ronaldinho, Cruyff, Henry, and Puskás, and 5M+ coins for the most-wanted ones like R9 and Zidane (leak estimates skew low — historically GotG marquee ICONs blow past those numbers by 2–3× in the first 48 hours).

Pro tip: prep your coin stack before the June 19 6 PM UK drop. Coin delivery typically takes several hours up to a dozen depending on volume — if you order after launch, you miss the first window where market prices are lowest (the price spike usually peaks between H+2 and H+24). Pre-order your coins now on itemd2r FC 26 Coins to be ready the moment packs open.

Update incoming on June 19, 6:01 PM UK: we'll pull EA's official breakdown and replace this prediction table with the confirmed paths + real SBC costs + objective structure.

Why Single Team Changes Everything

Usually, a Festival promo runs two teams to stretch the window across two weeks. GotG is explicitly a single team — so:

• No second chance. If you miss Kempes or Rivelino this week, they're not coming back until a possible end-of-cycle re-release.
• The acquisition window collapses to 7 days. Whether the path is pack, SBC, or objective, everything happens between June 19 and June 26.
• The new ICONs (Kempes, Rivelino) get their first and only appearance this season. "Novelty" effect + World Cup '78 theme guarantees high demand from hour one.

Conclusion

GotG Team 1 is the Festival of Football's last window. Single Team = single chance. The concrete strategy (coins vs fodder vs objectives) hinges on EA's breakdown dropping tomorrow 6 PM UK. We'll be back with an updated guide the moment all 8 acquisition paths are confirmed. Hard deadline: June 26.