FIFA 23 Team of The Group Stage Predictions
Hello and welcome to something different. It’s Team Of The Group Stage Predictions for UCLUL and Conference League. I’ve been doing this stuff yearly and I think (when article will be released) – will be perfect time for that.
As a disclaimer, I’ll say that I’m writing this article right after 5th match day, so after 6th matchday something might change, but I doubt that a lot will change.
Also, last year we saw something different – we saw unusual upgrades for this promo, so I’m keeping this theme and giving most of the cards random upgrades, let’s see how it works out.
On a bright side – this should be very good promo, as per usual, a lot of good performers and performances, some meta cards, some just OP cards and some hidden gems should come out.
Most of you watched UCL, so most of the names won’t be surprising to you, but still need to say that I really struggled with defenders and midfielders. Also, I struggled with picking 1 player per team, when in reality that team deserved more than 1 player. Overall I tried to be reasonable and chosen mostly 1 card per club, except 1 team. I included 2 players from Napoli, as I felt like, despite Khvicha being silver he deserved a shout out for his amazing performances and also Raspadori had a very nice group stage. Overall, Napoli, having won 5 out of 5, deserves more cards, but spaces aren’t unlimited and need to give as much representation as possible.
For goalkeepers I’ve chosen 2 GKs from the same group, funnily enough. I doubt many people expected Brugge and Porto secure knockouts in a group with Bayer and Atletico, but here we are. Diogo Costa saved 3 pens in 3 games and secured spot for Porto and Mignolet didn’t concede until 5th game in group.
So yeah, I’ll give you a list, probably need to explain last section: 3 choices for Silver Stars. KhvichaMudryk and Kouame. Mudryk is very good player, hard to include him, unless he magically gets 2nd place in group, but yeah, it’s possibility.
Starting 11:
GK: Diogo Costa (Porto) – 3 pen saves, 2nd place in group
CB: Mohamed Simakan (RB Leipzig) – 1 goal, 2 assists, 2nd place in group
CB: Thiago Silva (Chelsea) – 2 clean sheets, 1st place in group
CB: Alessandro Bastoni (Inter) – 2 assists, 2 clean sheets, 2nd place in group
LB: Joao Cancelo (Man City) – 3 assists and 2 clean sheets, 1st place in group
CAM: Rafa (Benfica) – 3 goals, 2nd place in group
CAM: Leroy Sane (Bayern) – 4 goals and 1 assist, 1st place in group
CM: Jude Bellingham (BVB) – 4 goals, 2nd place in group
LW: Vinicius Jr. (Real Madrid) – 3 goals and 1 assist, 1st place in group
ST: Kylian Mbappe (PSG) – 6 goals and 2 assists, 1st place in group
ST: Diogo Jota (Liverpool) – 4 goals, 2nd place in group
Subs:
GK: Simon Mignolet (Brugge) – 4 CS, 1st place in group
CB: Rob Holding (Arsenal) – 1 goal and 3 cs, 1st place in group
CB: Matthias Ginter (Freibrurg) – 1 goal, 3 cs, 1st place in group
CM: Teddy Teuma (RUSG) – 2 goals and 3 assists, 1st place in group
LM: Jose Morales (Villarreal) – 4 goals and 2 assists, 1st place in group
ST: Giacomo Raspadori (Napoli) – 4 goals and 2 assists, 1st place in group
LW: Cody Gakpo (PSV) – 3 goals and 2 assists, 2nd place in group
Reserves:
LW: Khvicha Kvaratskhelia (Napoli) – 74>74 – 2 goals and 3 assists, 1st place in group
LM: Mykhailo Mudryk (Shakhtar) – 74>74 – 3 goals and 2 assists, 3rd place in group
ST: Christian Kouame (Fiorentina) – 74>74 – 1 goal and 4 assists, 2nd place in group
