In FIFA, publisher EA likes to adjust the ratings for particularly strong and weak performing players during the so-called Winter Refresh. Which players have earned it and which card will be extremely sick?
Team of the Year in FIFA 22 is currently going strong... but what comes after the biggest FIFA event of the year? Looking at the FUT calendar, the very popular Future Stars promo could be next.
However, February is right around the corner and in the past, publisher EA has always launched another event at this time of the year: Winter Refresh. What is it all about, will the promo also be available in FIFA 22 and which players will get their (un)deserved update?
What Is Winter Refresh In FIFA 22?
The winter transfer window comes to an end and the first half of the season has been played in the major European leagues. For EA, this means updating the squad. In addition to players who have switched clubs during the winter break, the ratings of top performers and maybe poorly performing footballers are also updated.
Usually, most gold cards get a boost of 1 or 2 - sometimes even 3 if a player is so much better than anticipated. Silver objects, on the other hand, can make pretty hefty jumps. But let's see which players can probably look forward to an upgrade.
FIFA 22 - Will These Players Receive An Upgrade?
These players have not only performed in your Weekend League, but have also consistently delivered top performances in real life. The selection of players who deserve a hefty upgrade is definitely easier than with the downgrades. After all, you only have to take a look at the Team of the Week...
| Player | Club | OVR old → new | Reason |
| Mohamed Salah | Liverpool FC | 89 → 90 | Best Player in the Premier League so far |
| Karim Benzema | Real Madrid | 89 → 90 | Scores almost every game |
| Vinicius Jr. | Real Madrid | 80 → 83 | Huge improvement + doubled his market value |
| Dušan Vlahovic | Fiorentina | 78 → 80 | Scores goals like I did when I was 10 |
| Joao Cancelo | Manchester City | 86 → 87 | Best LB in the world? |
| Alphonso Davies | Bayern Munich | 82 → 84 | Strong first halt of the season |
| Patrik Schick | Bayer Leverkusen | 79 → 81 | Performing great since his European Championship Goal |
| Nico Schlotterbeck | SC Freiburg | 72 → 78 (Gold) | Keeps the space tight for Freiburg |
| Gregor Kobel | Borussia Dortmund | 79 → 81 (Gold Rare) | Finally a decent goalkeeper at Dortmund |
| Trevoh Chalobah | Chelsea | 73 → 75 | Came out of nowhere |
| Aaron Ramsdale | Arsenal | 74 → 77 | Benched Bernd Leno and rightly so |
| Christopher Nkunku | RB Leipzig | 81 → 83 | The man with 1,000 Special Cards |
| Florian Wirtz | Bayer Leverkusen | 78 → 80 | Best youngster in Bundesliga? |
| Jude Bellingham | Borussia Dortmund | 79 → 81 | Best youngster in Bundesliga (again)? |
Sandro Tonali | AC Milan | 77 → 80 | Decent season for Milan |
| Lucas Paquetá | Olympique Lyon | 81 → 83 | 7 goals & 3 assists in 19 games |
| Aurélien Tchouaméni | AS Monaco | 79 → 82 | Huge Talent |
| Téji Savanier | Montpellier | 80 → 82 | Already has a lot of Special Cards in FIFA 22 |
| Sebastian Haller | Ajax | 80 → 84 | Champions League is Farmers League |
These Players Should Receive A Downgrade In FIFA 22
Warning: These are only our assessments, which refer to the season so far and the performance of the players. We are aware that EA loves their stars and would never dare to give them a downgrade...
| Player | Club | OVR old → new | Reason |
| Lionel Messi | Paris Saint-Germain | 93 → 92 | So far, worst season of his career... sorry, Leo. |
| Neymar Jr. | Paris Saint-Germain | 91 → 90 | Injured and out of form |
| Jadon Sancho | Manchester United | 87 → 85 | Hype was huge, hasn't delivered yet |
| Marcel Sabitzer | Bayern Munich | 84 → 83 | Injured & played worse than Tolisso |
| Memphis Depay | FC Barcelona | 85 → 84 | Solid start, after that pretty bad |
| Bernd Leno | Arsenal | 83 → 81 | Got benched by Aaron Ramsdale |
| Saúl Ñíguez | Chelsea | 82 → 80 | How many games has he actually played? |
| Donyell Malen | Borussia Dortmund | 80 → 78 | Needs more time to adjust to Bundesliga |
FIFA 22 - Most Important Transfers During Winter
During Winter Refresh, not only the ratings of the players are adjusted depending on their performance, but also their club. In the winter transfer period, there are a lot of changes every year... and luckily, we already have an article about the most important winter transfers for FIFA 22!
We (well, I) are already looking forward to the social media reactions... how dare you, EarlyGame, putting Lionel Messi in the downgrade table? Whether the downgrade is justified or not after the first half of the season, you are welcome to argue on our Discord.
