EA FC 26 received a new SBC (Squad Building Challenge) in early January 2026, featuring a special version of Franz Beckenbauer. EA Sports released the challenge that offers the "Thunderstruck Icon" card of the legendary German, with a rating of 93, within the Ultimate Team mode. This release serves as a warm-up for the major Team of the Year (TOTY) promotion, which is about to begin. Thus, players looking to bolster their defense or midfield with a historic icon can already start working towards the requirements.
However, completing all segments of this SBC comes at a steep price, hovering around 1.5 million in-game coins. Although the card represents a significant upgrade over Beckenbauer's base version, with superior PlayStyles and elite stats for playing as both a center-back and a defensive midfielder, experts are already questioning its cost-effectiveness. With TOTY arriving soon, investing a virtual fortune now might not be the smartest strategy for most players.
SBC Requirements and Strategy
To obtain the German icon, players need to assemble a series of specific squads, in a process similar to the recent Gareth Bale challenge. The good news is that EA did not require the use of Team of the Week (TOTW) cards in this SBC, which makes planning with players already in your club a bit easier. On the other hand, the estimated total cost remains very high, demanding a significant investment of resources or a lot of time in the transfer market.
Therefore, the question for the EA FC 26 community is: is this investment worth it? Considering that Team of the Year cards, expected in the coming weeks, are traditionally some of the strongest of the entire season, many players may prefer to save their coins. Thus, the final decision largely depends on each player's virtual budget and their specific passion for the legendary "Kaiser."