The Frenchman will be on the cover once again after previously serving as the face of the game’s most recent release
Paris Saint-Germain star Kylian Mbappe will once again serve as the cover athlete for the latest iteration of EA Sports’ FIFA series.
Mbappe will be on the cover of FIFA 22 when the game is released later this year, having previously been on the cover of FIFA 21.
His selection makes him the first player to repeat as a cover athlete since Cristiano Ronaldo, who fronted both FIFA 18 and FIFA 19.
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History of FIFA cover athletes
Mbappe made his cover debut in FIFA 21, succeeding the likes of Virgil van Dijk and Eden Hazard on the cover of EA’s annual game.
Prior to that, Marco Reus’ FIFA 17 selection came in between periods of Lionel Messi and Ronaldo dominance, with Messi serving as cover athlete of FIFA 13 to FIFA 16, sharing the honours on FIFA 15 with Hazard.
Wayne Rooney has also had a sustained period of dominance when it comes to the FIFA cover, sharing the honours every year from FIFA 06-12 on the worldwide editions.
Kylian Mbappe’s season
Mbappe’s return to the cover comes after a fairly difficult season for the young French star, at least when it comes to team successes.
PSG fell just short in the Ligue 1 title race, where they were beaten in the race for glory by Lille’s shocking run to the top of the table.
Individually, though, Mbappe shone, scoring 27 goals in 31 games in Ligue 1, finding the back of the net 42 times in total across all competitions.
France, meanwhile, also fell short of expectations at Euro 2020 this summer, with Mbappe failing to score before Les Bleus were knocked in the last 16 out at the hands of Switzerland.
It was Mbappe that missed the crucial penalty in the shootout, dooming the 2018 World Cup winners to elimination.
