FIFA 20 covers: Cristiano Ronaldo replaced with two new faces

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Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk will grace the covers of FIFA 20, marking an end to Cristiano Ronaldo’s reign… for now.

It has been a busy week for EA Sports, but also a great one for sports fans. Between the early launch of Madden NFL 20, the launch of NHL 20‘s Open Beta and the arrival of EA Access on PlayStation, there’s a lot going on. Add one more announcement to the list.

On Friday, EA Sports revealed two of the three cover stars for FIFA 20. In a post on Twitter, EA announced that Real Madrid attacker Eden Hazard will grace the cover of the Standard Edition, while Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk will appear on the cover of the Champions Edition. There’s a third Ultimate Edition as well, but EA has not revealed who will be on that cover, so let the speculation begin.

As ESPN noted, this will mark the first time in the previous seven installments of EA’s FIFA that someone other than Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo will appear on the cover. FIFA 17 featured Marco Reus, who was chosen by fan voting over Anthony Martial, Eden Hazard and James Rodriguez.

Hazard moved from Chelsea to Real Madrid this summer with a deal that will run until 2024 and have a total payout around £130 million. He recorded 110 goals and 81 assists in his 352 appearances for Chelsea. Virgil van Dijk, meanwhile, was named the PFA Player of the Year back in April.

https://twitter.com/EASPORTSFIFA/status/1154753285955264512

It’s a bit surprising not seeing either Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo on the cover, but there’s still a chance one of them could appear on the Ultimate Edition, which has still yet to be revealed. However, given the sexual assault case that Ronaldo was involved in, it’s likely that EA wants to steer clear of any potential backlash (even though he will not face charges).

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An interesting candidate for the cover of the FIFA 20 Ultimate Edition could be Megan Rapinoe, star of the U.S. Women’s World Cup team. With the USWNT having won the World Cup in dominant fashion and Rapinoe leading the charge for equal pay and defense of human rights, she is a worthy candidate. But how would the rest of the world react to her?

If not on the cover of the Ultimate Edition, I’d love to see EA release a special cover in the U.S. featuring her or even the entire U.S. Women’s National Team.

FIFA 20 is set to release on September 27 for PS4, Xbox One and PC. You can take a look at the perks that come with all the various editions and pre-order here.