*UPDATED* FIFA 22 Icons: You Could Pack Park Ji-sung?!

Every new FIFA brings a batch of new FUT icons and we’re expecting FIFA 22 to be no different. And we’ve got the inside story on some of the new cards that might be added to the next edition. EA has recently added a selection of retired players to FIFA Online 4 and we think it’s a pretty good clue that they’ll show up in FIFA 22.
But first, what is FIFA Online 4?! Well, it turns out it’s a hugely popular free-to-play game in South Korea and South East Asia – evidently not as popular as Korean BBQ because we’ve never heard of it before! The game is exclusive to PC and seems like it is a hybrid of Ultimate Team and Career Mode.
Here’s the full list:
*Not a leak* Just some information.
— KingLangpard (@KingLangpard) June 20, 2021
The following icons have been added to FIFA online 4:
-Gabriel Batistuta
-Robin Van Persie
-Lucio
-Park Ji Sung
-Jaap Stam
-Cha Bum-kun
-Diego Forlan
-Wesley Sneidjer
-Iker Casillas
Could be possible we see some of these in FIFA 22 https://t.co/GDMG0vjWtv
Batistuta
We start off the list with a top class Argentine striker. During the peak of his career with Fiorentina, he was Serie A’s top scorer with 26 goals and won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italia. He also went on to win a league title with Roma in a season that he bagged 20 times.
Gabriel Batistuta with a belter against Manchester United! pic.twitter.com/1OrYmz9qXK
— 90s Football (@90sfootball) September 10, 2018
Batistuta, more affectionately known as ‘Batigol’ (it sounds even better when screamed by Italian commentators), also had a dazzling international career. He was Argentina’s record goalscorer with 54 goals from 77 games – a record that has only been broken by the superhuman Lionel Messi.
We think Batistuta more than deserves a place on the FIFA 22 Icon list!
Park Ji Sung
Here’s where the list starts to get a little sketchy. Yes, Park played for Manchester United 134 times during their heyday, but does that make him Icon material – you wouldn’t make Wes Brown an Icon, would you? In those 134 appearances, he only managed 19 goals – far from record breaking for an attacking midfielder.
What an assist from Park Ji-sung 😍pic.twitter.com/KenvGhqM2R
— Goal (@goal) May 20, 2020
We think that Park Ji Sung has been added to FIFA Online 4 due to his popularity in South Korea and although he was a quality player, we don’t expect him to become a FIFA 22 Icon any time soon.
Cha Bum-kun
Now we know what you might be thinking: Who? But before you dismiss this one altogether let’s take a quick look at the playing career of this South Korean. He is regarded as one of Asia’s greatest football players and earned himself the nickname ‘Cha Boom’ in Germany because of his thunderous strikes!
Day 15: Before Son Heung-Min, it was Park Ji-Sung and before Park Ji-Sung, it was Cha Bum-Kun (차범근). Known better as "Cha Boom" in Europe, Cha Bum-Kun is one of the biggest legends in Asian football. Let's marvel together at some of his most thunderous strikes and goals. pic.twitter.com/2cAvwpdGXO
— Tavern of the Taegeuk Warriors (@taegeuktavern) April 3, 2020
He played for Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer Leverkusen, scoring 121 goals between the clubs and winning the UEFA cup with each team, which makes him a player of quality.
Cha Bum-kun is clearly well revered on his native continent, but we think that the true Icons are household names all over the world – unfortunately, ‘Cha Boom’ is not.
Iker Casillas
Probably the most deserving name on the list – Iker Casillas. Ask any football fan and they’ll say he’s one of the best goalkeepers of all time. He’s one of the few footballers to have played over 1000 professional matches and in that time he kept 439 clean sheets.
He holds the clean sheet records for the Champions League and the Spanish national team and he broke the record for consecutive seasons played in the Champions League (20)! He also delivered one of the iconic World Cup moments during an interview with his then-girlfriend (and future wife) Sara Carbanero after winning the tournament. Enough to bring a tear to your eye.
🧤 Thread: memorable Iker Casillas saves for Real Madrid…
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) January 22, 2021
1⃣ @IkerCasillas produced an incredible individual performance at Anfield back in 2009, including this stop to deny Fernando @Torres 💪#UCL | @realmadriden pic.twitter.com/r2YL5W45RQ
Iker Casillas is a no-brainer on this list and we expect him to become a FIFA Icon sooner rather than later!
Latest Confirmed Icons
🚨BREAKING: Another 2 New Confirmed Icons coming to #FIFA22 According to @fifautita @discovery_fut 🇩🇪🇧🇷(Rating and Stats are NOT official) pic.twitter.com/L1Y8TYnFMM
— Sahil (@Criminal__x) July 6, 2021
According to reputable Twitter accounts, the latest players who are rumoured to have Icon cards in FIFA 22 are:
- Mario Gómez: with a career spanning 17 years, 7 professional clubs and his country, Gómez made a name for himself as one of Germany’s most prestigious goal scorers. In 534 games he scored 262 goals – its easy to see why he will be receiving an Icon!
- Luís Fabiano: another striker, the Brazilian was ranked as his country’s second highest top-scorer of the 21st century after scoring 242 goals across his career, however, his Icon card will no doubt have terrible composure seeing as he collected 12 red cards over his career – not bad for a striker!
This is what
we play for.
Play your favourite video games
for real money and prizes.

