FIFA 23 Squad Battles, from start time to rewards, objectives and best tactics explained
One of the most reliable ways to earn valuable packs.
FIFA 23 Squad Battles is a consistent source of packs and the best way to earn extra rewards at the start of the Ultimate Team cycle. It is also the only way to complete a number of in-game objectives for certain players and tokens.
In this guide, we break down exactly how Squad Battles works in FIFA 23, including the best Squad Battles tactics, and the kind of Squad Battles rewards you can expect to collect by participating. We’ve also highlighted a bunch of evergreen Squad Battles objectives that you can complete for even more bonus packs.
Squad Battles can become tedious, and you will probably spend less time with it as the weeks roll on, but it is always a good way to earn extra packs, and some of those objectives should not be missed. Think of Squad Battles as the FIFA 23 equivalent of eating your greens, except, y’know, actually do it in this case.
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If you’re interested in Ultimate Team, we have pages on best starter teams, Milestone rewards, FUT Champions and FUT Coins and trading.
FIFA 23 Squad Battles start time
Squad Battles has been around for many years now, and in FIFA 23 it works much the same way as usual, although there are a few minor changes to rewards.
Squad Battles refreshes every Sunday at 08:00 UTC which aligns with the following times:
- UK - 9am (BST)
- Europe - 10am (CEST)
- East Coast US - 4am (EDT)
- West Coast US - 1am (PDT)
You then have a week to play up to 40 matches against AI opponents to earn Squad Battles points. The more points you finish with, the better your rewards. Then when the next Sunday rolls around, you can access rewards (coins and packs) based on your finishing position.
How FIFA 23 Squad Battles works
However, those reward thresholds are a movable feast, based on the average number of points earned by the whole of the FIFA player population. So if you get in there quickly and complete a bunch of games to hit Gold 1, you may find you have slipped back to Gold 3 by the middle of the week when other players catch up.
You can improve your chances of hanging onto higher ranks by increasing the difficulty of your AI opposition. Each match lets you set the difficulty from Beginner all the way up to Ultimate, and the bonus for winning on higher difficulties can be huge.
Your 40 weekly matches are broken down into groups of four at a time. Each group of four includes squads of escalating quality, from low-chemistry bronze sides to full-chemistry teams full of top players. There is a big difference between playing bronze part-timers on Legendary and coming up against elite international players on Legendary, so it pays to take a look at each prospective opponent before committing.
In addition to those 40 matches, you can also play against a squad chosen by a celebrity (available with the Sunday refresh) and a squad based on the current Team of the Week (added on Wednesday). These matches give out more points than usual on lower difficulties, so make sure to prioritise them.
FIFA 23 Squad Battles rewards
Squad Battles gives out a mixture of coins and tradeable packs based on where you finish.
Now that FIFA 23 is available to Ultimate Edition owners, we know exactly what players will be able to unlock at each reward tier. EA has decided to remove the individual 'Top 200' reward tiers and consolidate those previously stratified rewards into a single 'Top 200' pot, which offers the best rewards it is possible to earn in FIFA 23 Squad Battles.
Here is a complete rundown of reward tiers in FIFA 23 Squad Battles:
- Bronze 3 - Premium Loan Player Reward Pack
- Bronze 2 - Gold Pack
- Bronze 1 - 500 coins, 2x Gold Pack
- Silver 3 - 1,000 coins, Premium Gold Pack, Gold Pack
- Silver 2 - 2,000 coins, 2x Premium Gold Pack, Gold Pack
- Silver 1 - 4,000 coins, 2x Jumbo Premium Gold Pack
- Gold 3 - 5,000 coins, Jumbo Premium Gold Pack, Prime Mixed Players Pack
- Gold 2 - 6,000 coins, Jumbo Premium Gold Pack, Prime Mixed Players Pack
- Gold 1 - 8,000 coins, Prime Electrum Players Pack, Prime Mixed Players Pack, Jumbo Premium Gold Pack
- Elite 3 - 8,000 coins, 2x Rare Electrum Players Pack, Prime Mixed Players Pack
- Elite 2 - 14,000 coins, 2x Rare Electrum Players Pack, Premium Gold Players Pack
- Elite 1 - 26,000 coins, 2x Rare Players Pack
- Top 200 - 65,000 coins, Rare Players Pack, 2x Mega Pack
It is also worth noting that EA changed Squad Battles rewards during the Team of the Season in-game event last cycle (late April through early June), adding TOTS cards to the reward pool for dedicated players. Whether that will happen again remains to be seen, but it may be worth preserving a little Squad Battle stamina for those later months just in case.
FIFA 23 Squad Battles tactics
Gameplay may evolve from year to year, but beating AI opponents in Squad Battles follows consistent patterns. In short, they are vulnerable to breakaways, and if you can start the match fast with a few goals, they are unlikely to mount a comeback.
You can also take advantage of kickoff to catch the AI napping. Sprint diagonally through their midfield and you can often make your way past most of the team before they react. At the very least, you can fashion a chance that can draw a save and earn you a corner.
Corners at your end of the pitch can also be a great goalscoring opportunity – for you. As in previous years, feeding the ball to a fast winger or attacker will give you a lot of space to run into, and opposing defenders will struggle to make up ground in time to prevent a shot.
The best piece of advice we can give though is to find a co-op buddy to play alongside. Squad Battles supports two-player co-op, both of you will receive reward points and progress towards any objectives, and it is a lot easier to pull defences apart and exploit space with a human team-mate. Plus, it’s nice to have someone to chat to while you’re running down the clock at the end of a 5-0 pasting.
It can also be good practice to quit out of games if you are not making progress. We tend to play Squad Battles on Legendary difficulty, and if we are not firmly on top by 20 in-game minutes, we often quit and move onto the next match. The AI will really grind you down in a close match, which can affect your performance in the next one, so just give up and go again. You will earn more points by winning every other match on Legendary than you will by grinding out every match on Semi-Pro.
This is not a good strategy if you plan to complete all 40 matches, because quitting out uses up one of the 40. But if you don’t have time to do them all anyway, then it’s worth considering.
FIFA 23 Squad Battles objectives
There are several types of objectives to complete in FIFA 23, but the most critical ones for Squad Battles are the time-limited ones found in the main 'Objectives' menu and a range of evergreen ones tucked away in 'Milestones'.
New objectives are added multiple times per week, so it is always worth checking out the objectives section before you begin playing Squad Battles. There are usually gameplay tasks to complete in the weekly Bronze, Silver and Gold objective tiers, which contribute to your Season Progress and provide access to battle pass-style rewards. There may also be players, packs, picks or swap tokens to unlock for completing other objectives.
For example, last year there were Bronze Squad and Silver Squad objective groups, where players could earn extra packs by completing gameplay tasks with bronze and silver teams. By playing on low difficulty in Squad Battles, it was possible to score literally dozens of goals in the space of one or two matches, quickly earning the rewards and adding a few points to the weekly Squad Battles total in the process.
FIFA 23 will undoubtedly feature more of these Milestone objective groups, and many of them can be completed in parallel, so if you are looking for extra packs or things to grind in the opening weeks of the cycle, this is a good place to keep an eye on.
If you’re just getting started in FIFA 23, check out our Ultimate Team best starter teams page. You can improve your team by trading and spending FUT Coins - some of which can be earned by completing Milestone Objectives. It’s also a good idea to learn how Squad Battles and Champions work in FIFA 23. We also have an OTW tracker and RTTK tracker. Chemistry has been completely changed in FIFA 23 too and don’t forget about the wide variety of Skill Moves, and make sure to claim your Ted Lasso and AFC Richmond rewards in FUT while you can! Finally, if you need help building the perfect team, we have pages on the best players overall, best Premier League players and fastest players. Along with FIFA 23’s best lengthy players, wonderkids, best strikers, best wingers, best midfielders and best defenders.
Other things you might like to know about FIFA 23 Squad Battles
Our tips so far should set you up for a handsome return in FIFA 23 Squad Battles, but before we go, here are a few more things that it is always worth bearing in mind:
- Loan players - While it is possible to use loan players in Live FUT Friendlies mode without using up any loan matches, this is not true in Squad Battles, so while it may be tempting to use that shiny loan Mbappe pre-order card to secure the win, just beware that it will mean one less game on his card afterwards.
- Squad Battles glitches - It turns out that there are three certainties in life: death, taxes, and FUT players desperately trying to avoid actually playing Squad Battles. Every year, someone finds a glitch or exploit that confuses the AI and lets you score a goal and then go AFK in Squad Battles for the rest of the 90. EA Sports does not seem to punish this behaviour. If all you need is a 1-0 win, it’s worth searching YouTube for the latest ruse.
- Endless refreshes - The first 40 matches each week are the ones that count towards your Squad Battles score, but if you need to complete a few more objectives after that, you are free to keep refreshing and play extra matches.
Now get out there and grind some packs!