Strength can be a double-edged sword in FIFA with the extra body mass often leading to players that are too slow for the fast-pace of the video game franchise.
But having a player capable of holding the ball up and simply barge past opponents is an attractive proposition too - particularly for players not looking to rely on skill moves or blistering speed.
With FIFA 21's release just around the corner, EA Sports has revealed the strongest players for the upcoming game with a few familiar faces set to flex their significant muscle.
Cult hero Adebayo Akinfenwa remains top of the list with 97-rated strength but he is held back by 42-rated pace and 56-rated dribbling.
Young American forward Daryl Dike, who is the cousin of Emmanuel Emenike, has sneaked into out-right second place with 96-rated strength and isn't too slow either with a pace rating of 68.
Inter star Romelu Lukaku is equal-third this year and hit out at EA for his lack of pace after his stats were released but he will surely be content with his 95-rated strength.
Wolverhampton Wanderers winger Adama Traore is a surprising omission from the top 20, but did make the cut for the fastest players in FIFA 21. Traore's team-mate Willy Boly has made the cut for strength and an arm wrestle between the duo is now definitely due.
Napoli defender Kalidou Koulibaly is the highest-rated player overall to have made the list with his strength just one of the reasons he has reportedly attracted the attention of Manchester City.
Read on for the 20 strongest players set to feature in FIFA 21...
Strongest players on FIFA 21
Player | Club | Overall rating | Strength |
---|---|---|---|
Adebayo Akinfenwa | Wycombe | 65 | 97 |
Daryl Dike | Orlando City | 61 | 96 |
Aleksander Vukotic | Waasland-Beveren | 68 | 95 |
Romelu Lukaku | Inter | 85 | 95 |
Armando Mendez | Nacional de Montevideo | 70 | 95 |
Obbi Oulare | Standard Liege | 71 | 94 |
Tomas Petrasek | Rakow Czestochowa | 67 | 94 |
Stefan Maeirhofer | Admira Wacker | 63 | 94 |
Felipe Carvalho | Valerenga Fotball | 68 | 94 |
Florian Ballas | Erzgebirge Aue | 68 | 94 |
Sebastian Coates | Sporting | 81 | 94 |
Ariel Nahuelpan | Club Tijuana | 72 | 94 |
Pape Abou Cisse | Olympiacos | 75 | 94 |
Kalidou Koulibaly | Napoli | 88 | 94 |
Geoffrey Kondogbia | Valencia | 79 | 94 |
Issa Marega | LB Chateauroux | 64 | 93 |
Niklas Sule | Bayern Munich | 84 | 93 |
Willy Boly | Wolverhampton Wanderers | 80 | 93 |
Abdoulaye Seck | Antwerp | 69 | 93 |
Mateo Pavlovic | Angers SCO | 75 | 93 |