Bellingham and Musiala team up on FC 26 cover and fans wonder if EA’s ‘Madden Curse’ has come to soccer
The two players will be sidelined for a season.
Being on the cover of a sports game is a huge privilege, the kind of castle in the cloud that thousands of kids around the world dream of, and a sign that “you’ve made it.” But every dream has its obverse, and for many years there has been talk of the “Madden curse,” a trend whereby the protagonist of every cover of the popular American soccer game has a misfortune as soon as he or she appears on the cover.
Some fans have been keen to see a parallel with the recent announcement of the EA FC 26 cover, which this time will be shared by two world-class players: Real Madrid’s Jude Bellingham and Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, two of the best attacking midfielders of the moment. As it happens, both will be out of action for a few months, so the game will be released without them.
Musiala suffered a serious injury in the last Club World Cup when he collided with Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Donnarumma, fracturing his tibia and fibula, which will keep him out for several months before he can play again. For his part, Jude Bellingham has undergone surgery on his injured shoulder in order to remove the bandage that he has been wearing for 20 months in every game and that had him fed up, which will keep him out for between 10 and 12 weeks, missing the start of LaLiga and the first two Champions League matches.
They are still just jokes, but it is true that the “Madden curse” has given rise to disturbing coincidences that have maintained its legend. Compared to the experiences of some of the most famous players in the “curse,” the truth is that Musiala and Bellingham are peccata minuta compared to the chilling injury of Garrison Hearst or the imprisonment of Michael Vick, but it is certainly striking.
And in soccer?
The “Madden curse” has played its part in some FIFA (now EA FC) covers. Cases such as Morientes, protagonist of FIFA 99 before suffering several injuries that would end up leaving him out of Madrid (also largely due to the arrival of Ronaldo), are remembered. Kaká also had no luck at Real Madrid after appearing in FIFA 11, playing well below his level at Milan. And the less we talk about Eden Hazard, protagonist of FIFA 20, the better. On the other hand, it is already a coincidence that in a joint cover of two players, like this year’s EA FC cover, neither of them will start the season with their teams. However, all the reasonable world points out that they are all coincidences, typical of players who are part of elite teams, very demanded by the calendar and the expectations on them.
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