Benzema tops FIFA 23 ratings but Messi and Ronaldo slip down

After the year Karim Benzema has had, you could be forgiven for thinking he came straight from a computer game. Appropriately, the Real Madrid and France striker has been awarded the highest rating in FIFA 23 ahead of its release later this month.

EA Sports has announced its ratings for the top 23 players for this year’s edition of the popular football simulation, with Benzema the top-ranked on 91, while the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane have fallen down the order.

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Benzema scored 44 goals in 46 games in all competitions for Real Madrid last season as they went on to win both the LaLiga and Champions League titles, and has already notched four goals in six appearances this season. Last year’s top-ranked, Messi, has seen his rating fall from 93 to 91, and he now sits in fifth place behind Benzema, Robert Lewandowski, Kylian Mbappé and Kevin De Bruyne.

Ronaldo meanwhile slips down five places to eighth as he is rated at 90, with Liverpool pair Mohamed Salah and Virgil van Dijk placed between him and Messi in sixth and seventh, also on 90. Harry Kane (89) has dropped nine places from last year’s game to 17th, and now sits below Tottenham team-mate Son Heung-min, who is also rated 89 but is in 12th place on the list.

Haaland rising

Manchester City hotshot Erling Haaland is up to 21st place on a rating of 88 after his electric start to life in England, where he has already scored 12 goals in eight games in all competitions.

FIFA 23 will be released on Friday 30 September, and will be the final iteration of the series after the licencing agreement between EA Sports and FIFA came to an end.

Top 10 FIFA 23 ratings

1. Karim Benzema - 91

2. Robert Lewandowski - 91

3. Kylian Mbappé - 91

4. Kevin De Bruyne - 91

5. Lionel Messi - 91

6. Mohamed Salah - 90

7. Virgil van Dijk - 90

8. Cristiano Ronaldo - 90

9. Thibaut Courtois - 90

10. Manuel Neuer - 90

See the complete FIFA 23 ratings here: