The best FIFA 23 formations

The best football formations can make all the difference during a game. The same can be said for FIFA 23. Want to be dominating the virtual pitch like Pep Guardiola or Jürgen Klopp? Then we recommend picking up one of our recommended FIFA 23 formations, which are considered the best in the game.

Not only assembling your dream team in FIFA 23 Ultimate Team is important. You want to make sure you keep up with the current FIFA 23 meta, and one of the most vital parts of that is your formations. 4-2-3-1? 4-3-3? There are plenty of options to choose and we are here to try you to help solve the most prominent FIFA 23 mystery: which FIFA 23 formation is the best?

The 4-2-3-1 formation

One of the most dominant formations over the past FIFA games is the 4-2-3-1 formation, and that is no different in FIFA 23. The formation provides a solid defense, mostly because of the two defensive midfielders. On the offense, you have a creative number 10 that can help out. Especially because of the two defensive midfielders that can be relied on. Next to that, you have two wingers and one striker at your disposal, plenty of firepower so to speak.

One of the choices you have is to play around with your two defensive midfielders. You can opt for one defensive specialist and one box-to-box player, for example. Giving you that much more versatility. Which is one of the biggest advantages of choosing 4-2-3-1.

Player instructions for 4-2-3-1:

• Left Back: stay behind during an attack

• Right Back: stay behind during an attack

• Center Defending Midfielders: Cover the center, one stays back during an attack the other plays forward during an attack

• Center Attacking Midfielders: Play forward, during a cross-pass or pass get into the box.

• Striker: Stay forward, play behind the lines

Defense:

• Defensive style: balanced

• Depth: 50

Offense:

• Build up: balanced

• Chance creation: Forward runs

• Width: 50

• Players within the box: 60

• Corners and free kicks: two bars

The 4-3-3(4) formation

The 4-3-3 formation is what we would call a dutch classic. Its main caveat is that it is up to the coach how to deploy the midfielders. As a coach, you can opt to play with two defensive midfielders and a number 10, or choose to have only one defending midfielder and have the other two be more on the offensive. Outside of that, this formation mainly plays on the flanks, where your wingers play toward the center giving space to your left and right backs to support an attack.

Player instructions for 4-3-3:

• Left Back: Overlap

• Right back: Overlap

• Center Defending Midfielders: Cover the center

• Right and Left wing: Cut inside

• Center Attacking Midfielders: Stay forward, during a cross-pass or pass get into the box.

• Striker: Stay forward

Defense:

• Defensive style: balanced

• Width: 50

• Depth: 75

Offense:

• Build up: quick build-up

• Chance creation: direct pass

• Width: 75

• Players within the box: 60

• Corners and free kicks: two bars

The 4-1-2-1-2 formation

The 4-1-2-1-2 formation is the successor of the 4-2-2-2 formation, often used by English top teams in the early 2000s. Having two center midfielders nowadays is just not an option anymore, and thus the 4-1-2-1-2 formation was created. The wingers get pulled into the midfield, resulting in a four-man midfield. This will result in a very strong midfield, at the cost of power on the flanks, basically your width.

This formation focuses on playing through the center and passing the ball around quickly. The left midfielder and right midfielder can support the strikers in the box to create pressure. We recommend picking at least one really quick striker.

 Player instructions for 4-3-3:

• Left Back: Stay back during an attack

• Right back: Stay back during an attack

• Center Defending Midfielders: Cover the center, stay back during an attack

• Center Midfielders: To the box during a cross-pass, play forward

• Center Attacking Midfielders: Stay forward

• Striker: Stay forward, get behind the lines

Defense:

• Defensive style: balanced

• Depth: 50

Offense:

• Build up: balanced

• Chance creation: forward runs

• Width: 50

• Players within the box: 50

• Corners and free kicks: two bars

Other formations 

Next to 4-2-3-1, 4-3-3, and 4-1-2-1-2, there are of course other usable formations. So in case you don't have the correct players for the aforementioned formations, check out the formations below. 

4-4-2

Every football fan knows what the 4-4-2 formation is. With two center midfielders, this is one of the easiest formations to create a stable midfield. And with two players on the flank, you have a lot of options during an attack. 

Player instructions for 4-4-2:

• Left Back: Stay back during an attack

• Right Back: Stay back during an attack

• Left Midfielder: Cut inside

• Right Midfielder: Cut inside

• Center Midfielders: Cover the center

• Striker: Stay forward, get behind the lines

Defense:

• Defensive style: balanced

• Depth: 50

• Width: 55

Offense:

• Build up: balanced

• Chance creation: Direct pass

• Width: 45

• Players within the box: six bars

• Corners: three bars

• Free kicks: one bar

3-5-2

3-5-2 is stacking up to be one of the more popular formations in FIFA 23. This formation is very strong in its attack, and with the right tactics, it can also be very decent in its defense. 

Player instructions for 3-5-2:

• Center Defense Midfielder: Cover center, stay back during an attack

• Center Attack Midfielder: Stay forward

• Left Midfield and Right Midfield: Help with defending

• Striker: Stay forward, get behind the lines

Defense:

• Defensive style: balanced

• Depth: 55

• Width: 45

Offense:

• Build up: balanced

• Chance creation: Direct pass

• Width: 40

• Players within the box: five bars

• Corners: one bar

• Free kicks: three bars