The 2026 World Cup is folding itself into memory, but in EA Sports FC 26 Ultimate Team the afterparty is just getting loud. I have been hoarding FUT coins like a magpie stockpiling bottle caps, waiting for the Festival of Football to deliver its final wave. That wave is Summer Stars, a one-week Best-of promo running from 17 July to 24 July 2026, and it has turned my club into a glowing trophy cabinet.

The Summer Stars event is the fifth and last Festival of Football promo attached to the World Cup 2026. EA has gone full \u201cbest comes last\u201d here: every card feels like a bright pearl dropped into the murky oyster of my squad, adding shine where there used to be base gold. The promo rewards the tournament\u2019s standout performers, whether they are still fighting for the trophy or already knocked out. That means the usual galaxy of names\u2014Kylian Mbappé, Erling Haaland, Lionel Messi, Jude Bellingham, Ousmane Dembélé, Harry Kane\u2014but also unexpected cult heroes like Vózinha and Andreas Schjelderup, players who used the World Cup as a catapult into Ultimate Team relevance.

The Big Releases in Ultimate Team

Team 1 arrived on Friday, 17 July 2026, at 19:00. It is not a small squad drop; it is a 31-player tidal wave of boosted special cards. This first release feels like a tide pool left behind by a World Cup storm: some of the shiniest creatures are still swimming, while smaller surprises glitter in the same shallows. Below is the Team 1 group I have been chasing through packs, SBCs, and the transfer market.

Then, on Tuesday, 21 July 2026, EA dropped the World Cup winners team. If Team 1 was the broad tide pool, this release is the polished silverware cabinet: 16 world champions, all with heavily upgraded Summer Stars items. This is the squad I want to mirror in my own club, even if my coin balance reminds me I might be daydreaming.

SBCs, Objectives, and Token Rewards

Beyond the pack releases, I have been grinding objectives and completing SBCs because some Summer Stars cards are hidden behind those menus. The known release schedule includes Mikel Oyarzabal and Michael Olise on 17 July, Enzo Fernández on 18 July, Marc Cucurella on 19 July, and Youri Tielemans plus Unai Simón on 21 July. EA also added token-based shop rewards: Leandro Trossard for 100 tokens, Pedro Porro for 100 tokens, and Bruno Guimarães for 200 tokens. Each pack I open is a lottery ticket printed by a mischievous algorithm; the odds whisper one thing, my optimism screams another.

How Summer Stars Works in FC 26

The mechanics are familiar but still worth repeating before I spend another evening refreshing the transfer market. During the promo, Summer Stars special cards replace the normal versions of those players in all packs. Any pack that contains player cards can contain Summer Stars items, whether bought with coins or FC Points, earned free, or obtained through SBCs and objectives. Packs with more player cards naturally give more chances, but there are no guaranteed Summer Stars items just for opening a pack. The promo ends on Friday, 24 July 2026, at 19:00, so my window to collect these World Cup heroes is already closing.

What I appreciate most about this final Festival of Football chapter is that it turns Ultimate Team into a living highlight reel. After weeks of watching the real tournament from the couch, I am now rewriting those moments inside my own club, one expensive pack and one hard-fought objective at a time.