FC 27 SBCs: Which Squad Building Challenges Are Worth It Right Now?

Updated: 11 November 2026, 20:15 CET.

There are 22 time-limited SBCs live in FC 27 on Wednesday evening, plus 10 permanent ones. Wednesday’s drop brought Road to the Knockouts Ethan Nwaneri (85 CAM, Borussia Dortmund, about 24.2K), and Ultimate Scream Martín Ojeda has ended. Nwaneri, Brobbey and Lacey are the best player SBCs right now, and the Smith and Schertenleib Showdowns end on Thursday.

What SBCs are live in FC 27 right now?

This list was taken on Wednesday evening, after the 6pm UK drop (7pm CET) that also brought Team of the Week 9. The new player SBC is UEFA Champions League Road to the Knockouts Ethan Nwaneri, an 85 CAM for Borussia Dortmund who also plays RM and RW, with 86 pace, 85 passing, 86 dribbling, a four-star weak foot and four-star skills. At about 24.2K, with 90% positive community votes, he goes straight to the top of our list. Read our TOTW 9 and Nwaneri SBC article for the card and the cheapest route. Most other player SBCs cost a few percent more than on Tuesday evening.

Read more

FC 27 FUT Developer Notes: Better Evos, No SBC Packs Back

FC 27 live SBCs: cost, expiry and verdict

How to read the verdict: 1 to 5 FUTFC icons, in half steps. Five means do it now, four is worth it, three is only if you need the position or the fodder, two is doubtful and one is skip. Player SBCs with a review use the review’s rating.

Expiry dates are the SBC end times as of Wednesday at 20:15 CET. Most SBCs end at 7pm CET on the day shown, Ainhoa Marín at 6pm CET. Costs are the cheapest route on console and move every day. Puzzle prices jump around the most, so build puzzles from your club rather than buying the squad.

Best FC 27 SBCs to do this week

This is our opinion, based on today’s prices and what the rewards do for a normal squad.

• Road to the Knockouts Ethan Nwaneri (~24.2K, new): an 85 CAM for Borussia Dortmund who also plays RM and RW, with 86 pace, 82 shooting, 85 passing, 86 dribbling and 70 physical, left-footed with a four-star weak foot and four-star skills. His card can be upgraded by Dortmund’s Champions League results, and 90% of community votes are positive on the first evening. A creative midfielder for a Bundesliga or England side at a fair price, and he runs for a week, until Wednesday 18 November, so there is no need to overpay for fodder tonight. More in our TOTW 9 and Nwaneri SBC article.
• Showdown Sydney Schertenleib (~19.3K): an 84 CM for Barcelona with RB, CDM, LM and CAM as alternatives, 84 pace, 82 passing, 84 dribbling and 83 defending. Four positions on one card for a Liga F or Switzerland side, and 92% of community votes are positive, one of the best scores of any live SBC. Her card is upgraded if Barcelona beat Arsenal. Read our Schertenleib SBC review. She ends on Thursday 12 November at 7pm CET.
• Star Performer Shea Lacey (~50K): an 85 RW for Manchester United who also plays RM, with 90 pace, 81 shooting, 83 passing, 85 dribbling and 70 physical, four-star skills and a three-star weak foot. He is left-footed, and 92% of community votes are positive. A fast winger for a Premier League team, rated four FUTFC icons in our Lacey SBC review. He runs until Monday 16 November.
• Road to the Knockouts Brian Brobbey (~35.9K): an 85 ST for Sunderland with 86 pace, 85 shooting, 81 dribbling and 90 physical, a four-star weak foot and three-star skills. His card can be upgraded by Sunderland’s Europa League results, and 93% of community votes are positive, the best score of any live SBC. A strong target man for a lot less than Openda, and one of our top picks this week with four and a half FUTFC icons in our Brobbey SBC review. He runs until Monday 16 November.
• Liga F POTM Ainhoa Marín (~16.7K): an 85 RW for Real Sociedad who also plays RM and ST, with 91 pace, 80 shooting, 78 passing, 88 dribbling and 70 physical, three-star skills and a three-star weak foot. Her PlayStyles are Low Driven Shot, Incisive Pass, Pinged Pass, Whipped Pass, Technical and Quick Step, with no PlayStyle+. She is the cheapest POTM of the year so far, but only 43% of community votes are positive, so she is best for a Liga F or Spain side or as Gallery and Evo fodder. More in our Marín Liga F POTM article. She runs until Monday 28 December.
• Showdown Olivia Smith (~19.3K): Smith is an 84 RM for Arsenal with 87 pace and 86 dribbling who also plays ST, LW, RW and LM, but only 30% of community votes are positive at her price. She ends on Thursday 12 November at 7pm CET. Her card is upgraded if Arsenal beat Barcelona. Only for women’s league builds. Read our Olivia Smith SBC review and our UWCL Showdown SBCs article. The Feller and Kett Showdowns ended on Tuesday 10 November, the day PSG host Bayern.
• Loïs Openda (~113.7K): an 85 LW from Lyon who can also play ST, LM and CAM, with 95 pace, 83 shooting, 83 dribbling and 79 physical. He is the first Road to the Knockouts SBC, so the card can be upgraded by Lyon’s Europa League results until the end of the league phase, and 68% of community votes are positive. His price was about 88.7K on Friday night and is about 113.7K now. It is a lot of coins for an 85 before any upgrade, so it is best for a Ligue 1 or Belgium team. Read our Openda SBC review. He runs until Friday 13 November.
• Road to the Knockouts Riccardo Calafiori (~159.7K): an 86 LB for Arsenal who also plays CB, CDM and CM, with 82 pace, 80 passing, 82 dribbling, 85 defending and 86 physical, and five PlayStyles (Pinged Pass, Long Ball, Jockey, Block and Bruiser) but no PlayStyle+. His card can be upgraded by Arsenal’s Champions League results. Only 34% of community votes are positive, so it is for a Premier League or Italy team with fodder you already own. Read our Calafiori SBC review. He runs until Sunday 15 November.
• LALIGA POTM Kylian Mbappé (~6.14M): a 92 ST for Real Madrid who also plays LW, with 97 pace, 92 shooting, 93 dribbling, five-star skills, a four-star weak foot and Gamechanger+. It is an endgame card at over 5 million coins, and 93% of community votes are negative. Skip it unless you have millions spare. More in our Mbappé POTM article. He runs until Monday 7 December.
• 5x 80+ Upgrade (~8.5K) and 3x 79+ Upgrade (~3.9K): both are fodder swaps. The 5x 80+ gives five gold players rated 80 or higher, can be done twice and refreshes every two days until Tuesday 17 November, but only 20% of votes are positive. The 3x 79+ gives three gold players rated 79 or higher and is repeatable until Monday 16 November, with 18% positive votes.
• Red Bull Wiiings Challenge (~3.6K) and Road to the Knockouts Challenge 2 (~3.8K): two puzzle SBCs. Red Bull gives a Small Gold Players Pack, with 86% positive votes, and runs until Monday 23 November. RTTK Challenge 2 gives a Small Mixed Players Pack, needs five players from the same nation, at least four leagues and five silvers, has 66% positive votes and ends on Friday 13 November. Build both from your club.
• League upgrades (~3.9K to ~11.2K): ten bronze and ten silver players from two leagues for a 2x Max 85 Gold Players Pack, repeatable until early December. Serie A and MLS are the cheapest at about 3.9K each, Ligue 1 and Bundesliga cost about 6.3K, LALIGA about 7.8K and the Premier League about 11.2K. Only do them with low-rated cards you already own.
• 81+ TOTW 1-8 Upgrade (~21.6K): one TOTW player rated 81 or higher from the first eight Teams of the Week. Most of the pool is low-rated and only 23% of community votes are positive, so only do it with fodder you already own. It runs until Friday 13 November.

Our skips: the Premier League upgrade (about 11.2K for the same 2x Max 85 pack the Serie A one gives for about 3.9K), Marquee Matchups at about 27.8K for one Large Mixed Electrum Players Pack, and Mbappé at about 6.14M.

How do Streamlined SBCs and Item Score work?

FC 27 has two kinds of SBC. EA calls the new one Streamlined in its Pitch Notes and Simplified in its help pages. The old one, now called a puzzle SBC, still needs a full squad.

• Streamlined SBCs: no chemistry, positions or squad rating. You pick eligible cards from your club until their combined Item Score reaches the target. EA uses this format for most Player and Upgrade SBCs.
• Item Score: every player card has one, based on its OVR, rarity and Holographic status. Each OVR has a base score, and the rarity and Holographic bonuses stack on top. It is the same score the FUT Gallery uses.
• Duplicates count: you can submit duplicates and several versions of the same player.
• Partial progress is saved: you can hand in some cards now and finish later. The cards you submit are gone at once, even if you never finish.
• Overshoot warning: if your cards are worth far more than the target, the game warns you before you submit.
• Puzzle SBCs: the classic format with squad rating, chemistry, quality, league, nation and club rules. Marquee Matchups, Road to the Knockouts Challenge 2 and the Red Bull Wiiings Challenge are puzzle SBCs right now.

Some Streamlined SBCs set a minimum rating for each card. All of today’s live Player and Upgrade SBCs only ask for 45 OVR or higher per card. Streamlined SBCs also work in the Companion App since 28 September.

If a Streamlined SBC expires before you finish, you don’t get your cards back. Instead you get an untradeable pack based on the Item Score you put in. A few of EA’s bands:

Those packs are worth far less than the cards you hand in, so treat them as a safety net, not a plan. Only start a big SBC if you can finish it before it expires.

FC 27 SBC types: upgrades, repeatables, players and Heroes

• Upgrade SBCs: swap cards for a pack. Right now that is Road to the Knockouts Challenge 2 (a Small Mixed Players Pack), the Red Bull Wiiings Challenge (a Small Gold Players Pack), the 5x 80+ Upgrade (refreshes every 2 days until 17 November), the repeatable 1 of 4 Chemistry Styles Pick, the repeatable 3x 79+ Upgrade, the 81+ TOTW 1-8 Upgrade (one player from TOTW 1 to 8) and six repeatable league upgrades: Premier League & Barclays WSL, LALIGA & Liga F, Serie A & ROSHN Saudi League, MLS & NWSL, Ligue 1 & Arkema Première Ligue and Bundesliga & Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga (a 2x Max 85 Gold Players Pack each).
• Permanent repeatables: Gold Upgrade (~7.8K, Small Gold Players Pack), Silver and Bronze Upgrades (~2.2K each), Gold Re-Roll (1,250 score, ~2.2K, 2x 78+ Gold Players Pack) and Bronze and Silver Re-roll (500 score, ~2.2K, 75+ Gold Player Pack). They are for clearing out cards you already own. Don’t buy fodder for them.
• One-off foundations: Intro to SBCs, Intro to Upgrade SBCs, Intro to Streamlined SBCs, Intro to Player SBCs (Squad Foundations Cristian Espinoza) and League and Nation Advanced (a Jumbo Gold Pack and 5,000 coins). Do these once early in the year.
• Player SBCs: Road to the Knockouts Openda, Calafiori, Brobbey and Nwaneri (upgrades with Lyon’s and Sunderland’s Europa League and Arsenal’s and Dortmund’s Champions League results), Star Performer Shea Lacey, the two Barcelona v Arsenal Showdowns (Smith and Schertenleib), and two Players of the Month: Kylian Mbappé (LALIGA, October) and Ainhoa Marín (Liga F, October). All are single Streamlined challenges with an untradeable reward.
• Hero and ICON SBCs: there is no Hero or ICON SBC live right now. The Max. 88 Base Hero Upgrade and the Base Hero Player Pick ended on Sunday 8 November, after the Max 86 and Max 87 Base Hero Upgrades and the Base Hero Matchday Pick.

Showdown SBCs are the cheapest way into a special card: the card gets an upgrade if the player’s club wins its match. Four Women’s Champions League Showdowns went live on Saturday 7 November: Smith v Schertenleib (Barcelona v Arsenal) is still live, while Feller v Kett (PSG v Bayern) ended on Tuesday 10 November. For an Evo route, see our FC 27 Evolutions guide.

How to complete FC 27 SBCs cheaply

• Use 84-rated golds: a Streamlined solver shows the cheapest route to almost every target is a big pile of 84-rated rare golds. A 100K score costs about 84,600 coins that way (118 of them plus one 85). Fewer, higher-rated cards cost more but take less time.
• Hand in duplicates and untradeables first: duplicates count in Streamlined SBCs, and your untradeable pack pulls are fodder you got for free. Start with what is in your club before you buy anything.
• Use partial progress: drop cards into a big SBC as you pack them during the week, then top it up at the end. Just make sure you finish before it expires.
• Don’t buy on the first night: fodder goes up when a big SBC lands. The Max 87 Hero went from about 118K on Monday to 132K on Tuesday, dropped under 100K on Thursday and ended at about 150K on Sunday.
• Watch the overshoot: one high-rated card can push you way past the target. The game warns you, but check the score you still need before you add an expensive card.
• Think about the Gallery: cards you submit still count towards your FUT Gallery sets, according to EA, so handing in a duplicate doesn’t cost you Gallery progress. Our FC 27 Gallery guide ranks the cheapest sets for Gallery Tokens.

Recently expired FC 27 SBCs

• Wednesday 11 November: Ultimate Scream Martín Ojeda (about 26.4K on Tuesday evening). See our Ojeda SBC review.
• Tuesday 10 November: Ligue 1 POTM Ferran Torres (about 128.7K on Monday evening), Ethan Ampadu (Ultimate Scream 85, about 24.6K on his last afternoon), the Showdown pair Naomie Feller and Franziska Kett (about 13.5K each), the 2x 83+ Upgrade (about 6.1K), replaced by the 5x 80+ Upgrade, and Road to the Knockout Challenge 1 (about 3.8K), replaced by Challenge 2. See our Ferran Torres and Ampadu reviews.
• Monday 9 November: the 1 of 3 79+ Gold Player Pick (about 3K on its last morning), replaced by the repeatable 3x 79+ Upgrade.
• Sunday 8 November: the Max. 88 Base Hero Upgrade (about 160K on its last afternoon, up from about 129K on Friday night), the Base Hero Player Pick (about 228K) and Lea Schüller (Ultimate Scream 86, about 40K). See our Max 88 Hero pull checker and Schüller SBC review.
• Saturday 7 November: Jonny (Ultimate Scream 85, about 39K on Friday night). See our Jonny SBC review.
• Friday 6 November: Tijjani Reijnders (Ultimate Scream 85, about 60.5K on Thursday), the 81+ TOTW 1-7 Upgrade (about 22.4K), replaced by the 81+ TOTW 1-8 Upgrade, and the six Halloween puzzles: Hocus Pocus, Pumpkin Seeds, Freaky Zombie, Boo Hoo Party, Spooky Nights and Scary Candy (about 2.9K to 7.7K). See our Reijnders SBC review.
• Thursday 5 November: the previous week of Marquee Matchups (about 27K on its last day), replaced by week 8 that evening.
• Tuesday 3 November: Héctor Bellerín (Ultimate Scream 85, about 33.6K), Liga F POTM Claudia Pina (about 1.24M) and the 5x 80+ Upgrade (about 8K), replaced by the 2x 83+ Upgrade. See our Bellerín and Claudia Pina reviews.
• Monday 2 November: the first round of the Premier League & Barclays WSL (about 13.9K) and LALIGA & Liga F (about 10.3K) upgrades, replaced by a new round, and the 3x 79+ Upgrade (about 7.1K), replaced by the 1 of 3 79+ Gold Player Pick.
• Sunday 1 November: the Liga MX Showdown pair Ramiro Árciga (Monterrey) and Víctor Guzmán (Tijuana), about 6.1K each. The match ended 3-3, so neither card gets a win upgrade.
• Saturday 31 October: Emre Mor (Ultimate Scream 85, about 27.6K earlier in the week), see our Emre Mor SBC review, and the Milan Showdown pair Loftus-Cheek and Carlos Augusto (about 25K each on the last day), see our Loftus-Cheek SBC review.
• Friday 30 October: Nick Woltemade (Ultimate Scream 85, about 57.6K earlier in the week), Premier League POTM Groß (about 21.8K), LALIGA POTM Raphinha (about 1.49M) and the 81+ TOTW 1-6 Upgrade, replaced by the 81+ TOTW 1-7 Upgrade. See our Woltemade, Groß and Raphinha reviews.
• Thursday 29 October: Serie A POTM Malen (about 103K), Bundesliga POTM Olise (about 801K) and the previous week of Marquee Matchups (about 20.6K), replaced by a new week. See our Malen and Olise reviews.
• Wednesday 28 October: the NWSL Future Stars Pick (about 19.2K).
• Tuesday 27 October: the MLS Future Stars Pick (about 14.8K on its last day) and the 2x 83+ Upgrade (about 6.6K), replaced by the repeatable 5x 80+ Upgrade.
• Monday 26 October: the 1 of 3 79+ Gold Player Pick (about 6.9K on its last day), replaced by the repeatable 3x 79+ Upgrade.
• Sunday 25 October: the Max 87 Base Hero Upgrade (about 150K on its last day, up from about 118K at release) and Assane Diao (Future Stars 84, about 54K), see our Diao SBC review and Max 87 Hero pull checker.
• Max 86 Base Hero Upgrade: about 85K at release, ended Wednesday 14 October. All 37 of its Heroes are also in the Max 87 pool.
• Base Hero Matchday Player Pick: a pick of Aimar, Šuker, Bompastor or Márquez for about 103K to 119K, ended Sunday 18 October.
• Saturday 24 October: the Liga Portugal Future Stars Pick (about 18.8K on its last day) and Future Stars Challenge 4 (about 7.7K).
• Friday 23 October: Johan Manzambi (Future Stars 85, about 47.8K on his second to last day) and the TOTW Upgrade for TOTW 1 to 5 (about 11.7K), replaced by the 81+ TOTW 1-6 Upgrade.
• Thursday 22 October: Cora Zicai (Future Stars 85, about 26.5K on her last day) and the previous week of Marquee Matchups (about 21K), replaced by a new week that evening.
• Future Stars: Carlos Espí (about 36.5K) and Xavi Espart (about 30K to 35K), plus the Süper Lig and EFL Championship Future Stars Picks.
• Destined for Glory: Akliouche, Frattesi and Tarciane, plus the Destined for Glory challenges.
• Upgrades: earlier rounds of the 5x 80+ and 3x 79+ Upgrades, the 83+ Upgrade and earlier TOTW Upgrades.

Many of these come back in a new form. The Max 88 Hero SBC that had leaked went live on 2 November. There were three Base Hero Upgrades and two Base Hero Player Picks in the first six weeks, so Hero SBCs look like a regular part of FC 27. Keep an eye on the FC 27 promo calendar.

FC 27 SBCs: FAQ

More: TOTW 9 and Ethan Nwaneri SBC (11 November) · Ainhoa Marín Liga F POTM SBC (10 November) · Brian Brobbey SBC review · Shea Lacey SBC review · Lacey, Brobbey and Mbappé SBCs (9 November) · Mbappé LALIGA POTM · Riccardo Calafiori SBC review · Olivia Smith SBC review · Calafiori RTTK SBC (8 November) · Sydney Schertenleib SBC review · UWCL Showdown SBCs (7 November) · Loïs Openda SBC review · Road to the Knockouts launch and Openda SBC (6 November) · Martín Ojeda SBC review · Max 88 Hero SBC pull checker · Lea Schüller SBC review · Jonny SBC review · Reijnders SBC review · Bellerín SBC review · Claudia Pina SBC review · Ferran Torres SBC review · Max 87 Hero SBC pull checker · Ampadu SBC and Star Performers (3 November) · Schüller SBC and Pumpkin Seeds (1 November) · Jonny SBC and Halloween drop (31 October) · Ultimate Scream Team 2 · Ultimate Scream token store · FC 27 Evolutions · FC 27 Ultimate Scream · FC 27 Black Friday · FC 27 title updates · Everything new in FC 27 · FC 27 Gallery Tokens

Sources: EA Pitch Notes: FUT Deep Dive, EA Pitch Notes: Launch Update, EA Help: How SBCs work, EA FUT developer launch update, Dexerto, VGC.