Which top performers and over-achievers deserve a winter upgrade in FIFA 21 Rating Refresh? And who will receive a downgrade? Check out our FIFA 21 Rating Refresh Predictions, which features the potential winter upgrades and downgrades, and the release date of the big winter rating update in FUT 21.

FIFA 21 Winter Upgrades & Downgrades (FUT 21 Rating Refresh)

Every year, when a new game version is released, the scores and stats of all players will be updated based on the performance of the previous season, and as the new season progresses, it is obvious that some players are underrated. Therefore, after the winter transfer, EA will upgrade the ratings of the players with the best performance in the current season, this is the Winter Upgrades. For those players who have performed well in the past but have not played the same ability or who rarely participate in the actual game for some reason, their overall rating will drop, this is Winter Downgrades. In addition to rating upgrades or downgrades, some players will also get improved skill statistics, such as weak foot upgraded from 3-star to 5-star. 

So so far, which players have used their unparalleled performance to prove that they are worth a rating boost? And which players have disappointed? The following are our FIFA 21 winter uprgade and downgrade predictions based on the players’ actual performance:

FIFA 21 Winter Upgrades Predictions

Premier League

ST: Harry Kane (Tottenham Hotspur) - 88 > 90

CAM: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United) - 87 > 89

LM: Heung Min Son (Tottenham Hotspur) - 87 > 88

ST: Jamie Vardy (Leicester City) - 86 > 87

CAM: Hakim Ziyech (Chelsea) - 85 > 87

CAM: James Rodríguez (Everton) - 82 > 84

LW: Jack Grealish (Aston Villa) - 80 > 83

LB: Ben Chilwell (Chelsea) - 81 > 83

CM: Youri Tielemans (Leicester City) - 81 > 83

CB: Kurt Zouma (Chelsea) - 80 > 82

LW: Diogo Jota (Liverpool) - 80 > 82

ST: Danny Ings (Southampton) - 80 > 82

GK: Édouard Mendy (Chelsea) - 79 > 82

ST: Dominic Calvert-Lewin (Everton) - 79 > 81

CB: Conor Coady (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 79 > 81

CB: Gabriel dos S. Magalhães (Arsenal) - 78 > 80

ST: Callum Wilson (Newcastle United) - 78 > 80

RM: Timothy Castagne (Leicester City) - 77 > 79

RB: Reece James (Chelsea) - 77 > 79

CM: Ross Barkley (Aston Villa) - 78 > 79

RM: Timothy Castagne (Leicester City) - 77 > 79

RB: Reece James (Chelsea) - 77 > 79

ST: Ollie Watkins (Aston Villa) - 76 > 78

CM: Mateusz Klich (Leeds United) - 73 > 76

ST: Che Adams (Southampton) - 74 > 76

ST: Patrick Bamford (Leeds United) - 71 > 76

LW: Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton Wanderers) - 72 > 76

CB: Wesley Fofana (Leicester City) - 70 > 76

CM: Curtis Jones (iverpool) - 64 > 74

La Liga 

CM: Sergio Canales Madrazo (Real Betis Balompié) - 82 > 84

CF: João Félix (Atlético de Madrid) - 81 > 84

LM: Yannick Carrasco (Atlético de Madrid) - 82 > 83

CM: Marcos Llorente (Atlético de Madrid) - 82 > 83

ST: Álvaro Borja Morata Martín (Atlético de Madrid) - 82 > 83

CF: João Félix (Atlético de Madrid) - 81 > 83

CM: José Gómez Campaña (Levante UD) - 80 > 82

CM: Mikel Merino Zazón (Real Sociedad) - 80 > 82

LW: Ansu Fati (FC Barcelona) - 76 > 81

GK: Diego López (RCD Espanyol) - 76 > 78

GK: Edgar Badía (Elche CF) - 73 > 77

LM: Pedri (FC Barcelona) - 72 > 76

Bundesliga

ST: Robert Lewandowski (Bayern München) - 91 > 92

CAM: Thomas Müller (Bayern München) - 86 > 87

ST: Erling Braut Håland (Borussia Dortmund) - 84 > 86

RM: Serge Gnabry (Bayern München) - 85 > 86

LB: Angelino (RB Leipzig) - 80 > 82

CB: Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig) - 79 > 81

CAM: Cunha (Hertha BSC) - 78 > 81

ST: Lucas Alario (Bayer 04 Leverkusen) - 77 > 80

CAM: Jonas Hofmann (Borussia M'gladbach) - 77 > 80

CB: Marvin Friedrich (1. FC Union Berlin) - 74 > 76

LM: Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Dortmund) - 68 > 76

CM: Jude Bellingham (Borussia Dortmund) - 69 > 74

Ligue 1

CM: Houssem Aouar (Olympique Lyonnais) - 81 > 83

LM: Jonathan Bamba (LOSC Lille) - 78 > 80 

GK: Alfred Gomis (Stade Rennais) -  76 > 79

RM: Zinedine Ferhat (Nîmes Olympique) - 75 > 78

ST: Boulaye Dia (Stade de Reims) - 73 > 76

Series A

ST: Romelu Lukaku (Inter Milan) - 85 > 87

ST: Zlatan Ibrahimović (Milan) - 83 > 85

LB: Theo Hernández (Milan) - 80 > 82

ST: Andrea Belotti (Torino) - 80 > 82

CDM: Manuel Locatelli (Sassuolo) - 78 > 81

CM: Franck Yannick Kessié (Milan) - 77 > 81

RW: Dejan Kulusevski (Piemonte Calcio) - 77 > 79

CB: Marash Kumbulla (Hellas Verona) - 75 > 78

CM: Gaetano Castrovilli (Fiorentina) - 73 > 78

CM: Morten Thorsby (Sampdoria) - 69 > 75

Other Leagues

RW: Steven Berghuis (Feyenoord) - 81 > 83

RW: Antony Matheus dos Santos (Ajax) - 78 > 81

CAM: Mohammed Kudus (Ajax) - 75 > 78

FIFA 21 Winter Downgrades Predictions

CAM: Dele Alli (Tottenham Hotspur) - 83 > 81

CDM: Sergio Busquets (FC Barcelona) - 87 > 85

ST: Sébastien Haller (West Ham United) - 81 > 79

CAM: Federico Bernardeschi (Juventus) - 80 > 78

GK: Ederson (Manchester City) - 88 > 87 

LB: Nico Schulz (Borussia Dortmund) - 80 > 77

RM: Nicolas Pépé (Arsenal) - 82 > 80

CAM: Isco (Real Madrid) - 84 > 82

CB: Davinson Sánchez (Tottenham Hotspur) - 81 > 79

ST: Antoine Griezmann (FC Barcelona) - 87 > 86

GK: Kepa Arrizabalaga (Chelsea) - 82 > 79

CAM: Jesse Lingard (Manchester United) - 77 > 74

LM: Thomas Lemar (Atlético de Madrid) - 81 > 79

GK: Adrián (Liverpool) - 76 > 73

LM: Steven Bergwijn (Tottenham Hotspur) - 83 > 81

CB: Diego Godín (Inter Milan) - 85 > 83

ST: Gonzalo Higuaín (Inter Miami) - 83 > 80

FIFA 21 Ultimate Team Winter Upgrades Release Date

When will winter upgrade and downgrade will take place in FIFA 21?

In the previous FIFA version Rating Refresh took place in FIFA Ultimate Team once the transfer window closed, and FIFA 20 winter upgrades released on Friday, February 14, 2020. So if EA follows this rule, as predicted, the FIFA 21 rating refresh (winter upgrade) will be scheduled on Friday, February 12, 2021.

FIFA 21 Normal & Special Card Rating Refresh

Will your normal and special card will get upgraded automatically once the rating refresh release?

• Ordinary gold, silver, or bronze cards will not be upgraded automatically, which means that any initial version of the card in the player's hand will not be upgraded. But you still can sell or buy the original cards from transfer markets.

• The player card of the special version is eligible for an upgrade. If the player's new rating exceeds or equals the rating of their special version (weekly team, group stage team, etc.), these special cards will be automatically promoted.

For example, if you now own Harry Kane's 88 rated initial card and 89 rated Team of the Week in-form cards, and he upgraded to 89 points in the winter update, your 88 rated Harry Kane will not get upgraded, while his 89 rated TOTW card will receive +1 boost.

How to get the new winter upgraded cards?

All new rated basic versions will be added to packs instead of the lower/higher-rated original cards once the winter upgrade announced in February. And you surely can buy these new cards from the transfer market with FIFA 21 coins.