FIFA 16: Comparing the Regional Covers and New Features

Football fans will need to wait just a little over a month to nab FIFA 16 when it arrives in store and at online retailers for PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One and to tide you over until then, here are the game's covers in various regions, confirmed stadiums, and other new features which will be making their way into the game.

Argentina and Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is once again the international cover star for FIFA 16 worldwide, appearing on the box art for the fourth year in a row, he will, however, be joined by various other footballers around the world. In all, there will be eight regional covers and, in reflection of the addition of women's teams for the first time, some of Messi's co-stars are women players.

You can check out some of the covers in the gallery below.

FIFA 16 Covers

The full list of cover stars and their respective regions are:

United States – Alex Morgan
Canada – Christine Sinclair
UK and Ireland – Jordan Henderson
Australia – Stephanie Catley and Tim Cahill
Mexico – Marco Fabian
France – Antoine Griezmann
Latin America – Juan Cuadrado
Japan – Shinji Kagawa

It was confirmed at gamescom earlier this month that the game is adding a new feature called FIFA Ultimate Team Draft, which will work similarly to Madden 16's Draft Champions. Players will be required to develop a squad of five players in each position from across the game's Ultimate Team database.

The team you build will then play four matches offline-or-on to unlock a reward, the benefit of which will increase as you progress. Draft means players will have access to top players, including Messi, who they may otherwise not have unlocked through normal Ultimate Team play.

This is what EA Sports has to say on the matter:

"Experience an all-new way to play FIFA with FUT Draft. Build out a squad by choosing one of five players in each position from the entire Ultimate Team database, and compete in up to four consecutive games to earn rewards along the way."

EA has also scanned over 450 players into the game, noting, "In addition to Barclays Premier League players and athletes from Women's National Teams, we have also captured the likeness of some FUT Legends, and players from the major clubs in Spain and other leagues around the world."

Virtually all major players in the sport will be represented with face scans as a result.

There will be 78 stadiums in FIFA 16, of which 50 are licensed, and nine are entirely new to the series. The confirmed list is: