FC 26 Skill Moves: Full List, Controls, and the Best to Learn

Related: Skills pair with the right build. The Trickster PlayStyle unlocks extra flick moves, and the right chemistry style can push a dribbler's agility and balance.

How the star rating works

Every player in FC 26 has a skill-move star rating from 1 to 5, and it works as a hard ceiling. A player can only perform moves rated at or below their own star level, so a 3-star player can do every 1, 2 and 3-star move but nothing above, and only a 5-star skiller can pull off the entire catalogue. Moves are rated by real-life difficulty, which is why the flashiest tricks sit at 5 stars and the bread-and-butter ones sit at 1 or 2.

FC 26 adds one quality-of-life change here: a player's skill-move rating now shows on the on-screen Player Name Bar by default, so you can see at a glance who can do what without digging into the card. It is toggleable if you prefer a cleaner screen. One myth worth killing: a higher star rating does not make a move faster or more accurate, it only unlocks more moves. A 3-star player's ball roll is exactly as quick as a 5-star player's.

The five new skill moves in FC 26

EA added five new moves this year, all confirmed in the launch Pitch Notes. Inputs below are PlayStation; on Xbox swap L1 for LB and L2 for LT.

The one to actually learn is the Explosive Stepover. EA toned down the regular step-over (more on that next), and this is the move designed to take its place, giving you a quick burst past a defender. The Trickster Rainbow is a 1-star move, so any player can do it, while the Elastico Variation is a 5-star showpiece you will rarely need in a real match.

What FC 26 changed for existing moves

The new moves get the headlines, but the rebalances matter more for how the game actually plays. These are the FC 26 adjustments straight from EA's Pitch Notes, and most live guides still describe the old FC 25 behaviour.

The takeaway: if you leaned on the step-over last year, retrain your hands onto the Explosive Stepover and the faster la croqueta. Note that an early-launch update (v1.1.0, October 2025) also fixed input bugs where a requested move sometimes did not fire or a ball roll came out instead of the croqueta, so those are no longer an issue.

Simplified Skill Moves: the accessibility option

FC 26 introduced Simplified Skill Moves, a new option that performs a contextually chosen move from a single right-stick flick in any of the four main directions. Which move comes out depends on the player's star rating. It is a genuine help for newer players or anyone who struggles with stick rotations, but EA built in trade-offs to keep it fair: the moves take longer to come out than the manual inputs, you can only chain three in a row, and they are slightly more error-prone. Use it to learn the rhythm of dribbling, then graduate to the real inputs when you want speed and longer chains.

The moves worth learning first

There is no official EA ranking of the best moves, and the list you will see quoted most often online is actually carried over from FC 25. What holds up is the principle: low-star, fast, reliable moves win far more games than flashy 5-star ones. Drill these four before anything else.

Ball Roll (2-star). The foundation of modern dribbling. It sets up shooting angles and almost every other move, it is quick, and it is low-risk. Learn to roll into a shot or a pass and you have most of what you need.

Open Up Fake Shot (1-star). A one-star move, so every single player can do it. It is the highest-value trick for cutting inside onto your stronger foot and shooting, and it is hard to defend cleanly.

Drag Back (2-star). Now 10% more effective in FC 26. Perfect for escaping a press, buying a yard, and resetting when an attack stalls.

Explosive Stepover (3-star and up). The replacement for the nerfed step-over. If your best players are 3-star skillers or higher, this is the burst move to beat a full-back one-on-one. Master the cheap moves first, then add the 5-star showpieces only if you genuinely use them.

Control inputs for the core moves

These are the staple competitive moves and their FC 26 inputs. PlayStation notation is shown; on Xbox, L1 is LB, L2 is LT, R1 is RB, Square is X and X is A.

If a move feels unreliable, it is almost always the player, not the input: check the skill-move star on the Name Bar, because you cannot perform a 4-star move on a 3-star card no matter how clean your stick work is.

What about 5-star skillers?

A 5-star skiller is simply a player with a 5-star skill-move rating, the only players who can perform every move in the game. FC 26's on-screen Name Bar now shows this rating, so you can spot one instantly. They exist at every budget, from Icons down to cheap gold cards, so you do not need a huge bank to get one. Because the cheapest options change with the market and with new cards every week, check the skill rating in-game or on a live database rather than trusting a fixed list, the same value-first approach behind our best cheap players guide. Honestly, for most players a 4-star skiller is plenty: the moves that actually win games are nearly all 1 to 3 stars.

How we verified this

The new moves, the star gating, the rebalances and Simplified Skill Moves all come from EA's official FC 26 gameplay Pitch Notes. We cross-checked the control inputs against GamesRadar and other FC 26 specialists, and deliberately ignored the widely-copied "best skill moves" list that is still labelled FC 25. Live gameplay can be re-tuned by later title updates, so we date this: verified June 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What are the new skill moves in FC 26?

EA added five: Trickster Rainbow (1-5 star), Explosive Stepover (3-5 star), Advanced Heel Flick (4-5 star), Drag To Chop (4-5 star) and Elastico Variation (5 star). The Explosive Stepover is the one most players should learn, as it replaces the nerfed regular step-over.

How does the skill move star rating work?

Each player has a rating from 1 to 5 stars that caps which moves they can do. A player can perform any move at or below their star level, so only a 5-star skiller can do every move. A higher rating unlocks more moves but does not make them faster or more accurate.

Did FC 26 nerf the step-over?

Yes. EA reduced the speed-boost effect of step-overs, which were a go-to move in FC 25. The new Explosive Stepover (3-5 star) is the intended replacement for beating a defender with a quick burst.

What is the easiest skill move to do in FC 26?

The Open Up Fake Shot is a 1-star move, so any player can perform it, and it is one of the most effective for cutting inside to shoot. The new Simplified Skill Moves option also lets you trigger a move with a single right-stick flick.

What are Simplified Skill Moves?

A new FC 26 accessibility option that performs a move from a single right-stick flick in one of four directions, chosen by the player's star rating. They are slower than manual inputs, can be chained three at most, and are slightly more error-prone, so they are best for learning.

Which players can do every skill move?

Only 5-star skillers, meaning players with a 5-star skill-move rating. FC 26 shows each player's rating on the on-screen Name Bar so you can spot them. For most situations a 4-star skiller is more than enough.