Real Madrid is so popular that Real Madrid vs. Real Madrid ranks higher than nearly every other matchup on EA Sports FC 25

EA made the transition last year from its long-running FIFA licensed football games to its own upstart rival. EA Sports FC was not so much an upstart, but the moneybags incumbent. The same yearly upgrade along with a marketing campaign that saw it plastered on every football field saw the audience move more-or less seamlessly over to EA Sports 24.

EA Sports FC 25, which was released in early access (read pre-order bonus), on September 27, has now released stats for the first 25 days of the game. This stat dump is frustrating because it avoids key metrics like, y'know how many people purchased the game, and instead provides meaningless fluff such as 4.3 billion goals and 1.7 billion games played. There are some gems hidden in the mud.

Real Madrid, the men's team from Spain, is the most selected football team. FC Barcelona, the women's team from Barcelona in Spain is the most selected football team. El Clasico, and Women's Clasico, between Real Madrid and Barcelona were the most popular matches in both categories. The real fun is in the top three:

Most Popular Matchups (Men).

• Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona
• Manchester City vs. Real Madrid
• Real Madrid vs. Real Madrid

Real Madrid is the team of choice for four out of six men. If they don't play Barcelona or current European Champions Man City then who else can you play? The women's game is a little different, and I suspect that this is due to the importance of the clubs in the Women's English Premier League.

Most popular matchups for women

• Real Madrid vs. FC Barcelona
• Arsenal vs. Chelsea
• Chelsea vs. FC Barcelona

It's all personal preference, of course, but it's funny to me that so many people choose the Madrid mirror match when they can play as or against almost any prominent club from around the world. I think it's too close for me to call.

John Shepherd, EA Sports FC's VP, said: "It has been a month since EA Sports FC 25 was released and the response from the community has been incredible. We have seen nearly 300,000,000 matches played in our new social 5v5 Rush experience and Ultimate Team matches with friends have doubled year over year." Rush is one of EA Sports FC's biggest new additions. It's a casual five-aside mode that's built around quick matches against and with friends.

Unsurprisingly, the stadium popularity contest goes to Real Madrid’s spectacular Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. Liverpool’s Anfield and Man City’s Etihad Stadium are also amongst the most played. The most wanted transfer targets aren't surprising. Lamine Yamal, a Spanish teenager, is the winner of the popularity contest. Cover star Jude Bellingham is nowhere to be found.

Top 5 career modes transfers for men

• Lamine Yamal
• Endrick
• Memphis Depay
• Pau Cubarsi
• Nico Williams

Top 5 career modes transfers for women

• Aitana Bonmati
• Sophia Smith
• Alisha Lehmann
• Alexia Putellas
• Jule Brand

EA finishes with a little bragging about how many licenses the company has in the game. Over 19,000+ athletes in 700+ teams across more than 120 stadiums in 30+ leagues. This is all thanks to 300 global football partners. EA Sports FC 25, which lists all the prestigious competitions you can play, except for the World Cup, also takes a dig at FIFA.

EA Sports FC has been a huge success for EA Sports. Even though it doesn't share hard sales figures, the marketing surrounding major competitions makes the game feel inextricable from real-world sports. It was no doubt a factor that FIFA had no idea what to do after losing its longtime partner. However, that could be changing soon. The world governing body recently signed a tentative deal with Konami, which may lead to a deeper relationship with eFootball. Even if this happens, it is hard to imagine anything threatening EA Sports FC's position for a very long time.