Fresh off the back of a hugely successful Women’s World Cup, for the first time ever a female footballer will grace the front cover of the long running FIFA series.
Stephanie Catley will join global cover star Lionel Messi with one other athlete (yet to be revealed) on the front of FIFA 16‘s Australian cover, after winning a public vote. It marks the first time a female player has ever been on the cover of a FIFA game, and it may not be too long until she is joined by a colleague.
The winners of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, the United States of America, is one of the few regions where a public vote has not been held to decide who will be on the front cover with Lionel Messi. Considering that women in sport get little appreciation for their hard work, it would perhaps be appropriate for EA Sports to feature one of the stars who helped to propell the USA to victory. Featuring Steph Catley on the front of FIFA 16 is the next step from EA to showcase the women’s side of the beautiful game: earlier in the year it was announced that select Women’s national teams will be available to play with in FIFA 16.
Other confirmed FIFA 16 cover stars around the world include Oscar (Brazil), Jordan Henderson (UK & Ireland), Marco Fabián (Mexico), Antoine Griezmann (France), Juan Cuadrado (Latin America) and Shinji Kagawa (Japan).
FIFA 16 will be released September 22 in North America and September 25 in Europe on PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC. An Android and iOS version of the game will also be made available, though details on how it differs from the PC and Console version is unknown.