FIFA Online 3 gets a World Cup mode, and boosted stats for team China

If you’re a fan of the free-to-play FIFA and looking forward to the World Cup next month, we’ve got some good news: the World Cup is also coming to FIFA Online 3. The new modes, which are available already on most Asian servers, allow you to pick a national team, choose which players to call up, and play through the World Cup.

Thankfully, the mode won’t just include World Cup-qualifying teams, either. Players can select from over 200 different national teams, and if you pick a team that didn’t really make the cut, the game will simply generate fixtures for you automatically so you can still play through the tournament against all the other teams that are really in the tournament.

(See: 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil review: different enough from all the other kids with their pumped-up kicks)

Perhaps not surprisingly, the new World Cup modes in FIFA Online 3 share a lot in common with the standalone game 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil (see our review above), with colorful Brazil-themed menus and music to help you get in the samba spirit.

Also interestingly, the World Cup mode will apparently feature improved stats for some of China’s top national team players after China publisher Tencent appealed to developer EA not to make them too weak. Chinese defensive midfielder Zheng Zhi, for example, got a significant boost to his rating as a CDM and as a CB.

Even so, don’t expect to steamroll your way through the World Cup as China (or any other Asian nation) unless you’ve got some serious skills. Have what it takes to bring the digital gold and glory back to Asia this World Cup? There’s only one way to find out…