Mohamed Salah, as seen in EA FC 26.
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EA FC French Championship Match Features Blatant Missed Goalkeeper Foul, Then Crashes in Extra Time

A new viral clip from a French eSports Ligue 1 Group Stage match has now sparked amusement and outrage. As the Twitter post from an eSports Gabriel Martins shows, the clash was between FC Lorient Esports (FCL) and ESTAC Troyes Esports players Fouma and Levi de Weerd, respectively. 

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In the incident, Fouma receives the ball as an attacker near the box. Levin De Weerd’s goalkeeper commits a clear, reckless challenge, clipping Fouma’s player with no attempt to play the ball. The referee ignores the foul, the play continues, and De Weerd scores as Ousmane Dembélé. By the time Fouma’s attacker was able to recover, the possession was lost, and the counterattack was well underway. Oh, and then the game crashed in extra time.

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4.8

FC 26 Still Buggy At A Competitive Level

We’ve covered our fair share of problems with FC 26, and the biggest complaint I personally have is with the unreliable performance and crashes on PC. However, FC pros play on the PS5 for all sanctioned events, including eLigue1. The pros avoid PC’s well-documented input lag, crashes, and server issues, but even they can’t get past referee AI inconsistencies, physics glitches, and random crashes. 

The clip got over 170,000 views at the time of writing, and the replies are filled with sarcasm and disbelief:

“I think the worst part of all is his defender going in slow motion for the triangle [during counterattack] to work. Bizarre.”

Another fan pointed out that they’ve “never seen a goalkeeper sent off in the game’s history,” claiming the game’s programming prevents it. That’s a dubious claim, but it’s hard not to exaggerate when you see something insane like this. For context, this was a high-profile eLigue 1 Group Stage match with World Cup qualifications on the line. We’re not sure if this match was scrapped, as it was the last game of the match day, and the following results indicate that ESTAC took home the victory:

  • Fouma (FCL) 7–5 Levi de Weerd (ESTAC)
  • Jonny (FCL) 2–3 ManuBachoore (ESTAC)
  • Fouma (FCL) 5–7 Levi de Weerd (ESTAC)

At the time of the foul, the game was level at 5–5, and the unfair counterattack allowed ESTAC to win the game 7–5, and viewers felt robbed of a fair, dramatic finish. 

Author
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Asad Khan
Asad is a lifelong gamer with a passion for tech, retro consoles, and uncovering hidden indie games. When he's not tweaking PC builds or diving into Metroidvanias, you'll find him carving perfect lines in Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, tearing up open roads in Forza Horizon, or desperately clinging to hope with Ferrari in F1.