FIFA 23: Best Formations and Custom Tactics for FUT

Looking for the best formations and custom tactics for FUT in FIFA 23? FUT 23, or FIFA Ultimate Team, sees you assembling a squad of football superstars, both past and present, from a variety of clubs and leagues around the world. But before you can even begin to think about Players and Chemistry, you're probably going to want to determine the best formations and custom tactics for your team. This is because your formation will ultimately determine the type of positions you need to fill, while also affecting your approach on the pitch. As part of our FIFA 23 guide, we're going to share the best formations and custom tactics for FUT, including meta formations.

FIFA 23: Best Formations and Custom Tactics for FUT

The best formations for FUT in FIFA 23 will depend a lot on the Players you have available and exactly how you want to play on the pitch. If you're more a defensive player then you may want to consider going with a back five, which will help to prevent teams from scoring against you at the expense of you being able to effectively attack. Alternatively, you may prefer the even distribution of players that a 4-4-2 provides, giving you a stable rear-guard with enough midfielders to get the ball into your forwards.

It's always important to consider Chemistry: FIFA 23 is much more flexible on this front, but you should still carefully plan how to bring together all of your best players into a formidable starting eleven. For example, if you have two top-notch strikers in your team, you may want to find a way to accommodate both of them, rather than stick one on the bench. You can change the position of players using Position Items to retain good Chemistry.

Even if you don't necessarily have many great Players in your team yet, picking a formation can help you develop the kind of squad you want. Once you've settled on a structure and tactics for your team, then you can begin to think about the type of personnel you'll need to get the most out of it. Does your starting eleven rely on rapid wingbacks, shuttling up-and-down either side of the field? Or do you need a target man, capable of bringing the ball under control and facilitating attacking teammates? Selecting the best formations for FUT can really help give you a foundation to build from.

Remember, this article exists to give you inspiration and ideas, but is not necessarily definitive. While there are often meta formations in competitive games like FIFA 23, you should experiment and find the best formations and custom tactics that work for you and your Players. Don't be afraid to try out different line-ups and explore all of the different tools that the game gives you. We'd also like to add that, while this page has been written with FIFA Ultimate Team, or FUT 23, in mind, a lot of the same strategies and concepts apply to Career Mode as well.

4-4-2

The foundation of English football, the 4-4-2, is a rock solid option in FIFA 23, and probably the best formation for you to get your feet wet in FUT 23. This year's game is slower and more deliberate, so it actually pays to play it a little safe and go back to basics in many ways.

The goal with this formation is to have two central midfielders building a base in central midfield, with two overlapping fullbacks covered by a couple of wingers who are willing to get back on defense. We like to ensure our forwards stay central, but it's good to have one pacey workhorse who helps out in defence and is also willing to run in behind, and then partner him with a second forward who stays forward and can hold up the ball.

Winning the ball back high up the pitch can also be effective with this formation, and as this year's game allows for five substitutions, you don't need to worry too much about running out of stamina — as long, of course, as you have a strong bench. Obviously, you may want to tone down your tactics if you want to conserve energy, but this is up to you.

4-4-2 Custom Tactics and Instructions

As alluded to above, your Defensive Style is going to be determined by how gung-ho you feel with regards to winning the ball back. Personally, we're having success with Press After Possession Loss, but this is a stamina hog, so that's something to keep in mind. If you want to be a lot more conservative, you could look at the 4-4-2 Holding formation as an alternative to simply sit off opponents and block off their passing lanes. Even with the traditional 4-4-2, we'd still recommend you play Long Ball to setup those counter attacks. Remember, if you lose possession and you are going to press immediately, keep your Depth quite high to really try and win the ball high up the pitch. However, if you feel you're getting caught out a lot, feel free to drop off.

Ideally, you'll want your CMs to Cover Center to provide that foundation in the middle of the pitch, but instruct your fullbacks to Overlap to provide additional attacking potency when you're on the offensive. Instructing your wingers to Come Back on Defence can help plug any gaps. We like having a pacier striker to both Get in Behind and Come Back on Defence, while leaving a target man on Stay Forward to help pick up Long Balls and hold up the play.

Defence

Defensive Style

Press After Possession Loss or Balanced

Width

60

Depth

55

Offence

Build Up Play

Long Ball

Chance Creation

Balanced or Direct Passing

Width

50

Players in Box

6

Corners

2

Free Kicks

2

Here are some Instructions for your Players that you may want to consider based on the information above. The key thing is that your CMs build a base for everything that you do, and your fullbacks supplement the attack while still receiving defensive support from your wingers.

4-2-3-1

If you're struggling to shut out opponents in FIFA 23, then the 4-2-3-1 can be a great formation to utilise in order to give you a lot of defensive stability. Due to the way the game's designed, you're going to get a lot of support from your CDM players, who will shield your back four, assuming you've got your Custom Tactics assigned appropriately. This makes it a great formation to start out in or to switch to when you have a lead or are comfortably in front.

The downside is that you may not get much width from your attacking midfielders operating behind the striker, but you can offset this by using energetic fullbacks who can get up and down the pitch. Remember, you'll still have those two CDMs in front of your back four who can help you to mop up any potential counter-attacks should the situation arise. Alternatively, you can opt for the 4-2-3-1 Wide formation, which will give you a bit more width at the expense of some stability in the centre of the park.

Perhaps the only problem with this formation is that it can feel a little toothless in attack at times, but again you can offset this by encouraging your attacking midfielders to push forward or even hold their position up the field, helping you to break out more easily. Given how potent crossing can be, you're going to want to instruct your wide attacking midfielders to get into the box, giving you options from your striker both in front of goal and at the far posts.

4-2-3-1 Custom Tactics and Instructions

There's one major decision you'll need to make with your Custom Tactics for the 4-2-3-1: how defensive do you want to be? If you're primarily looking for stability at the back, then we'd recommend you keep your fullbacks in position during offensive possessions, and the same with your CDMs as well. If you're looking for a little more offensive potency, then you can put your fullbacks' Attacking Runs to Balanced, and even instruct one of your CDMs to get forward during attacks. If you do adopt these kind of tactics, however, make sure the other CDM stays back to give you some insurance.

Here are some of the Custom Tactics you should consider for the 4-2-3-1 formation. You can also tinker with the offensive width if you're looking to spray the ball about more, but do keep in mind that this will leave some gaps in the centre of the park if you do lose possession:

Defence

Defensive Style

Balanced

Width

50

Depth

50

Offence

Build Up Play

Slow Build Up

Chance Creation

Forward Runs or Balanced

Width

60

Players in Box

5

Corners

2

Free Kicks

2

In addition, here are some Instructions for your Players that you may want to adopt as a starting point for the 4-2-3-1 formation. As always, feel free to play around with these Instructions and see what works best for your personal playstyle. As mentioned above, a lot of this will depend on how defensive or offensive you want to be:

4-4-2 Holding

While the 4-4-2 may be quite old-fashioned in the modern game, the 4-4-2 Holding formation is brilliantly balanced and gives you versatility in both defence and attack. While this is unquestionably a more conservative formation, with its second bank of four anchored by two CDMs, if you can use your wide midfielders to stretch the pitch it can be deadly offensively while still commanding more than enough defensive stability to avoid ceding easy opportunities to your opponent.

You're probably going to want to instruct your fullbacks to stay back, especially if you've got your wide midfielders pushing forward to complement your attack, but you should have more than enough defensive cover from your CDMs to break up any potential counter-attacks.

There are a number of permutations of the 4-4-2 you could experiment with, including the 4-2-2-2 which is a lot more offensively minded at the expense of width. This alternative can be a little narrow and so will rely on your fullbacks providing options out wide, but it's flexible and with a couple of creative CAMs up front will result in a ton of goal scoring potential if you prefer to build up slowly and play through the middle.

4-4-2 Holding Custom Tactics and Instructions

The conventional 4-4-2 is quite adaptable, meaning that you can make it as offensive or defensive as you like with your Custom Tactics. But if you're opting for the 4-4-2 Holding then there's a good chance you're looking to keep it tight at the back. Defensively, you should be pretty safe, but getting the ball up the pitch when in possession can be quite laboured, so we'd recommend opting for Long Ball as your Build Up Play style.

If you feel you're not getting enough options upfront, even with the two strikers, then you can instruct your LM and RM players to Cut Inside, but you will lose width this way and may have to instruct your LB and RB to Overlap in order to offset it. Just be warned that this will leave you exposed in wide areas, and if you're up against an opponent who has pacey wingers then they will punish you. We'd recommend you instruct your fullbacks to hold their position during attacks, and try to rely on the natural width that your wide midfielders provide:

Defence

Defensive Style

Balanced

Width

50

Depth

50

Offence

Build Up Play

Long Ball

Chance Creation

Balanced

Width

55

Players in Box

5

Corners

2

Free Kicks

2

With all that in mind, here are some Instructions for your Players that you may want to tinker with if you're planning to use the 4-4-2 Holding formation. As discussed already, you should mess with these Instructions and see what works best for your personal playstyle. We'd always recommend starting out with Balanced on everything and then tinkering to your tastes. With the CDMs, you can allow the more offensive minded player to stray forward, as long as you keep one to Stay Back While Attacking:

4-1-2-1-2 Narrow

The 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow is one of the best formations for FUT because it offers a robust central midfield with excellent attacking options and plenty of defensive coverage. With the two strikers upfront and the CAM feeding them from slightly deeper areas, this favours the Forward Runs command for Chance Creation and can overload defences, particularly on the counter-attack. It does, however, lack a bit of width in the outside areas. You can counter this by opting for the 4-1-2-1-2 Wide formation, but this stretches the pitch and leaves space to exploit in the centre of the field.

If you do opt for the 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow, then you're going to need two very good fullbacks who are capable of shuttling up and down the pitch when called upon. We'd recommend instructing the more attacking of the duo to push forward with Balanced Attacks where possible, while assigning the more defensively minded player to Stay Back While Attacking. This will just give you a little more insurance should you get countered on.

You're going to need a bit of Width in both defence and offence, just to prevent players from stepping on each others' toes. The really good thing about this formation is that you can easily switch to a 4-2-3-1 if you need a little more defensive stability at any point, or even a 4-4-2 depending on your available personnel.

4-1-2-1-2 Narrow Custom Tactics and Instructions

The 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow isn't massively adaptable, as your Custom Tactics are likely going to rely on your CDM being assigned to Stay Back While Attacking and your CAM to Stay Forward so that your strikers don't get isolated. We'd recommend you keep your strikers up the pitch, allowing your CAM to feed them as they make Forward Runs into the box.

It makes sense to have one CM assigned to Balanced Attack and the other to Get Forward, giving you a little more stability in the middle of the park should you lose possession while still having plenty of attacking options when you're in possession of the ball. You could also try Fast Build Up play if you prefer to move the ball about swiftly in possession:

Defence

Defensive Style

Balanced

Width

50

Depth

60

Offence

Build Up Play

Balanced

Chance Creation

Forward Runs

Width

50

Players in Box

5

Corners

2

Free Kicks

2

We've included some example Instructions for your Players in the 4-1-2-1-2 Narrow formation below, but as always these are just a starting point for you to tinker with. Consider how offensive or defensive you'd like to play, and tweak the settings to your tastes. For example, if you find you're getting exposed on the wings, then you're going to need to sacrifice width by setting your fullbacks to Stay Back While Attacking:

4-3-1-2

The 4-3-1-2 is compact in the middle and allows you to play a possession-based game, using your fullbacks to provide width in both offensive and defensive areas. This formation is effective at flooding the midfield, meaning that it can be used to foil to formations like 4-4-2, although it relies on energetic fullbacks who will need to shuttle up-and-down the field.

The downside is that longballs into the channels can leave you completely and utterly exposed, particularly against pacey players in wide areas. However, with two strikers upfront and a CAM feeding them, you'll be able to apply pressure in the final third consistently, pressing opponents into mistakes and effectively operating under the conditions of "offence is the best defence".

If this formation isn't attacking enough, then you could also try a 4-3-2-1, leaving your striker up the field at all times and instructing your CAMs to run in behind when in possession. Alternatively, you could try 4-3-3 Attack, which will give you a bit more width and spreads your personnel evenly across the two attacking thirds. The downside to all of these is that there's not a great deal of defensive stability, depending on how you set them up, so you'll likely be looking to outscore your opponents if you opt for them.

4-3-1-2 Custom Tactics and Instructions

As with any formation in FIFA 23, you can make the 4-3-1-2 work how you want it to, whether it's a defensive or offensive approach. However, your Custom Tactics for this formation are likely going to focus on possession-based play, as you're going to want to use your overloads in midfield to knock the ball around. Similarly, while you can instruct your fullbacks to Stay Back While Attacking for defensive insurance, you're basically going to have no width so will probably want them to Overlap.

Because of how possession focused this formation is, we'd recommend you choose Slow Build Up and even Possession-based Chance Creation. You can do Forward Runs if you're chasing the game, but with two strikers assigned to Get Behind you should have more than enough opportunity to penetrate your opposition's lines.

With your CMs, there's absolutely loads you can do: we'd recommend you instruct one to Stay Back While Attacking, then put the other two on Balanced. If you're worried you're not getting enough attacking support, then you can assign one of your other two CMs to Get Forward, but you probably shouldn't use this approach unless you need a goal.

Defence

Defensive Style

Balanced

Width

55

Depth

50

Offence

Build Up Play

Slow Build Up

Chance Creation

Possession

Width

55

Players in Box

4

Corners

2

Free Kicks

2

Below are some example Instructions for the 4-3-1-2 that you may want to consider implementing if you're planning to use this formation. Remember that you should tweak it to your tastes, depending on what Players you're using and what you're trying to achieve on the pitch. These are just starting points for you to experiment with and find what works for your playstyle:

4-3-2-1

As mentioned above, the 4-3-2-1 is an attacking alternative to the 4-3-1-2, but it works well in FIFA 23, by providing you with a steady defensive structure and plenty of forwards you can use to build attacks around. The best way to play this formation is to keep it quite compact both defensively and offensively, meaning you're going to be working quite narrow. This means you will ultimately cede a lot of possession in wide areas, but you'll make up for this by being incredibly difficult to break down in front of goal.

Similarly, when you pick up possession, you're going to have a ton of options as you move the ball up the field, thanks to the sheer number of forwards and midfielders you have available. It can be quite easy to tap it around 4-4-2 formations as you'll almost always have extra options in the middle of the park, and if you want to be extremely aggressive you can push your fullbacks up to provide additional width. However, you must be wary of the counter-attack as it's easy to get exposed if your left back and right back are stranded upfield.

You can fiddle about with a 4-3-1-2 here and fluidly transition between the two as the situation arises, and even switch to a 4-3-3 to open up the pitch. Toggling between these, depending on what your opponent is doing, will make you quite difficult to predict, and therefore should lead to more opportunities as your opponent gets to grips with your rotating setups.

4-3-2-1 Custom Tactics

For your 4-3-2-1 Custom Tactics, you're ideally going to want to play quite narrow to keep the pitch nice and compact. Depending on how you play, you could go with an even narrower Width in Defence, as this will cause your fullbacks to really tuck in, making it difficult for opponents to find space in front of goal. Just be aware that you will be sacrificing wide positions this way, which could result in a number of crosses coming into the box. Make sure your central defenders are tall and physical, otherwise you may find yourself bullied by a big forward.

With regards to Build Up Play, we reckon that Balanced works best with Direct Passing here, as you have so many options moving through midfield and into the forward positions that you can really knock it around. Fast Build Up is also a decent alternative option you could experiment with, depending on your own personal playstyle.

One thing you can do with your fullbacks is to assign one to get forward in attacking scenarios, while the other one stays back. You're always going to have your CMs to help out in defence if you do get caught out, and we'd recommend that you use the most defensively minded of the trio as a CDM to Stay Back While Attacking and shuttle back and forth between the back four:

Defence

Defensive Style

Balanced

Width

40

Depth

50

Offence

Build Up Play

Balanced

Chance Creation

Direct Passing

Width

40

Players in Box

5

Corners

1

Free Kicks

1

We've included some example Instructions below, which should help to give you an idea of how to setup your Custom Tactics for the 4-3-2-1 formation. Tinker with these and find the optimal balance between offence and defence that works for you:

3-1-4-2

The great thing about the 3-1-4-2 is that you can set it up to be both defensive or offensive depending on what your situation demands. For example, if you're chasing a goal then you can push your wingers high up the pitch, creating overloads in attack while still having the defensive coverage in midfield to not give away any easy goals. If you've got tall, powerful strikers then this can be particularly effective, as the wide midfielders will be able to cross into the box for them to finish.

On the flip-side, if you've got a lead that you need to cling on to in the latter stages of a game, then you can use your wide midfielders to assist in defence. While this will come at the expense of width, it'll make it extremely challenging for opponents to break you down, especially with the defensive midfielder shuttling backwards and forwards in front of your backline.

You could also consider using a 3-4-1-2 here, which functions in much the same way as the 3-1-4-2 but replaces the CDM with a playmaking CAM to help feed your forwards. Obviously, this comes at the expense of some defensive stability, but will make you more potent on the attack, especially if you prefer to play a possession-based game in midfield with pacey forwards making runs into space upfront.

3-1-4-2 Custom Tactics and Instructions

As mentioned previously, the 3-1-4-2 can be setup either offensively or defensively, but whatever you choose to do it's going to result in enormous workload for your wide midfielders. Unless you're chasing a goal late in a game, you're going to need them to Come Back on Defence because otherwise you're going to leave your wings wide open and exposed. Similarly, though, you're going to want them to join the attack if possible, and to even Get in Behind during offensive possessions. You need the right Players for this formation to function, because the workload is immense.

Fortunately, you have a ton of cover in midfield to help out should things go south. We'd recommend you set the Defensive Position of your Left CM and Right CM to Cover Wing, meaning they'll help out wide if your wingers get caught out. Meanwhile, you want your CDM to remain Cover Centre, to give some support and security in front of your backline.

You'll need to use a bit of Width here because this formation can easily get congested if you don't. We'd also recommend you use Long Ball as your Build Up Play tactic, as you can fling it up to your forwards and then win second balls from midfield. We've included some Custom Tactics below for you to tinker with as you feel necessary:

Defence

Defensive Style

Balanced

Width

65

Depth

50

Offence

Build Up Play

Long Ball

Chance Creation

Balanced

Width

65

Players in Box

5

Corners

2

Free Kicks

2

To build on this we've included some example Instructions for the 3-1-4-2 below. As always, you should tinker with this as you see fit. There's a lot of work for your LM and RM to do in this setup, so picking the right Players is critical here. It's a good idea to have a couple of substitutes in the same position who can deputise for your starters if they run out of gas:

FIFA 23: All Custom Tactics for FUT

Deciding on the best formations for FUT is just one piece of the puzzle when building a formidable FUT 23 team: you'll also want to choose the best Custom Tactics for FUT as well. For all of the formations included above, we've provided example Custom Tactics, including Instructions, but none of these should be considered definitive. This is because a lot of what you select here will depend on your Players and what you're trying to achieve on the pitch. Many formations can become either offensive or defensive with just a few small adjustments.

Remember that you can create different Game Plans to suit an enormous variety of different scenarios, and you can change these mid-match by pushing left or right on the d-pad. If you're not sure what kind of Custom Tactics to employ for your formation, then we'd recommend you start out by keeping everything at its default settings. You can then hop into Squad Battles and start tinkering from there. For example, if you find that you're getting exposed in wide areas then you may want to consider adjusting your fullbacks' Attacking Runs instruction to Stay Back While Attacking. As you tinker, you'll begin to get a feel for the kind of Custom Tactics you want to leverage for your team.

If you're unsure of what the various Custom Tactics attributes actually do, then we've included a little more information for your reference below.

Defensive Tactics

Defensive Tactics, unsurprisingly, refers to your team's shape when your opponent has possession of the ball. This determines how your team tries to win back possession, and how your team works to prevent the opponent from scoring.

Defensive Style

Balanced

Your team will adopt a neutral shape, without really pressing the opponent or dropping too deep.

Pressure on Heavy Touch

Your team will attempt to predict when the opponent is about to make a mistake, and will then quickly close them down to capitalise on the error and quickly win the ball back.

Press After Possession Loss

For seven seconds after losing the ball, your team will press the opponent hard in an attempt to win the ball back quickly. While this is powerful, it does come at the cost of significant stamina drain.

Constant Pressure

Similarly to Press After Possession Loss, this will put your players on a rampage to regain possession. It'll significantly drain stamina, and isn't really recommended unless you're chasing the game.

Drop Back

Your team will fall into a low block, ceding possession to your opponent but preventing them from threading the ball in behind you.

Width

Width

Refers to how spread or compact your players are when out of possession. We'd recommend keeping this quite neutral.

Depth

Depth

Refers to where your players sit on the pitch when out of possession.

Offensive Tactics

Offensive Tactics refers to how your team operates in possession. This includes how you build out from the back, and the approach your attackers take when outside your opponent's box. You settings here will determine how you penetrate your opposition's defence, and ultimately score goals.

Build Up Play

Balanced

Your team will adopt a combination of all the different Build Up Play styles, allowing you to mix up your approach as you feel necessary.

Fast Build Up

Your teammates will break forward at pace, allowing you to get the ball forward at pace but potentially leaving you open to counterattacks if you lose possession along the way.

Slow Build Up

Your teammates will come short and show for the ball allowing you to slowly build up possession from the back and move through the thirds of the pitch. Attackers will generally face up and show for the ball, as opposed to making incisive runs in behind.

Long Ball

Useful if you have a large target man who can lead the line and who you can hoof the ball up to.

Chance Creation

Balanced

Your teammates will hold their position when in the attacking third, making penetrating runs in behind either when you trigger them with L1 or when they feel it's the right time to do so.

Possession

A good complement for Slow Build Up if you're a possession based player, your teammates will show short and look for the ball rather than running in-behind through the defensive lines.

Forward Runs

Your teammates will look to penetrate the defence and get in-behind, at the expense of potentially being caught out if you lose possession during the build-up.

Direct Passing

Rather than necessarily in behind, your teammates will try to pull the defence out of position by running into areas of space and looking for the ball. This works well if you have a pacey team capable of dragging defenders around.

Width

Width

Refers to how spread or compact your players are when you have possession of the ball. If you're looking to spread the play then you'll want to bump this up, whereas if you want to be quite compact and play through the middle then you can move it down.

Players in Box

Players in Box

Refers to how many players run into the box when you get into crossing situations. This can leave you open to the counter attack if you push too many players forward and subsequently cede possession.

Corners

Corners

Refers to how many players enter the box during corners. A higher number here can leave you open to the counter attack if you lose possession during the set-piece.

Free Kicks

Free Kicks

Similar to Corners, this refers to how many players get in the box during free kicks and set-piece scenarios. Again, it can leave you open to the counter attack if you select and high number here and subsequently lose possession.

What do you think are the best formations and custom tactics for FUT in FIFA 23? Check out our FIFA 23 guide, and let us know in the comments section below.