- Primary Subject: Unlocking the 97-rated ICON Diego Maradona via the Journey of Nations objective sets.
- Key Update: The co-op cheese method has been patched; you must now complete all requirements legitimately to earn the card.
- Status: All five continent Objective groups are live and will remain active through the end of the FC 26 cycle.
- Last Verified: July 10, 2026
- Quick Answer: To unlock Maradona, you must complete the Completionist group for North America, Asia & Oceania, Africa, South America, and Europe. Once you have the five specific continent-reward players (Müller, Alberto, Okocha, Al Owairan, and Sánchez), you must play one match with all five in your starting XI.
Season 9 has already kicked off in FC 26, but all the previous Journey of Nations Objectives that were tied to Diego Maradona will remain active until the end.
The final Objective group to earn the Argentinian all-time great was released last week. After you've completed all five groups, you need to play one match with all the completionist reward players.
Each of them is a 95-rated ICON from their respective continent.
Previously, you could cheese it by playing a co-op team match with someone who has the legend unlocked. That has now been patched, and you have to follow the regular way.
How to Unlock Journey of Nations Diego Maradona in FC 26
To unlock 97-rated Journey of Nations Diego Maradona, you'll have to complete the following five Objective groups:
- North America Completionist
- Asia + Oceania Completionist
- Africa Completionist
- South America Completionist
- Europe Completionist
Each of these also has another 7 to 9 Objective groups that you have to complete. In total, there are over 100+ tasks that you need to see through.
Once complete, you'll have five cards of Gerd Müller, Carlos Alberto, Jay-Jay Okocha, Saeed Al Owairan, and Hugo Sánchez.
Play a single match while having all five in your starting eleven, and Diego Maradona is yours.
Fastest way to unlock Journey of Nations Diego Maradona
Unfortunately, there is no shortcut, and you have to approach each continent separately. It'll take you 15 matches on average to complete each group, assuming you do everything correctly.
That's quite a task, and Squad Battles will remain the best mode to do it, as they're more predictable than online modes. However, some objectives require you to play Rush and Live Events.
Below are all the groups, including teams and tasks you need to do for faster completion.
Europe Journey of Nations
Team 1 with 4-4-2 formation (6 matches)
- 3 players from England.
- 6 players from France.
- 1 player from Türkiye.
- 1 player from Sweden.
Tasks
- Win six matches on Squad Battle World Class Difficulty.
- Assist 5 goals using a player from England.
- Assist with a backheel pass using a French player.
- Score 4 goals and concede fewer than 2 goals in a single match.
- Score a goal off the woodwork using a French player.
- Score a low driven shot in 6 separate wins.
- Score a finesse shot from outside the box in 3 separate wins.
- Score 3 Chip Shots.
Team 2 (5 matches)
- 4 players from Portugal.
- 4 players from the Netherlands.
- 1 player from Austria.
- 1 player from Scotland.
Tasks
- Assist 3 goals using a player with a minimum of 87 passing.
- Score in 5 separate matches using a player with a minimum of 88 shooting and 88 dribbling.
- Score 2 goals from outside the box.
- Assist at least 1 lobbed through pass in 5 separate matches.
- Score with a low driven shot in 3 separate wins.
- 2 through-pass assists per match using an Austrian player three times.
Team 3 (5 matches)
- 6 players from Norway.
- 3 players from Belgium.
- 1 player from Switzerland.
- 1 player from Croatia.
Tasks
- Score 3 goals.
- Score 4 goals in a single match using an ST.
- Assist at least 1 goal in 5 separate matches with a through ball.
- Win 3 matches.
Team 4 (3 matches)
- 1 player from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
- 1 player from Czechia.
Tasks
- Assist with a through pass in 3 separate matches.
- Concede 1 or fewer goals.
- Score a goal with a finesse shot.
South America Journey of Nations
Team 1 (5 Matches)
- 6 players from Brazil.
- 4 players from Colombia.
- 1 player from either Paraguay or Ecuador.
Task
- Do a first-touch assist using a player with 80+ passing in all 5 games.
- Score 2 goals in every one of the five matches.
- Concede only 1 or fewer in any one of the matches.
- Score a total of 2 low-driven goals with an RB position player.
- Score a volley using a Colombian CAM position player.
- Provide 3 through ball assists with a Colombian CAM in separate wins.
Team 2 (5 Matches)
- 4 players from Argentina.
- 1 player from Uruguay who has to be Forlán.
- 6 players from Brazil, and one has to be Ronaldinho.
Tasks:
- Score 7 goals or more in one of the matches and concede only 1.
- Score 2 goals in every one of the five matches.
- Score a total of 5 goals with Forlán, in which 2 should be penalties and 2 outside of the box.
- Assist a total of 1 goal with Forlán.
- Score once with a finesse shot.
- Provide 3 through ball assists in 5 separate matches.
- Score a direct free kick with Ronaldinho.
Africa Journey of Nations
Team 1 (Live Events, 5 matches)
- 4 players from Ghana (at least 1 Ghana midfielder or attacker).
- 4 players from DR Congo.
- 1 player from Tunisia.
- 1 player from Egypt.
- 1 player from Senegal.
Tasks
- Score 1 power shot goal.
- Assist with a lobbed through ball in 5 matches.
- Assist with a cross.
- Score from outside the box with a Ghana player.
- Score a finesse shot in 5 matches.
- Concede 2 or fewer goals in 3 wins.
- Score with the RW player in 3 matches.
- Assist 5 goals with the LW player
Team 2
- 4 players from Senegal (one must be Sadio Mané).
- 4 players from Côte d'Ivoire (one must be Didier Drogba).
- 1 player from DR Congo/Cape Verde (if you still need lobbed through-ball assists).
- Fill the remaining spots with African players for any unfinished objectives.
- Include several players with 80+ passing.
- Include 1 player whose preferred position is CM.
- Your starting XI must contain 11 African players.
Tasks
- Score exactly 30 goals (do not score more).
- Score 3 goals with Drogba.
- Assist 3 goals in one match with a Senegal player.
- Keep a clean sheet.
- Score 5 goals with Sadio Mané.
- Complete a first touch assist with an 80+ passing player.
- Score 2 goals with the CM.
Team 3 (3 Matches)
- 4 players from Côte d'Ivoire (one must be Didier Drogba).
- 4 players from Ghana
- 1 player from DR Congo
- The remaining 2 should be African players.
Tasks
- Win 3 World Class Squad Battles matches while scoring at least 3 goals in each.
- Score 2 goals with a CM.
Asia and Oceania Journey of Nations
Team 1 (3 matches)
- 6 players from Japan.
- 4 players from South Korea.
- 1 player from New Zealand.
- Bench: 1 player from Australia (sub them on during the match).
Tasks
- Assist 2 goals with a Japanese player every match.
- Score a finesse shot with a South Korean player every match.
- Assist with the Australian substitute every match.
- Assist with a cross.
- Assist 5 total goals with a player that has 83+ passing.
- Assist 1 goal with a CAM.
- Score a chip shot.
Team 2 (1 match)
- 6 players from Japan.
- 4 players from Australia.
- 1 player from Uzbekistan or Qatar.
Tasks
- Assist 2 goals with a Japanese player.
- Assist with an Australian player.
Team 3 (1 match)
- 6 players from Japan.
- 4 players from Australia, one must be Tim Cahill
- 1 player from Saudi Arabia.
Tasks
- Assist 2 goals with a Japanese player.
- Assist with an Australian player.
- Score a volley with Tim Cahill.
- Score 1 power shot.
- Assist with a through ball.
Team 4 (1 match)
- 6 players from Japan.
- 4 players from Australia.
Tasks
- Assist 2 goals with a Japanese player.
Team 5 (1 match)
- 4 players from Saudi Arabia.
Tasks
- Score 1 goal with a player that has 94+ pace.
- Score at least 2 goals while conceding fewer than 2 goals.
North America Journey of Nations
Team 1 (Live Events, 3 matches)
- 6 players from Canada.
- 3 players from Mexico.
- 1 player from Brazil.
- Use the 4-4-2 (2) formation.
Tasks
- Win 3 matches.
- Score 7 goals.
- Concede no more than 3 goals in a single match.
- Score 2 finesse shot goals.
- Assist with a lobbed through ball in 3 separate matches with a player from Canada.
- Score a free kick with a Mexican player.
Team 2 (6 matches)
Squad
- 6 players from the United States, including Clint Dempsey.
- 4 players from Canada.
- Rafael Márquez.
Tasks
- Win 3 matches.
- Assist a through ball in 3 separate matches.
- Score a low-driven goal in 6 separate matches.
- Score at least 2 finesse shot goals.
- Score a header with Rafael Márquez.
There are also Rush Objectives in the North America group. You just need to pick a player from North America and score 7 goals, assist 5 goals, and win 1 match by two goals in the mode.
Yes, completing all of that sounds incredibly grueling. Good luck if you've just started!
Don't worry, if it is too much of a grind for your taste, feel free to sit out. FUTTIES is around the corner and will have no shortage of similarly cracked cards.
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