eFootball 2023 Season 2 has started, adding 40 national teams and Maradona

Season 2 of eFootball 2023 begins today, Konami has announced.

The second season will have the theme of ‘The Football Festival’, coinciding with the upcoming start of the FIFA World Cup (though with no official rights to use the World Cup licence, it naturally isn’t mentioned).

40 national teams have been added to the game and can be selected for a limited time in offline play in the game’s Trial Match mode.

A new single-player mode called The International Cup Experience will also run until January 12, allowing players to choose from 46 national teams and take part in a tournament against the AI.

The launch of Season 2 will also include new National Team Packs, allowing players to buy national players from Argentina, France, Brazil and Japan. These packs also include a new ‘Big Time’ player.

Big Time cards feature a player with improved stats, based on a specific period or moment in their career.

Interestingly, one of the Big Cards is Diego Maradona, based on his performance in the game against England at the 1986 World Cup.

This is particularly notable because the image rights to Maradona have been a contentious matter in recent years.

Further reading

Diego Maradona has been ‘suspended’ from FIFA 22

A "third party legal dispute" has forced EA to remove the legendary player from the game

Maradona was removed from FIFA 22 in March, with EA citing a “third party legal dispute”.

The issue appears to stem from a debate over who owns Maradona’s likeness rights, with an Argentinian court deciding last year that EA had potentially negotiated with the wrong party, and that it had to remove Maradona from the game until it could be determined who it should have dealt with.

He continues to be absent from FIFA 23, but his presence in eFootball 2023 suggests that Konami may have navigated the legal minefield.