Prepare the rocket launchers, we're going to score some bangers!

Playing online on FIFA 20 you'll come up against a lot of players using the Drop Back defense. When it's so difficult to work your way into the box for a goalscoring opportunity, having players with fantastic long shots can be the difference between a narrow victory and you throwing your controller through a window and losing your security deposit. Let's take a look at the best players that can rain down tracer bullets on the opposition. 

15. Toni Kroos

To be a top player in FIFA without high Pace takes some doing, but Kroos is class regardless.

One of those players who is forever a part of the end-of-season huge upgrade teams (almost-end-of, in this case). Kroos is an impeccable passer: and can provide a rocket or two from outside the area. He's an ideal free-kick taker, too. 

Kroos’ Stat Highlights:

• 86 Long Shots, 87 Shot Power, 89 Vision.
• 91 Short Passing, 92 Long Passing, 87 Reactions.
• 89 Ball Control, 80 Dribbling, 88 Composure.

What Makes Kroos Amazing:

• His 96 TOTS card is crazy good, and crazy cheap. The state of FIFA right now means you can get him for around 140k.
• A five-star weak foot for controlling the midfield (and hammering long shots on either side).
• If you can't spring for his TOTS, get a 30 point Pace boost from his ~60k Halloween card. 

14. Radja Nainggolan

If you’re looking for a player that is rarely used, but fun and (fairly) meta, here’s your guy.

Consistently underrated as a brilliant option for FIFA players everywhere; Nainggolan is a versatile beast that can play anywhere up the middle of the field. He even has a RW Inform - though his pace isn't the greatest for a wide role. 

Nainggolan's Stat Highlights:

• 86 Long Shots, 84 Shot Power, 84 Positioning. 
• 84 Short Passing, 86 Interceptions, 90 Slide Tackle. 
• 89 Stamina, 88 Aggression, 83 Balance. 

What Makes Nainggolan Amazing:

• Almost perfectly balanced stats, that get better the more coins you can spare. 
• High/high work rates which you can utilize through his individual instructions. 
• A stocky build to keep him from being knocked off balance as he shoots. 

13. Gareth Bale

He gets tough treatment in Madrid, but you try being compared to Cristiano Ronaldo on a weekly basis for five years.

Scorer of some of the most spectacular long-range goals the Premier League has ever seen; not to mention his ludicrous bicycle kick in the 2018 Champions League final. Bale's rating might have dropped over the last couple of years, but he still provides some big stats and a useful Birthday card. 

Bale’s Stat Highlights:

• 90 Long Shots, 92 Shot Power, 85 Positioning.
• 90 Acceleration, 91 Sprint Speed, 84 Finishing.
• 84 Ball Control, 83 Dribbling, 85 Composure.

What Makes Bale Amazing:

• As an 85-rated card, he's outrageously cheap; even his Moments Inform is great value at CF. 
• He's got four-star skills, with good dribbling for making space and finding the shot. 
• 89 FK Accuracy and 92 Curve make him a menace over a dead ball. 

12. Zlatan Ibrahimovic

He doesn’t get older, he just gets better. Zlatan will still be world-class when I’m in a rocking chair.

The legend that is Ibra is still, somehow, one amazing option for your FIFA side. At 38 years old he's still tearing up Serie A; and, if you don't live for exclusively pacey forwards, is a viable option in Ultimate Team. You'll only need 6k for his base Milan card! 

Ibrahimovic’s Stat Highlights:

• 88 Long Shots, 91 Positioning, 90 Shot Power.
• 86 Finishing, 84 Vision, 90 Composure.
• 82 Reactions, 84 Ball Control, 87 Strength.

What Makes Ibrahimovic Amazing:

• His 88-rated Halloween card has a 29-point Pace boost if you can’t afford his Winter Upgrade.
• Five-star skiller, four-star weak foot. Would you expect anything less?
• He’s a 6’5” tank. With either of his big upgrades you’ve got the whole package.

11. Bruno Fernandes

Bruno is shaping up to be the quality leader that Manchester United are begging for.

Fernandes has set Manchester United on fire since his January arrival. Because of this, he’s ended up with a bunch of awesome FUT cards for you to use in your EPL teams. The Portuguese CAM has got a wicked long-range piledriver on him for good measure.

Fernandes’ Stat Highlights:

• 88 Long Shots, 89 Shot Power, 88 Vision.
• 87 FK Accuracy, 86 Short Passing, 87 Ball Control.
• 85 Dribbling, 86 Composure, 92 Stamina.

What Makes Fernandes Amazing:

• Four-star/four-star, 5’10”, a perfect league, and even a nice nation to link some fun hybrids. 
• Outside Foot Shot and Flair traits give him an extra edge in the hole behind the strikers.
• His brilliant free kicks. The most satisfying of long-range goals.

10. Luis Suarez

MSN might have been the only chat room for mid-00s kids like me, but it’s a terrible name for a phenomenal front three.

The man everyone loves to hate, but can’t help admire. Unless you’re a Barcelona, Uruguay, or possibly Liverpool/Ajax fan, in which case you probably just love him for the goals he bagged for your team. Either way, Suarez is one of the world’s best, and that applies to FIFA 20 as well.

Suarez’ Stat Highlights:

• 86 Long Shots, 92 Positioning, 91 Finishing.
• 92 Reactions, 85 Dribbling, 85 Composure.
• 86 Strength, 87 Aggression, 82 Stamina.

What Makes Suarez Amazing:

• He’s one of the best strikers in the game, no matter what version you have.
• 6’0” tall (I was surprised too), with high/medium work rates to keep him in and around the danger zone at all times.
• The Outside Foot Shot is rather helpful when taking aim from 20+ yards.

9. Aleksandar Kolarov

His effort in Manchester City’s Harlem Shake video should never be forgotten. Go look it up right after reading this article.

How about having a defender that has a traction engine of a left foot in your side to terrorize the opposition from the back? If you got a hold of his Shapeshifter CDM then you’re in an ideal position to use his striking talents. If not, rest assured he’ll regularly join the attack from left-back.

Kolarov’s Stat Highlights:

• 86 Long Shots, 95 Shot Power, 88 FK Accuracy.
• 85 Curve, 83 Reactions, 90 Composure.
• 82 Interceptions, 83 Stand Tackle, 86 Aggression.

What Makes Kolarov Amazing:

• That Shot Power?! His strikes are like tracer bullets!
• He’s 6’2”, and his high/medium work rates make him a brilliant wing-back.
• None of his Informs are very expensive; but they’re all very good. 

8. Philippe Coutinho

I mean, Liverpool have done okay without him, but he’s made his name from scoring outrageous long shots.

You’ll no doubt be pretty pleased with yourself if you picked up Coutinho’s OTW card early on this season. The little Brazilian has had three Informs, along with a (rather expensive) TOTS SBC. As a right-footed left-winger, you can bank on a few of his trademark screamers cutting in from that left flank.

Coutinho’s Stat Highlights:

• 88 Long Shots, 86 FK Accuracy, 90 Curve.
• 92 Agility, 93 Balance, 91 Ball Control.
• 90 Dribbling, 84 Short Passing, 86 Vision.

What Makes Coutinho Amazing:

• How about five-star skills?
• Or a four-star weak foot?
• Or his Flair trait, great league, and top-tier nation links? Enough reasons to check him out? I think so!

7. Christian Eriksen

Free kick stats have been popping up here and there on this list, and Christian Eriksen is one more player to add to your growing queue of dead-ball specialists. The Dane is the perfect player to receive, turn, and knock the leather off the ball on its way into the top corner.

Eriksen’s Stat Highlights:

• 89 Long Shots, 85 Positioning, 92 Vision.
• 86 FK Accuracy, 91 Short Passing, 88 Reactions.
• 91 Ball Control, 88 Composure, 93 Stamina.

What Makes Eriksen Amazing:

• His Winter Refresh isn’t that expensive, but is utterly deadly with 99 Long Shots and 94 Shot Power.
• He’s got that dream five-star weak foot, backed up by four-star skill moves.
• Link the play quickly through midfield with his awesome passing.

6. Marco Reus

 

A loyal servant of the highest class to a terrific club. How can you not love this man?

Another player that is a fan-favorite on FIFA every year, yet hasn’t made one of my lists, until now! I think… Anyway, Marco Reus has always been a phenomenal player to use in FIFA: and this year he is possibly the most well-rounded base card in the game.

Reus’ Stat Highlights:

• 87 Long Shots, 88 Shot Power, 89 Positioning.
• 87 Reactions, 88 Ball Control, 87 Dribbling.
• 86 Vision, 86 Short Passing, 86 Agility.

What Makes Reus Amazing:

• I’ve only scratched the surface of his IGS. EVERY Pace, Shooting, Passing and Dribbling attribute is 80+. Except Long Passing, which for a CAM, who cares?
• Imagine, then, the blindingly ridiculous stats that his Headliners and TOTS cards can boast.
• On top of that, he comes with four-star/four-star, high/medium work rates, AND the Outside Foot Shot and Finesse Shot traits.

5. Paulo Dybala 

An utter joy to watch on the field as well as play with on FIFA.

Dybala is a similar player to Reus, in that he’s a dependable, high-quality card that is affordable to basically anyone at this stage of the game. Whilst dribbling is what he does best, the diminutive CAM has a trick up his unlicensed sleeve (thanks PES) when it comes to long shots.

Dybala’s Stat Highlights:

• 86 Long Shots, 87 Vision, 87 Short Passing.
• 88 FK Accuracy, 88 Curve, 86 Acceleration.
• 91 Agility, 93 Ball Control, 90 Dribbling.

What Makes Dybala Amazing:

• He has the Finesse Shot trait. Just line up that 90-degree angle and let fly.
• Like the playmakers that have come before him, he also has the Outside Foot Shot and Flair traits.
• He has upgrades at ST and LW, covering your wide and central needs for Argentine or Serie A stars.

4. Lionel Messi 

There are no more words to describe Messi, but I’ll do my best for the sake of this list.

Yeah, yeah, let’s talk about Leo Messi, again. He currently has two 99 cards, two 97s, three 96s, and two 95s; which is frankly just silly at this point. His base 94 still outperforms most of the TOTS/TOTY players you’ll come up against anyway.

Messi’s Stat Highlights:

• 94 Long Shots, 94 Positioning, 95 Finishing.
• 94 Vision, 94 FK Accuracy, 93 Curve.
• 93 Agility, 95 Balance, 97 Dribbling.

What Makes Messi Amazing:

• What doesn’t make Messi amazing? All his Dribbling attributes are 90+, as are half his Shooting and all but one of his Passing. (Crossing: 88. Who’s crossing with Messi, anyway?)
• Four-star/four-star and his dribbling is so ridiculous that you have to play with him to get a feel for how untouchable he is.
• Finesse Shot and Outside The Foot Shot are the standouts on his long list of traits.

3. Son Heung-Min

I’ve never hated a more likable person than Son. Curse you, FIFA 20!

Now, I’m usually reluctant to put Messi at number one on my lists, because he features in over half of them, so that would be boring. Son beats him to number three on account of him constantly scoring at least twice whenever I come up against any version of his card. Mostly from 25 yards. It’s infuriating.

Son’s Stat Highlights:

• 90 Long Shots, 88 Shot Power, 88 Positioning.
• 89 Sprint Speed, 86 Agility, 89 Reactions.
• 87 Ball Control, 88 Dribbling, 87 Composure.

What Makes Son Amazing:

• His five-star weak foot, which might as well be a nine-star weak foot.
• Seven upgrades that get harder and harder to defend against.
• He might just be my bogey player, but he has that knack of getting space and getting a goal from the edge of the area.

2. Kevin de Bruyne

Mesmerizing. He’s just an all-round midfield maestro and an all-time great.

Accompanying Son in the EPL TOTSSF, de Bruyne is one of the elites when it comes to long-range strikes. None of his upgraded cards come cheap, but if you have an EPL side, he will improve it, no matter who you have in there.

De Bruyne’s Stat Highlights:

• 90 Shot Power, 91 Long Shots, 88 Positioning.
• 94 Vision, 92 Short Passing, 89 Stamina.
• 91 Reactions, 91 Ball Control, 91 Composure.

What Makes de Bruyne Amazing:

• Another five-star weak foot for this list.
• He’s the best EPL midfielder not named N’Golo Kante.
• The long-distance goals you can score will amaze you (and cause a wild rage in your opponents).

1. Cristiano Ronaldo 

See my Messi caption above.

Finally! Ronaldo has been shockingly absent from every single one of my previous lists that I’ve worked on here. Shame on me for this dreadful omission, but CR7 is thoroughly deserving of his place as the king of the long shot.

Ronaldo’s Stat Highlights:

• 93 Long Shots, 95 Shot Power, 94 Finishing.
• 91 Sprint Speed, 95 Positioning, 95 Jumping.
• 96 Reactions, 92 Ball Control, 95 Composure.

What Makes Ronaldo Amazing:

• Five-star skills, four-star weak foot. 
• Outside Foot Shot, Flair, and (most importantly) Power Free-Kick traits. 
• Do you have 5 million coins burning a hole in your pocket? Ronnie’s two 99-rated cards will give you a mental advantage before you’ve even kicked off. 

Also be sure to check out these articles: 

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• [Top 10] FIFA 20 Best Teams To Use In Career Mode
• FIFA 20 Best Free Agents Who Are Amazing
• [Top 10] FIFA 20 Best Attacking Teams 
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• [Top 15]  FIFA 20 Best American Players Who Are Amazing
• [Top 15] FIFA 20 Best Players Who Are Amazing
• [Top 15] FIFA 20 Best Young Strikers Who Are Amazing
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• FIFA 20 Best Formations (Top 10 Strongest Formations) 
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• [Top 15] Fifa 20 Best English CBs Who Are Amazing
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