Alex Hunter is back in EA Sports FC 27 after an eight-year gap, and this time he is not a character you control. He appears in The Grounds, the game’s new street football social mode, as a mentor who hands out objectives and rewards to your custom player. If you played the FIFA story campaigns of the late 2010s, the face will be instantly familiar. If you did not, here is exactly who he is and what he does now.
Quick answer: Alex Hunter is a non-playable mentor in The Grounds. Find him in the open world, take his set of challenges, complete them, then return to him to claim rewards and unlock the next tier of objectives that improve your custom avatar.
Who Alex Hunter is
Alex Hunter is a fictional English footballer born in Clapham, London. He debuted in FIFA 17 as the lead of The Journey, a cinematic story mode built around dialogue choices, motion-captured scenes, family relationships, and branching career paths. You controlled him as he climbed from academy football to a Premier League contract, chasing the legacy of his grandfather, Jim Hunter, a former professional who mentors him early on.
His story ran across three straight releases and wrapped up in FIFA 19. Along the way he became a global superstar, went through exit trials to break into the Premier League, revived his career with the LA Galaxy, and eventually completed a move to Real Madrid, helping the club win a Champions League title. He had not appeared in the series since that ending until the FC 27 reveal.
| Title | Stage of Hunter’s career |
|---|---|
| FIFA 17 | Academy graduate to first Premier League contract |
| FIFA 18 | Offers from top European clubs and rise to international icon |
| FIFA 19 | Move to Real Madrid and a Champions League triumph |
What Alex Hunter does in The Grounds
In FC 27 he returns as a mentor rather than a playable star. The Grounds is a social football playground where the streets meet the stadium, mixing kickabouts, 1v1s, and Clubs play with friends. Hunter is one of the renowned mentors you can walk up to and interact with as you explore the map.
The mentor system is built around your custom avatar. When you meet Hunter, he gives you a set of objectives to complete across the open world. These challenges focus on developing your player’s skills. Once you finish them, you go back to him to collect your rewards and open up the next tier of challenges. His tasks are framed around the lessons from his own rise from prospect to icon, and you can hear his Champions League run from his perspective while you progress.
He is not the only mentor on the streets. Cover star Kylian Mbappé also appears as a Grounds mentor, and the mode’s districts each carry their own football culture and layout.
Where to find him and which platforms have The Grounds
Hunter lives in the open world of The Grounds, so you reach him by exploring the mode’s streets and districts rather than through a menu. The reveal shows three districts you can move through, each with a distinct style.
| District | Inspiration and features |
|---|---|
| Parkside | English streets, a 2v2 pitch behind terraced housing near a café named “Park The Bus” |
| Montclair | French-inspired area with a football cage along the riverside |
| Zeiza | Hard-court street match beneath a large Carlos Tevez mural |
The Grounds, including Clubs, is available only on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2 versions. If you are on older hardware, you will not have access to the mode or to Hunter as a mentor. You can confirm edition and platform details on the official EA Sports FC 27 page.
When you can meet him
EA Sports FC 27 launches on September 25, 2026, with earlier access on September 18 for Ultimate Edition players. The reveal trailer confirmed The Grounds and closed on Hunter appearing as a Grounds mentor, so his return is officially part of the mode rather than a rumor.
For now, the exact number of his challenge tiers and the specific rewards have not been detailed. What is confirmed is his function: he is a familiar face pointing new and returning players toward the open world’s progression, and completing his objectives is the way you unlock what he offers next.
