The Festival of Football Gauntlet is live in FC 26, and it hands out tokens, player packs, an Evolution, and a free 95-rated Eto’o card. The catch is that the bigger rewards only come from winning streaks, and the hardest tasks ask you to clear full rounds without dropping a match.
Quick answer: Finish all 10 Gauntlet tasks to claim every reward, including the free 95 OVR Eto’o ICON striker. The toughest tasks require completing a Perfect Round up to three times.
How the Festival of Football Gauntlet works
The Gauntlet is built around rounds of matches. Each task tracks how many matches you win inside a single round, and the rewards scale up the more wins you stack. A Perfect Round means winning every match in that round, which is what gates the highest-value rewards.
You progress through the mode by building different squads for each run. Losses are allowed during your overall climb, but the top-tier tasks specifically reward clean, unbroken runs, so a single dropped match can block a Perfect Round task for that attempt.
All Festival of Football Gauntlet rewards
There are 10 tasks in total. The table below lists each task and what it pays out.
| Task | Reward |
|---|---|
| Play five matches in the Gauntlet | 20 tokens |
| Win at least three matches in a single round | 30 tokens |
| Win at least three matches in a single round, twice | 85+ Rare Gold Players x4 |
| Win at least three matches in a single round, three times | Evolution |
| Win at least four matches in a single round | 1 of 4 88+ Rare Gold Players |
| Win at least four matches in a single round, twice | 85+ Rare Gold Players x10 |
| Win at least four matches in a single round, three times | 86+ Rare Gold Players x5 and 1 of 2 89+ Rare Gold Players |
| Complete a Perfect Round | 1 of 4 88+ Rare Gold Players and 1 of 4 89+ Rare Gold Players |
| Complete a Perfect Round, twice | 90+ Rare Gold Players x4 |
| Complete a Perfect Round, three times | 88+ Rare Gold Players x7 and 93+ FOF PTG Team 2 Players x3 |
How to unlock the free Eto’o card
Samuel Eto’o arrives as a 95 OVR ICON striker, and he is completely free as a Gauntlet reward rather than an SBC. To claim him, you need to complete every one of the 10 tasks listed above. That means clearing the Perfect Round tasks, which are the most demanding part of the mode.
His listed stats land at 94 Pace, 92 Shooting, 82 Passing, 91 Dribbling, 48 Defending, and 83 Physical. With elite pace and finishing on a free card, he is a strong striker option even before factoring in the rest of the rewards you collect along the way.
Note: The 93+ FOF PTG Team 2 Players x3 reward from the third Perfect Round task feeds into the wider Festival of Football grind, since those Path to Glory cards can upgrade based on real international tournament results.
Should you grind the full Gauntlet?
Even if Eto’o feels out of reach, the lower tasks are worth clearing. The early rewards include 50 tokens combined plus several Rare Gold player packs and an Evolution, all of which strengthen your club or feed into Festival of Football token goals.
Treat the Perfect Round tasks as the stretch goals. Pick up as many of the easier rewards as you can first, then push for the full clear if you want Eto’o as a finishing bonus. Either way, the packs and tokens make the time spent in the mode pay off well before you reach the final task.
