FIFA 21: Advanced Passing | Tutorial

Passing is the bread and butter of real football. It’s what players do to knock the ball around between them to maintain possession and build up an attack. FIFA 21 is no different, and that’s why every player needs to learn how to pass and do it effectively.

But while FIFA 21’s passing system appears to be simple on the surface, it’s surprisingly deep. There are all kinds of different passes and modifiers, and they all have their purpose. Here’s a list of them all, from the simplest to the most complex.

Before looking at each of them individually, you’ll need to know how passing works. Basically, with the default settings, passing factors in both your directional input and how much power you do.

Generally, the ball will move in the direction you’re holding. But the amount of power you put in, which depends on how long you hold the pass button, will determine whether the pass will go to a closer teammate or a more distance teammate. However, these settings can be changed in the options menu, and if you want to, you can turn off the assistance mechanic and make it completely manual.

Now, the ground pass is the most straightforward and most versatile pass. But while it’s often good enough, there will be times where some of the other passes can be more effective. The lobbed pass, for example, is excellent when there’s an opponent’s player in the way. It’s also a perfect way to switch the ball to the other side of the pitch or send it towards your opponent’s goal.

(c) EA Sports

A driven ground pass is useful when you want to send a ground pass over a longer distance. It adds more power without sacrificing too much accuracy. It’s also a good idea to use them for mid-range passes too, since they move a lot quicker than a standard pass and are much harder to intercept.

A lofted pass is something between a lobbed pass and a driven one. It has additional power and height, but not to the point where it has too much of either one. It can be used in many different scenarios and is particularly useful when used to send the ball towards a striker’s feet.

These modifiers can all be applied to through passes and crosses to have the same effect, which can help make them even more impactful than they already are. Through passes, in particular, are an incredible tool. Rather than send the ball directly to a player’s feet, a through pass will send it into the space that a player is running towards. This can be lethal, especially when the receiver is a striker running towards the goal.

FIFA 21’s assistance mechanics do an excellent job of making it easy to deliver excellent through passes. But if you want to make them perfect, you’ll still want to be conscious of your target player’s run and time it accordingly.

Crosses are equally important too. Naturally, they’re the pass of choice when whipping the ball into the opponent’s box. It will send the ball into empty space, and depending on how much power you’ve put in and where you aim, it can go towards either the front post or the back post.

The whipped cross, which was inspired by Liverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold, is a new modifier that makes crosses even faster and more dangerous. It makes it easier for players in the box to get their head onto the ball.

You’ll eventually need to master all the different passes to use them to their maximum potential. To do that, an excellent place to have a go at some of FIFA 21’s skill games that focus on passing. Better yet, play the game and use them on the field. After all, it’s the best way to learn.