At the beginning of each season, EA Sports gives ratings to every single player for the launch of the new FIFA game.
However, as the season progresses, it becomes clear that some players have been underrated and deserve higher scores in the game.
Each year, the Ratings Refresh event sees these underrated players receive in-game upgrades to better reflect their real-life form.
This breathes new life into the game as many new players become more useful and this helps provide more variety when teambuilding in FIFA Ultimate Team.
The Ratings Refresh promotion is expected to start on Friday, February 18 in FIFA Ultimate Team.
It usually runs for two weeks as upgraded players and special squads are released, as well as in-game objectives and limited-time Squad Building Challenges.
The Ratings Refresh usually coincides with the end of the January transfer window and sees many players who have changed clubs receive new overall ratings.
During Ratings Refresh, many players will be upgraded and receive a new basic card in FIFA Ultimate Team.
Players who have received in-form cards such as Team of the Week items may also see those cards also get an automatic boost as their base rating improves.
Standard cards with the new ratings will be released in packs, replacing the older versions, but any standard cards in your club already will not be upgraded.
In FIFA 20, EA Sports also introduced a Winter Refresh squad to replace Winter Ones to Watch, containing upgraded transferred cards and other boosted players with new positions and attributes.
In previous editions of FIFA, lots of players would get upgraded even if their ratings had only improved slightly in the live database.
Last year, only players with at least a +3 boost to their overall rating received an increase, but this may not continue for FIFA 21.
The Online Seasons database is usually a good guide to know which players will get upgraded during Ratings Refresh. These ratings below are taken from the live database which is used for Online Seasons and Career Mode.
| Player | Club | League | Old Rating | New Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robert Lewandowski | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 91 | 92 |
| Bruno Fernandes | Man Utd | Premier League | 87 | 88 |
| Heung-min Son | Spurs | Premier League | 87 | 88 |
| Erling Haaland | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 84 | 86 |
| Leon Goretzka | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 84 | 86 |
| Romelu Lukaku | Inter | Serie A | 85 | 86 |
| Jerome Boateng | Bayern Munich | Bundesliga | 82 | 84 |
| Zlatan Ibrahimovic | AC Milan | Serie A | 83 | 84 |
| Marcos Llorente | Atletio Madrid | La Liga | 82 | 84 |
| Jack Grealish | Aston Villa | Premier League | 80 | 83 |
| Joao Felix | Atletio Madrid | La Liga | 81 | 83 |
| Andre Silva | Eintracht Frankfurt | Bundesliga | 80 | 82 |
| Angelino | RB Leipzig | Bundesliga | 80 | 82 |
| Dominic Calvert-Lewin | Everton | Premier League | 80 | 82 |
| Jules Kounde | Sevilla | La Liga | 79 | 81 |
| Phil Foden | Man City | Premier League | 79 | 81 |
| Hakan Calhanoglu | AC Milan | Serie A | 79 | 81 |
| Emiliano Martinez | Aston Villa | Premier League | 78 | 81 |
| Hirving Lozano | Napoli | Serie A | 80 | 81 |
| Florian Neuhaus | Borussia M'gladbach | Bundesliga | 79 | 81 |
| Theo Hernandez | AC Milan | Serie A | 80 | 81 |
| Jonathan Bamba | Lille | Ligue 1 | 78 | 80 |
| Youssef En-Nesyri | Sevilla | La Liga | 78 | 79 |
| Michail Antonio | West Ham | Premier League | 78 | 79 |
| Reece James | Chelsea | Premier League | 77 | 78 |
| Kalvin Phillips | Leeds | Premier League | 76 | 78 |
| Lucas Paqueta | Lyon | Ligue 1 | 76 | 78 |
| Bukayo Saka | Arsenal | Premier League | 75 | 77 |
| James Justin | Leicester | Premier League | 73 | 76 |
| Weston McKennie | Piemonte Calcio | Serie A | 75 | 76 |
| Darwin Nunez | Benfica | Liga NOS | 72 | 76 |
| Ryan Gravenberch | Ajax | Eredivisie | 73 | 76 |
| Gio Reyna | Borussia Dortmund | Bundesliga | 68 | 75 |
| Callum Hudson-Odoi | Chelsea | Premier League | 74 | 75 |
| Patrick Bamford | Leeds | Premier League | 72 | 75 |
| Toma Basic | Bordeaux | Ligue 1 | 74 | 75 |
| Ibanez | Roma | Serie A | 68 | 74 |
| Emile Smith Rowe | Arsenal | Premier League | 69 | 73 |
| Yacine Adli | Bordeaux | Ligue 1 | 71 | 72 |