You hit submit on a Showdown SBC and the little timer feels like a metronome in your ear. I watched the final whistle notification hover over my feed while the Carabao Cup final still had 90 minutes to go. You have a couple of days to pick which card will sit in your club — and that choice can change your FUT season.
I’ve built and broken squads in EA FC 26 long enough to know how these decisions land. I’ll walk you through the tasks, the real trade-offs, and the small tells that tell you which card will give you more value before and after the upgrade. Read it like a scouting report: quick, pointed, and built to help you act fast.
I watched a teammate panic at kickoff — All Marmoush vs. Timber Showdown SBC tasks in FC 26
Before you choose, here are the exact challenges for each Showdown. Save this checklist to your notes or open FUTBIN/FUTWIZ on another tab.
Marmoush
Task 1
- Min. 1 Players from: Manchester City
- Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week
- Min. Team Rating: 86
Task 2
- Min. 1 Players from: Premier League
- Min. Team Rating: 87
Task 3
- Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week
- Min. Team Rating: 87
Timber
Task 1
- Min. 1 Players from: Netherlands
- Min. Team Rating: 86
Task 2
- Min. 1 Players from: Arsenal
- Min. Team Rating: 87
Task 3
- Min. 1 Players from: Premier League
- Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week
- Min. Team Rating: 87
Which Showdown card should I pick in FC 26?
You’re asking the right question. If you need a defender in your daily squad, Timber fills that slot; if your attack is brittle, Marmoush hands you solutions in the final third. I’ll be blunt: pre-upgrade, Marmoush offers more immediate meta value.
Marmoush already carries Rapid+ and Low Driven+, and his base traits include Finesse Shot, Technical, First Touch, Trickster, and Incisive Pass. That combination makes him a very playable forward who can score and create in tight moments. Marmoush is a finely tuned scalpel, precise in execution when you hit the right angle; his weakness is the 4* Weak Foot and only 83 Passing, which hurts tight tiki-taka sequences.
Timber plays as a defender who can physically hold ground and read the game, but there’s a glaring omission: low Interceptions. That stat gap leaves him vulnerable to smart through-balls and agile attackers. Timber is a brick wall with a loose brick — solid in most exchanges, but there’s one thing opponents will aim at.
Use FUTBIN or FUTWIZ to check SBC costs in real time. Expect rough price ranges in the $15–$30 (€14–€28) area depending on which league and TOTW cards you use and whether you recycle players from SBCs. I recommend doing the math on those sites before you commit a stack of valuable cards.
Will Marmoush or Timber get upgrades after the Carabao Cup final?
The upgrade decision is binary: the winning side’s Showdown card becomes eligible for the upgrade. EA FC 26 applies the upgrade after the match result (City vs Arsenal), so only one of the two cards will be in line for a boost. That’s how Showdown cards work in FUT and in the wider EA community conversation on Reddit and Twitter.
You can complete both SBCs now and hold both cards, but only one will receive the potential post-match upgrade. If you’re buying now on the Transfer Market to finish an SBC, remember prices spike before the final — traders on Twitch and Discord often flip these moves, so check live threads.
The lobby chatter is split — Which card should you pick
In my experience, your squad need should lead the pick. If you already have a solid forward corps, Timber is a defensive reinforcement; if defense is plated, Marmoush is the upgrade that actually moves the needle.
Here’s the quick playbook I use when advising friends:
- If you want an immediately impactful attacker who fits meta play: choose Marmoush.
- If you need a center-back option and you trust your defensive structure to cover his Interceptions gap: choose Timber.
- If you’re purely speculating for the upgrade and can afford both SBC costs, do both and sell whichever doesn’t get the upgrade.
Marmoush’s passing ceiling is the main pre-upgrade hole; an upgrade or an evolution will patch that. Timber can hit high Defense and Physical numbers if Arsenal wins, but that missing Interceptions stat is a constant worry unless you pair him with a high-Interceptions partner.
If you’re monitoring markets, use FUTBIN price graphs and Twitch streamers who post live prices — they’ll show supply dips and spikes in USD and EUR as traders react. Remember: an early purchase in dollars will cost you roughly $20 (€18) on average depending on platform and card availability.
Decide fast, act with data, and don’t let hype force a bad trade — what will you pick and why?