How to score penalty kicks in FIFA 23

FIFA fans were treated with a deep-dive gameplay trailer from EA earlier this week, which showcased several changes and tweaks the developers have made to mechanics. There are new skill moves, an improved defending repertoire, and the ability to kick a power shot, among other things. However, one of EA’s largest changes in FIFA 23 is to the free kick system. Players should be aware of a few new features before kicking a free kick. This, of course, affects how players take penalty kicks.

While these changes also affect corner and free kicks in general, penalty shots are one area players can’t afford to mess up in FIFA 23. Penalty kicks are the difference between winning and losing matches in most cases, so players must master the new free kick system if they want to excel at penalty shots when FIFA 23 drops on Sept. 30.

Scoring penalty kicks in FIFA 23

Players who line up for a penalty kick will see the composure ring appear. Depending on the player’s current composure rating, the ring will be large or small. To have the maximum chance for success, players want to wait until the ring is at its smallest before kicking. Press shoot when the ring is at its smallest.

Be mindful of the change to the aiming system. Instead of seeing a reticle appear on-screen when players are about to kick, they will see a line between the goal posts. Players need to adjust this line to shoot exactly where they want. The line will show players where their ball will initially go, making sending it to an unwanted location more difficult. This applies to corner kicks as well as free kicks.

The Composure Rating is perhaps the most noticeable alteration that players will see with their free kicks. This is a feature that EA introduced for penalty kicks, and the developers want it to play a large role in determining if players are successful in their shots or not.

The best part about this new aiming system is that players can don’t have to continually recenter their aim. The aiming line will stay where players want so they can focus on kicking for the most power possible. EA also removed the second button-press required to time-finish penalty kicks in previous FIFA titles. Because of this, players can’t aim the ball at the goal posts. Their shot placement will mostly rely on their penalty kick attribute stat, while the power behind a shot relies on the shot power attribute.

EA fundamentally changed how penalty kicks and free kicks work in FIFA 23. Players will see if the changes were a success or a hit and miss when the game releases on Sept. 30.