Quick Answer: In FC 27 you no longer need to reach Division 6 to play toward FUT Champions. EA removed the Division gate in the Launch Update Pitch Notes on 14 September 2026, and Champions Qualification Points (CQP) can now be earned in Division Rivals and Squad Battles. Your Division still decides how fast you bank CQP and how big your weekly rewards are — it no longer decides whether you are allowed to qualify at all. The route is unchanged otherwise: earn CQP, get auto-entered into Play-Offs, win enough to earn a Finals Qualification Token, then cash the Token into the 15-match Finals. EA has not published the FC 27 CQP thresholds, so nobody knows the exact number yet.
For three years the honest answer to "how do I get into FUT Champions?" started with a wall: get to Division 6 first. If you were a Division 8 player, or a Squad Battles player who never touched Rivals, the mode simply was not for you.
That wall is gone. In the EA SPORTS FC 27 Launch Update Pitch Notes, published 14 September 2026, EA wrote it in one flat line: "The Division 6 requirement for Champions qualification has been removed."
This is the single biggest structural change to competitive FUT at the FC 27 launch, and it lands right as the game opens up. The Web App launches 16 September 2026 at 17:00 UTC, early access starts on PC 17 September at 23:00 UTC and all other platforms 18 September at 00:00 regional time, and Season 1: Ones to Watch runs 17 September through 22 October 2026. Here is exactly how qualification works now, what your Division still controls, and what EA has deliberately left unpublished.
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What exactly changed in FC 27 Champions qualification?
Three things changed, all from the same Pitch Notes section. EA's wording, verbatim:
"Champions Qualification Points (CQP) can now be earned through both Rivals and Squad Battles. The Division 6 requirement for Champions qualification has been removed. Champions rewards will include more Champions Qualification Points."
And the clarifying sentence that most launch roundups skipped:
"Higher Rivals Divisions will allow you to earn CQP faster, but your Division will no longer determine whether you can play toward qualification. If you earn enough CQP, you'll be able to qualify for Champions."
Here is the practical before-and-after:
| Element | FC 26 | FC 27 |
|---|---|---|
| Division gate | Division 6 or higher required | Removed — any Division can qualify |
| Where CQP comes from | Division Rivals only | Division Rivals and Squad Battles |
| CQP from Champions itself | Limited | "More Champions Qualification Points" in rewards |
| Finals format | 15 matches | 15 matches (returns unchanged) |
| Champions coin payouts | Baseline | Increased vs FC 26 |
The knock-on effect is bigger than it looks. Under the old rule, a bad opening week in Rivals could lock you out of the mode's rewards for that entire Season. Under the new rule, a bad week just means you are collecting CQP more slowly — the door never closes.
How does FUT Champions qualification actually work now, step by step?
The underlying two-stage structure is unchanged from FC 26, and it is documented on EA's own Champions help page. Note that this page is still written for the previous title — at the time of writing it says "Play Rivals to earn Champions Qualification Points," which FC 27 has already superseded. Treat the mechanics below as carried forward and expect EA to refresh the page around launch.
- Earn CQP. In FC 27 that means Division Rivals matches, Squad Battles matches, and Champions rewards themselves.
- Hit the threshold and you are entered automatically. EA: "When you reach the required number of CQP to enter the Play-Offs, you'll automatically be entered into the current event." You do not press a button.
- Play the Play-Offs at your own pace. There is a limited number of Play-Off entries per Season, and the count resets each Season. You can end a Play-Offs run early and bank whatever rewards you have earned.
- Win enough to earn a Finals Qualification Token. That Token is the actual key to the weekend competition.
- Spend the Token when you are ready. The Finals cannot be ended early, they run on a tighter time limit, and an unused Token carries over to the next Season.
One detail decides a lot of runs: Form is +1 per win and −1 per loss, resets to zero between Play-Offs and Finals, and feeds matchmaking — so a 0-3 start pairs you with other people who are also 0-3. Our earlier FC 27 FUT Champions CQP guide covers the Play-Offs and Finals pipeline in depth — read it alongside this piece, because the Division 6 section in it is exactly what the Launch Update just overwrote.
The Play-Offs screen from a previous EA SPORTS FC title — the entry point CQP now unlocks from Rivals and Squad Battles alike.
Can you really qualify for Champions from Squad Battles?
Yes — and this is the change that reshapes the mode's audience. EA, verbatim:
"Squad Battles will also award Champions Qualification Points, giving PvE players a new way to work toward Champions qualification."
Squad Battles is FUT's offline ladder against AI squads. It has always been the mode for players who cannot commit to fixed weekend windows, who have unreliable connections, or who simply do not want to be matched against a full meta squad at 11pm. Until now, it earned you weekly rewards and nothing that fed the competitive track.
In FC 27 it feeds the same pipeline as Rivals. A player who never plays a single PvP match can, in principle, accumulate CQP offline and get entered into Play-Offs. The Play-Offs themselves are still PvP — nobody is winning a Finals Token against AI — but the gate is now reachable from the couch.
What EA has not said is whether Squad Battles awards CQP at the same rate as Rivals. Given that EA explicitly tied CQP speed to Rivals Division, the safe assumption for launch week is that Squad Battles is a slower but reliable trickle, not a shortcut. Treat any per-match CQP number you see before 18 September as a community estimate, because EA has published none. Our FC 27 Squad Battles rewards guide covers the rank thresholds that still drive the weekly payout.
Does your Rivals Division still matter in FC 27?
Massively — just for a different reason. Division no longer controls access; it controls rate and reward size.
EA is explicitly widening the gap between Divisions this year: "we're creating a more noticeable difference in rewards between Divisions, giving you more to play for as you move up the Rivals ladder." The published example is the Division 1 Upgraded Rewards package:
| Division 1 Upgraded Rewards (FC 27) |
|---|
| 95,000 Coins |
| 4x 84+ Gold Players Pack |
| 5x 83+ Gold Players Pack |
| 1 of 5 83+ Gold Players |
| Giant Gold Pack (EA compares it to FC 26's Rare Mega Pack) |
| TOTW Player Pack |
Two more Rivals changes worth banking: Bounties return and appear more frequently, giving extra routes to Weekly Reward Points or faster ladder movement, and all Rivals Pack rewards are tradeable at launch — which, combined with a 95,000-coin weekly headline, makes Division 1 a genuine trading engine rather than a pile of untradeable filler.
The ladder itself carries forward from FC 26 until EA says otherwise: eleven tiers from Division 10 up to Division 1 and then Elite, Checkpoints that stop you dropping below a set Stage, and Weekly Rewards released Thursdays at 06:59 UTC per EA's live help documentation. Returning players are not dumped at the bottom either — EA's documented rule is that "your previous legacy placement will be taken into account", though the conversion formula has never been published. We broke that down in the FC 27 Rivals reset guide.
How much more do Champions and Rivals matches pay in FC 27?
This is the part that changes the maths of grinding qualification. EA gave a concrete baseline for once:
"Compared to the roughly 500 to 600 FUT Coins typically earned from a match in EA SPORTS FC™ 26, Champions and Rivals will have the potential to reward several times more Coins, while Squad Battles will also see an increase."
And on the Season Pass side:
"You'll also earn between 15 & 100 Season Points per eligible match depending on result and mode, up to 850 Season Points per day."
| Reward per match | FC 26 | FC 27 |
|---|---|---|
| Coins, Rivals and Champions | ~500–600 | "Several times more" (no figure published) |
| Coins, Squad Battles | Baseline | Increased |
| Season Points | Not paid per match | 15–100 per eligible match, 850/day cap |
Do the arithmetic on the cap and Season 1's 35-day run and you get a ceiling of 29,750 Season Points for a player who maxes the daily limit every single day — and roughly 5,950 across the seven early-access days before worldwide launch. Both are ceilings, not forecasts: EA has not published which modes count as "eligible", nor the SP cost per Season Pass level, so any "days to max the pass" number circulating right now is invented. We covered the full payout restructure in FC 27 End of Match Rewards explained.
The important consequence for qualification: because CQP, coins and Season Points all now come off the same matches, the old FUT habit of stopping once weekly rewards were locked is actively wasteful in FC 27. EA said the quiet part out loud — the goal is "for matches beyond weekly reward thresholds to still help move your Club forward."
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What are Champions Tokens and the Champions Token Store?
Tokens arrived in FC 26's World's Game Update and return in FC 27 with a Champions-specific store attached. EA's description:
"The Champions Token Store will also feature rewards specific to Champions, including Team of the Week Players with the exclusive Red Item design, Evolutions, and vanity rewards such as Celebrations."
Red TOTW items are the traditional Champions status symbol, and in FC 27 they become a choice rather than a pack-luck outcome. The inclusion of Evolutions in the Token Store is the sleeper detail: Champions play is now a direct source of upgrade material for players you already own, which pairs with EA's stated plan for "impactful Evolutions throughout the year, just at a lower frequency and released at more intentional moments."
One naming trap worth avoiding in launch week: Champions Tokens, Gallery Tokens (earned by grading FUT Gallery Sets) and Season Pass Generic/Season Tokens are three separate currencies. They do not cross over.
When can you first play FUT Champions in FC 27?
The dates that matter, all EA-confirmed in the Launch Update:
| Milestone | Date and time |
|---|---|
| Web App opens | 16 September 2026, 17:00 UTC |
| Companion App refresh | 17 September 2026, 17:00 UTC |
| Early access, PC | 17 September 2026, 23:00 UTC |
| Early access, all other platforms | 18 September 2026, 00:00 regional time |
| Season 1: Ones to Watch | 17 September – 22 October 2026 |
| Worldwide launch, PC | 24 September 2026, 23:00 UTC |
| Worldwide launch, other platforms | 25 September 2026, 00:00 regional time |
Rivals and Squad Battles are playable from early access, which is when CQP accumulation starts for Ultimate Edition and EA Play Pro players. Community trackers have historically placed the Champions weekend window opening Friday at 19:00 UK time; EA has not published an FC 27 schedule, so treat that as a pattern, not a promise.
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What has EA not published yet?
Be careful what you take as fact this week. EA has published no FC 27 figures for:
- The CQP threshold required to enter Play-Offs
- CQP earned per match, in Rivals or in Squad Battles
- Whether the two modes award CQP at the same rate
- The number of Play-Off entries allowed per Season in FC 27
- Champions reward tables by rank
- The exact coin multiplier behind "several times more"
Any article giving you a specific CQP number today is extrapolating from FC 26 tracker data. That is a reasonable starting point for planning, but it is not EA-sourced, and FC 27 has already proven willing to tear up the structure.
What should you actually do in launch week?
A practical order of operations for launch week:
- Log in to the Web App at 17:00 UTC on 16 September. Claim starter content, list duplicates, and get your account's Transfer Market clock started — app access is a separate gate from the in-game one.
- Do not panic about your starting Division. Legacy placement means returning players are not all dumped in Division 10, and the Division no longer decides whether Champions is available to you.
- Play the modes you actually enjoy. Because CQP now comes from Rivals and Squad Battles, grinding a mode you hate for access is no longer required.
- Keep playing after weekly rewards lock. Post-match coins and up to 850 Season Points per day are now the bigger prize, and the daily SP cap resets whether you use it or not.
- Bank CQP before the first Champions window. Entry is automatic when you cross the threshold — you want to cross it early in the Season, not on the last day.
- Plan your Token spends, not just your wins. A Finals Token carries to the next Season; a wasted Champions Token Store purchase does not come back.
Player reaction on r/EASportsFC and r/fut has been split in the way FUT reactions usually are: genuine enthusiasm that the mode is finally open to Squad Battles players, paired with hard-earned cynicism that EA will simply set the CQP threshold high enough to recreate the old wall. Both positions are reasonable, and the first weekend of early access will settle it.
FAQ
Do I still need Division 6 to play FUT Champions in FC 27? No. EA removed the requirement in the Launch Update Pitch Notes on 14 September 2026. Qualification is now purely a function of earning enough Champions Qualification Points, regardless of which Division you sit in.
How do I earn CQP in FC 27? Through Division Rivals matches, Squad Battles matches, and Champions rewards themselves. EA has confirmed higher Rivals Divisions earn CQP faster but has not published any per-match values.
How many CQP do I need to qualify? EA has not published the FC 27 threshold. Once you reach it you are entered into the current Play-Offs event automatically, with no manual entry step.
Can I qualify for FUT Champions without playing PvP? You can earn CQP without PvP by playing Squad Battles, which is the genuinely new part. The Play-Offs and Finals themselves are still online competitions against other players.
Is the Finals still 15 matches in FC 27? Yes. EA confirmed the 15-match Champions Finals structure returns, with increased FUT Coin rewards compared to FC 26.
What happens to my Finals Token if I do not use it? It carries over to the next Season. EA's guidance is to redeem it only when you are ready to play, because the Finals cannot be ended early and run on a tighter time limit than the Play-Offs.
When does Season 1 end? Season 1: Ones to Watch runs from 17 September 2026 to 22 October 2026 — a 35-day Season. Play-Off entry counts reset at the start of each new Season.
