The Grounds is the new open-world hub in EA FC 27, and it’s where Pro Clubs lives now. If you’ve loaded the game and wondered where Clubs went, or why you’re walking around a park instead of picking a mode from a menu, this guide explains how The Grounds works and where everything is.
What is The Grounds?
EA calls The Grounds “the most social way to play” FC 27. You walk around as your own Pro, the same player you use in Clubs, and everything you do earns Archetype XP (AXP) and Grounds Coins: small-sided matches, party-game Kickabouts, hitting targets with a ball, and 11v11 Clubs matches.
The first time you start FC 27, you play a short warm-up as Kylian Mbappé and the game then drops you into The Grounds. After that you reach it from the main menu. Nothing needs unlocking. Every district is open from the start.
If you’re coming from FC 26, think of it this way: the 11v11 football is the same mode, but the menus have become a place. For the full list of what changed in Clubs (Amps, Masteries, free archetype resets and so on), see FC 27 Pro Clubs new features. Every archetype is unlocked from the start, so you can plan a build in our build planner and try it straight away in a 3v3.
Is Pro Clubs still in FC 27?
Yes. EA’s own guide says “Clubs are now accessed directly through The Grounds”, and Leagues and Playoffs are back. To get in:
- Finish the short tutorial (Alex Hunter, then a 2v2 with Mbappé).
- Find the Clubhouse. It’s on the Terrace and has a house icon on the map.
- Meet Paulo Dybala at the Clubhouse. He’s the Clubs Mentor, and meeting him gives you access to Clubs.
- Create a club, join one, or accept a friend’s invite.
From the Clubhouse you can play League and Playoff matches and 11v11 Live Event Tournaments (the new Club Tournaments with House Rules), and use the Store for Amps and Consumables. EA’s game footnote is explicit: The Grounds, including Clubs, is only on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Switch 2. New to the mode? Our how to play Pro Clubs guide walks through your first club and your first week.
The districts and where everything is
EA Help gives the layout: the Terrace in the middle, Montclair to the west, Zeiza to the north and Parkside to the east.
| Area | Where | Inspired by | What’s there |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Terrace | Centre | Hub | Where you spawn; Clubhouse (Clubs, Paulo Dybala), info kiosks, The Grounds Store |
| Montclair | West | French cage football | 2v2, Rush, Scenarios and Bucket Ball pitches; Boutique Montclair |
| Zeiza | North | Argentina’s potrero football | Stadium Rush entrance (Ranked Rush, Rush Tournaments); Tienda Zeiza |
| Parkside | East | UK grassroots football | 11v11 Drop-In entrance; Chloe Kelly; Parkside Market |
Small-sided pitches and Kickabouts are spread across all three districts, so the table lists only what EA ties to a specific place. The two stadium entrances are different from everything else: walking into the Rush stadium, the 11v11 Drop-In stadium or the Clubhouse takes you out of your Grounds world and into normal skill-based matchmaking. Our Drop-In and Rush guide covers both stadium modes.
Getting around
- Map: the map icon is at the top left of the screen. You can set waypoints for the Clubhouse, stores, Rush, 11v11 Drop-In and any pitch.
- Fast travel: open the Menu at the bottom left, hover over a pitch and pick Travel. It only works for Street Football and Kickabout pitches, not for the stadiums or the Clubhouse.
- Player dots: white dots are other players, blue dots are your clubmates and pink dots are your party. Busy areas on the map are where games fill fastest.
- Live events: a timer icon over a pitch means a limited-time event with its own rules and rewards.
Mentors and objectives
Four real players act as Mentors. Each one hands out Objectives for a different part of The Grounds:
| Mentor | Focus | Where you meet them |
|---|---|---|
| Alex Hunter | General progression and player improvement | Right after the tutorial |
| Kylian Mbappé | Small-sided 1v1, 2v2 and 3v3 | Tutorial (your first 2v2 is with him) |
| Chloe Kelly | Kickabouts | Parkside |
| Paulo Dybala | Clubs and stadium events | The Clubhouse |
Besides the Mentor paths there are Daily, Weekly, event, Season and multi-season objectives. Open the World Map and go to the Objectives tab to see them all. Rewards include AXP, Season Pass XP, Consumables and cosmetics. EA’s own tip is to stack them: if one objective asks for goals in any mode and another asks you to play 3v3, a few 3v3 games tick off both.
Kickabouts and small-sided games
There are two kinds of in-world games, and EA treats them separately.
Small-sided matches are proper football: 1v1, 2v2, 3v3 and an in-world Rush played on a dirt pitch. Every match lasts three minutes. 1v1 has a CPU goalkeeper on each side, while 2v2 and 3v3 use small goals and no keepers. Shooting is set to Manual and passing to Fully Assisted, and every free kick has to be a shot. Amps work in in-world Rush.
Kickabouts are party games built on football controls. There are seven:
| Kickabout | Players | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Bocce Ball | 3, free-for-all | Kick balls into shrinking targets; three 1-minute rounds |
| Balloon Ball | 4, free-for-all | Pop the other players’ three balloons with the ball; three rounds |
| Team Keepaway | 3v3 | Keep possession for points; 3 minutes, or win early with a 1,000-point lead |
| Bucket Ball | 2v2 | Football basketball with lobs and spikes; 3 minutes plus 1 minute of overtime |
| Attacking Scenarios | 2v2 | Score the way the scenario asks; four 1-minute rounds |
| The Big Race | 4, free-for-all | Dribbling obstacle course over three tracks |
| Goal Control | 1v1 | Score to own goals and earn points while you hold them; three 1-minute rounds |
Amps don’t apply in Kickabouts, and playing one doesn’t use up an Amp’s matches. To join any game, walk into the queue zone next to the pitch, read the information board and press Play. Queue as a party and your friends end up on your team.
One honest warning: in the first two weeks, Kickabouts are hard to fill. EA admitted on 2 October that small-sided football is so popular that some Kickabouts struggle to find enough players. It’s looking at ways to signal that a pitch needs players, connect players across servers and schedule Kickabout events. If a queue won’t fill, look for white dots on the map or play small-sided instead.
Recruiting club members in The Grounds
EA’s getting-started guide says The Grounds lets you “meet, play, and recruit new Club members”, and in practice that’s its best use for a club that’s short of players. EA hasn’t documented a dedicated recruiting tool, and there’s no proximity chat, only emotes. So this is how we recruit:
- Play small-sided games with strangers. 3v3 and in-world Rush show you within a few minutes who passes, who tracks back and who only shoots.
- Add the good ones through EA Connect. Search their EA ID or platform name in the Player search tab, then invite them to your party. Voice and text chat only work through EA Connect.
- Invite them to your club from the club menu, then walk into the Clubhouse together.
- Bring them back to your world. After Drop-In, Rush or a Clubhouse match you may land in a different Grounds world, so re-invite each other through EA Connect.
The Grounds places you in a world by region and ping site, so people you meet there usually have a decent connection to you. That’s a real advantage over recruiting on Discord.
Cameras and controls in The Grounds
Walking around works exactly like a match: the same movement and sprint controls, with the camera locked behind your player like the Pro camera. You can also spawn a ball at any time and use it on Drop Kick targets (circles, rings and pentagons) hidden around the world, which count towards weekly objectives. The Emote Wheel holds up to eight emotes. More on those in our celebrations guide.
Each type of match has its own camera under Settings > Game Settings > Visual > Camera Options: The Grounds Street Football Camera (3v3, 2v2, 1v1), The Grounds Rush Camera and the Clubs 11v11 Camera, which also covers Drop-In. FC 27 adds two cameras for street pitches: The Grounds Broadcast, a wider side view, and The Grounds Pro, a close camera behind your player. Our camera settings guide has the values we use.
Platforms and crossplay
| Platform | The Grounds and Clubs? | Plays with |
|---|---|---|
| PS5 | ✔ Yes | Xbox Series X|S and PC |
| Xbox Series X|S | ✔ Yes | PS5 and PC |
| PC | ✔ Yes | PS5 and Xbox Series X|S |
| Nintendo Switch 2 | ✔ Yes | Switch 2 players only |
| PS4, Xbox One, Switch | ✘ No | – |
Crossplay is on by default. Leave it on: if you decline the cross-play prompt when joining a Clubs lobby, you can get stuck on an endless loading screen. There’s no setting to choose your Grounds server, lock your region or cap your ping, and if friends in another region join your world, some of you may get higher ping. Full details are in is Pro Clubs cross-platform?
Known issues
These are the open problems EA had acknowledged as of 8 October 2026:
| Issue | Status | Workaround |
|---|---|---|
| Party stuck in a queue after the leader leaves | Investigating | Walk into the Clubhouse or restart |
| Endless loading after declining the cross-play prompt | Investigating | Accept cross-play |
| League match timer rewinds after you rejoin | Investigating | – |
| Some attributes cost more AP than intended | Investigating | – |
| 11v11 Drop-In ignores your preferred position | Fix in testing | – |
| Teleporting to the stadium and Clubhouse portals | Fix in testing | – |
| Slow or unresponsive menus in The Grounds | Investigating | – |
| Season Pass screen stuck when claiming rewards | Investigating | – |
| “Hit 50 Street Targets” weekly not tracking | Investigating | – |
EA also temporarily disabled emotes in The Grounds on 2 October to fix a stability problem. Already fixed: 5-star skill moves in small-sided games, high ping in some cross-region Clubs matches, and matchmaking reliability (Title Update 1.0.3). If nothing connects at all, check our Pro Clubs server status page first.
- 01Do Dybala’s objectives early. They’re built around Clubs, so they pay out for matches you were going to play anyway.
- 02Use dead time. Waiting for your club to get online? Small-sided games still earn AXP for your active archetype.
- 03Try archetypes in 3v3 first. Every archetype is unlocked and resets are free, so test a build in a three-minute game before a League match.
- 04Re-invite after every stadium match. Drop-In, Rush and the Clubhouse can drop you back into a different world from your friends.
FAQ
Is Pro Clubs in FC 27?
Yes. It’s called Clubs and lives inside The Grounds. Walk into the Clubhouse on the Terrace, meet Paulo Dybala, and you can create or join a club and play Leagues, Playoffs and Club Tournaments.
Where is Clubs in FC 27?
In the Clubhouse, which sits on the Terrace, the hub where you spawn. Look for the house icon on the map. 11v11 Drop-In is in Parkside and Stadium Rush is in Zeiza.
Can you skip The Grounds and go straight to Clubs?
Not completely. Clubs has no separate menu entry any more, so you load into The Grounds and walk (or set a waypoint) to the Clubhouse. It’s close to where you spawn.
Is The Grounds on PS4 or Xbox One?
No. The Grounds and Clubs are only on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch 2. PS5, Xbox and PC play together, and Switch 2 has its own pool.
Is there voice chat in The Grounds?
Not with strangers. There’s no proximity chat or open mic. You can talk to friends through EA Connect party chat, and use emotes with everyone else.
Sources
Checked on 8 October 2026:
- EA SPORTS: The Grounds and Clubs Deep Dive (4 Aug 2026)
- EA SPORTS: How to Get Started in The Grounds and Clubs and Which FC 27 mode is right for you? (25 Sep 2026)
- EA SPORTS: The Grounds Developer Launch Update and Title Update 1.0.3 (2 Oct 2026)
- EA Help: How to navigate The Grounds, Connection in The Grounds, Kickabouts and Archetypes
- EA SPORTS FC Tracker: known issues board, including party stuck in queue, cross-play prompt loading and emotes disabled
- fifauteam: FC 27 camera guide (The Grounds camera types)