Broken FIFA 20 goalkeeper animation glitch lets anything go in

David Purcell
FIFA 20 goalkeeper Neuer

Goalkeeper animations have been overhauled in FIFA 21, but that’s not really any help for FIFA 20 players experiencing big problems with the animations in-game. 

There should be nobody you trust more on the pitch than your goalkeeper. They could be the difference between a win, and a loss or draw.

Investing in a good set of hands between the sticks is important in just about any game mode you can think of: Ultimate Team, Career Mode, Pro Clubs, even Volta.

However, it doesn’t matter how much you’ve spent, whether it’s a big name keeper or a high-rated star – nothing can stop the ball from going in when a gameplay issue plagues the game.

FIFA 20 player shows just how bad keepers are

FIFA 20 ederson goalkeeper
It doesn’t matter how good your goalkeeper is, this bug hits hard.

Now, there is no real way of classifying this as a glitch or a bug in FIFA 20, although it’s certainly not supposed to happen. That’s for sure.

Reddit user TheClassicK, as well as a load of others in the comments, have flagged a problem that crops up in the 90th minute of matches. Instead of moving towards the ball to save it with their hands, a clip shows Marc-Andre ter Stegen not even stretching in the direction of the shot.

Instead, once it’s passed him and nestled in the net, an animation is triggered.

The poster said: “Probably one of the most annoying things about the game all year – GK avoiding shots like they’re bullets at the 90th minute.”

Long-standing issue, but FIFA 21 may fix it

This has been a frustration for some time now, with the community seemingly frustrated about the state of gameplay.

The post shot up to top spot on the FIFA subreddit on August 26, but really this has been happening for quite a while beforehand. The longer it goes on, the more vocal fans become.

One user in the comments said: “Never understood GK animations in FIFA. Like why won’t he stretch even a bit for this shot? Similarly, on countless other situations, the ball just flies by some inches from the keeper and he just decides not to make any effort whatsoever to save it.”

FIFA 21 Inter Milan team
EA SPORTS have promised goalkeeper changes in FIFA 21.

Another posted: “It’s understandable how difficult it is to get all the animations spot on considering how many interactions and movements there are in the game, but it’s unacceptable when you’re looking at a massive company that’s been making the same game for a decade and still doesn’t have it anywhere near an acceptable level.”

The scrutiny on developers may be intense for FIFA 20 gameplay, although all eyes will soon turn to the series’ next installment.

In FIFA 21, EA has confirmed goalkeeper will be given a big AI overhaul – something that has been promised before – as well as a whole host of other changes, laid out in the pitch notes. For more information on that, check out our FIFA 21 news hub.

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About The Author

David is the former US Managing Editor at Dexerto.com. You can contact him via email: david.purcell@dexerto.com.