FIFA meets Call of Duty? It’s more likely than you might think

This might sound like an unlikely crossover, but based on a recent leak, real life footballers might make an appearance in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

As spotted by Insider Gaming, notable Call of Duty leaker TheGhostOfHope recently shared a list of unreleased operators for Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty leaks are a dime a dozen, but this one lists big name footballers like Lionel Messi, Neymar, and more as potential operators. TheGhostOfHope wasn't able to elaborate on the leak, noting that they don't have "a clue why" it's a list of football player names.

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The names could just be temporary placeholders, so there's no guarantee that these footballers will be seen running and gunning around the place, though it would be an odd choice for some file names. Call of Duty isn't exactly a stranger to odd collaborations, like when the series featured Godzilla and King Kong, or the Attack on Titan cosmetic pack.

Here's the full list of potential operators:

• Aksel
• Connor
• Klaus
• Luna
• Messi
• Neymar
• Pogba
• Roze
• Reyes
• Gromsco

Godzilla and King Kong were part of a specific collaboration event, so that could be the plans for the footballers too, but we'll have to wait and see if there's some kind of official announcement about it. The FIFA World Cup is scheduled for later this year, and considering Modern Warfare 2 is launching towards the end of this month, a FIFA-themed event would make sense if footballers are actually involved.

FIFA itself has had an interesting collaboration recently, with Ted Lasso and the fictional AFC Richmond joining the most recent entry FIFA 23, who have also proven to be just a little bit OP.

Outside of taking a fictional team to glory, you also have the option to take the FIFA 23 Wonderkids as far as they can go, with a number of players now aging out of the category, and others joining the latest game.