Former Wycombe Wanderers striker Adebayo Akinfenwa has announced his retirement as Fifa’s strongest player after losing his crown to West Brom striker Daryl Dike and his Viktoria Plzen counterpart Toma Chory.
The Anglo-Nigerian took to social media to reveal the news after being beaten to the title that he has held on multiple times ahead of the release of the new football simulation video game next week.
“You all my people, it’s time, a bit emotional but it's only right that I pass on the crown, the title of Fifa strongest player,” Akinfenwa said via a post on Instagram.
“With the ‘Beast Mode’ hat, I hand it to the strangest player in the game Daryl Dike 96 Strength congratulations my brother, but wait, because with me there can only be one but with FIFA23 there is joint. Joint strongest player Thomas Chory,” he added.
The 40-year-old Akinfenwa nicknamed 'The Beast', was best known for his incredible strength and has been the strongest player on multiple versions of Fifa.
Akinfenwa had been the strongest player in every edition of the game since FIFA12 before he was dethroned by Borussia Dortmund striker Sebastien Haller in FIFA 19. He, however, regained his title for the following two years before losing it this year.
Born in Islington, North London, Akinfenwa is of Nigerian descent and hung his boots in June after scoring 233 goals in the lower leagues in England.
He played for the likes of Millwall, Swansea City, Northampton Town, AFC Wimbledon and Wycombe, his last game coming in the 2022 League One play-off Final, where he featured as a 75th-minute substitute but could not prevent a 2-0 loss to Sunderland.
That was after raking up 260 appearances for Wycombe while scoring 61 goals for the League One side.
Both Dike and Chory are renowned for their physical presence and ability to hold off defenders and with Akinfnwa now retired, they are set to battle it out for the foreseeable future. American Dike, born to Nigerian parents is 22 while Czech Chory is 27.
The youngest of five siblings, Dike's eldest brother, Bright, was a first-round MLS Superdraft pick in 2010 and has played for the Nigerian national team while his sister, Courtney, was capped by Nigeria and made two appearances at the 2015 Women's World Cup. He is the cousin of Nigeria international striker Emmanuel Emenike.