FM26 Guide: Where to send your scouts

Scouting remains one of the most critical aspects of building a winning team in Football Manager 26. Knowing where to focus your scouting network can be the difference between long-term dominance and constant rebuilding.

If I had to narrow my focus to just 20 countries, these would be my absolute must-scout nations (not necessarily those with the highest youth ratings). Instead, they offer the best balance of:

• Established elite talent
• High-potential wonderkids
• Affordable emerging prospects
• Strong newgen intake potential

This mix ensures value for money across different budgets and tactical styles, whether you’re managing a lower-league rebuild or a global powerhouse.

After this focused list, I’ll provide a more comprehensive breakdown of where to send your scouts in FM26, including additional countries and key regions to target. This expanded guide will help you widen your recruitment net, uncover hidden gems, and stay ahead of the competition (especially when newgen intake season rolls around).

Whether you’re operating on a tight budget or spending big in continental competitions, this FM26 scouting guide will help you identify the right markets and secure the next generation of stars.

Quick Answer

🇧🇷 Brazil 163 (Best Youth Rating in game)

🇫🇷 France 155

🇪🇸 Spain 145

🇦🇷 Argentina 140

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England 135

🇵🇹 Portugal 134

🇳🇱 Netherlands 132

🇪🇬 Egypt 125

🇧🇪 Belgium 120

🇲🇽 Mexico 120

🇳🇬 Nigeria 120

🇨🇴 Colombia 117

🇨🇮 Ivory Coast 105

🇨🇲 Cameroon 100

🇷🇸 Serbia 100

🇭🇷 Croatia 98

🇪🇨 Ecuador 94

🇩🇰 Denmark 91

🇸🇪 Sweden 88

🇳🇴 Norway 82

You can see a complete list of the youth ratings for every nation in the FM26 Youth Ratings Guide

The Obvious Powerhouses

If you want reliable, high-end talent, start here:

• 🇧🇷 Brazil & 🇦🇷 Argentina: Still the gold standard. Brazil remains the best youth nation in the game, and both countries consistently produce technical monsters, flair players, and elite attackers. The big clubs are expensive to buy from — but the second tier is a goldmine if you’re quick.
• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England, 🇫🇷 France, 🇪🇸 Spain, 🇩🇪 Germany, 🇮🇹 Italy, 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Europe’s elite development pipeline. You’ll find everything from elite wonderkids to ready-made starters. Expensive? Often. Reliable? Always.

Western Europe: High Floor, High Ceiling

Scouting 🇵🇹 Portugal, 🇪🇸 Spain and 🇫🇷 France together gives you ridiculous academy density in a small region. You’ll occasionally waste a report on Andorra or Gibraltar but it’s worth it. 🇵🇹 Portugal in particular remains one of the best value-for-money nations in Europe when it comes to elite potential.

Northern Europe: Hidden Value

This region continues to overperform:

• 🇳🇴 Norway: With stars like Erling Haaland and Martin Ødegaard raising the profile, Norway’s production line is strong. You’ll find physically developed, tactically intelligent players.
• 🇩🇰 Denmark & 🇸🇪 Sweden: Very solid mid-budget scouting targets. Strong mentals, good physical base, usually affordable.

💡 Yes, you’ll get noise from Finland, Iceland or Faroe Islands if scouting regionally but the upside outweighs the wasted reports.

UK & Ireland: Broaden the Net

Instead of locking scouts to just England, use the UK & Ireland region. You’ll pick up talent from:

• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland
• 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Wales
• 🇬🇧 Northern Ireland
• 🇮🇪 Republic of Ireland

💡 It increases coverage without adding much inefficiency.

Central Europe: Balanced and Efficient

A very underrated region to scout long-term:

• 🇧🇪 Belgium: Consistently produces elite talent for a smaller nation. Strong academies and great resale value. Also attractive due to nationality rules and pathways.
• 🇨🇿 Czechia & 🇵🇱 Poland: Strong physical and mental profiles. Great for squad depth and rotational players who won’t break your budget.

Africa: Targeted, Not Regional

Don’t scout “Africa” broadly! Be specific:

• 🇪🇬 Egypt: Big upgrade for FM26. With the Egyptian league playable, this becomes much more attractive. High youth rating, strong technical players, and now better database visibility.
• 🇩🇿 Algeria: Excellent technical output. Think Ryad Mahrez-type profiles.
• 🇳🇬 Nigeria & 🇨🇮 Ivory Coast: Physically elite wonderkids. High ceilings. Huge upside.

💡 Avoid most of East and Southern Africa (exception: South Africa can occasionally produce decent prospects).

North America: Clear Leader

• 🇲🇽 Mexico: Still the standout in the region. Higher youth rating than the US and consistently produces versatile players. Transfer fees are reasonable compared to Europe.
• 🇨🇦 Canada: Improving, but still not as efficient a scouting investment as Mexico.

South America: Look Beyond the Big Two

• 🇨🇴 Colombia: Underrated and consistent. Technically strong players who are cheaper than Brazilian or Argentine equivalents.
• 🇪🇨 Ecuador, 🇺🇾 Uruguay, 🇨🇱 Chile

Middle East: New Value Play

• 🇦🇪 United Arab Emirates: Now playable and very interesting. A 97 youth rating makes the UAE one of the better-value emerging scouting destinations. Investment in facilities is paying off in-game. Not elite-tier yet, but definitely no longer ignore-worthy.
• 🇶🇦 Qatar & 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia: Solid youth ratings due to real-life investment. Still secondary priorities, but better than most of Asia outside the top two.

Asia: Narrow Focus

Asia is huge, but elite production is concentrated:

• 🇯🇵 Japan & 🇰🇷 South Korea: Comfortably the best two nations in the region. Youth ratings comparable to Colombia. Technically strong, disciplined players.

💡 After that, the drop-off is steep.

Oceania: Situational

• 🇦🇺 Australia: Useful for lower-league English saves. English-speaking, affordable, easy integration.
• 🇳🇿 New Zealand: Limited production, but occasionally worth a cheap gamble.