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Sports Interactive has released Update 26.3 for Football Manager 26, bringing the final (?) database of this year's edition, along with a wide range of improvements and gameplay updates across platforms. Don't forget to apply our Real Name Fix.
Database:
- More than 1 million Database changes
- Updated Transfers for China, Türkiye, the USA, and other select leagues
- Boca Juniors are now a licensed team
Technical Issues:
- Crash fixes & stability improvements
- Fixed an issue causing keyboard shortcuts to activate when using the global search function
- Fixed an issue that would cause Navigation focus boxes to appear after using the global search function
User Interface (UI):
- Redesigned the Youth Setup Overview to be full screen

- Sort functionality has been restored for transfer value, ability and potential columns in Recruitment > Shortlist
- Attributes being trained now highlight in Orange within the Individual Training screen
- The Fixtures and Result Report will remember your filters should you leave and return
- The Competition > Transfers card will remember your filters should you leave and return
- The Recruitment > Transfer History Card will remember your filters should you leave and return
- If the player attribute polygon graph is selected, it will remain visible while cycling through other players
- Match Stats bars are now correctly equal when values are zero for both teams
- Added Transfer Fees to the Career Stats tile
- Fixed an issue preventing the user to view past seasons in Stages card for select competitions
- Set Piece/Penalty taker lists will now properly reflect the real-time current squad
- Removed empty space appearing in Scout World Knowledge card
- Viewing the Tactical Analysis no longer omits certain players incorrectly
- Fixed an issue causing form indicators to sometimes appear inaccurately on the Competitions page
- League tables which feature a ‘split’ now better display the split in teams
- Tactics within the save folder now correctly display if attempting to overwrite them
- Team form will now display oldest to newest (left to right) in all game areas
- Fixed an issue that could sometimes cause Partnership lines to appear misaligned on the Tactics screen when first opened
- Fixed an issue causing the Passing Completed, Crosses Completed, and Clear-Cut Chances stats to display incorrectly during the match day
Gameplay:
- Staff not at the user’s club no longer display ‘unknown’ personalities
- Added a ‘Automatically open a must respond message’ preference option
- Added Cash/Claused Transfers, Free Transfers, Part Exchange Transfers and Player Trials filters when on the Transfer History card
- Fixed an issue causing ‘Grey’ players that have been offered contracts to display attributes over 20
- Goalkeepers are now only compared to other goalkeepers on the player comparison screen
- Club vision ambitions have been tweaked to prevent certain objectives being contradictory of one another
- Improved supporter reactions to some players performances within Squad Feedback
- Fixed an issue where the ‘approach to sign’ action was not generating when the users club exited a transfer embargo
Match, Art & Animation:
- Added a new Premier League match ball
- Fixed an issue where players would sometimes kick ball out of play straight from kick off
- Fixed an issue causing offsides lines to be missing during the replay for a goal disallowed by offside
- The Dugout and Live Scores/Table will remain expanded even after highlights occur
- Fixed a rare issue with substitutes flickering on the 2D pitch tile
In-Game Editor (IGE) / Pre-Game Editor (PGE):
- Further crash fixes and stability improvements
- Fixed an issue where verified rule files with a database were not valid with that same database in a new game setup (PGE)
- Fixed an issue causing non-playing history to appear blank for non-players with edited history (PGE)
Competition and Rule Groups:
Belgium
- Added the RWDM Brussels points deduction
Brazil
- Updated a number of formats, schedules and rules of various Brazilian competitions
- Updated VAR rules for various Brazilian competitions
China
- Updated schedules for the Chinese Super League, Chinese National First Division, and the Chinese FA Super Cup
- Updated Transfer Windows for the Chinese Super League and Chinese National First Division
Colombia
- Updated the Colombian Cup Substitution Rules
England
- Added the Leicester City points deduction
Europe
- Updated the format for the UEFA Youth League
- Fixed an issue where some Last 16 UEFA Champions League matches were scheduled on Thursdays
France
- French Overseas Nationalities no longer count as foreign players in the French Cup
Germany
- Updated the Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 Squad Numbers rules
Greece
- Fixed an issue causing there to be no TV matches appearing in Super League 1 after league split
Ireland
- Updated the Irish Leinster Cup schedule
Indonesia
- Updated the Substitution Rules for various Indonesian competitions
Latvia
- B Teams no longer participate in the Latvian Cup
Lithuania
- Updated the Lithuanian U18s Sorting Rules
North America
- Updated the North American W Champions Cup Squad Registration dates
Portugal
- Updated the Substitution Rules for the Portuguese Second League and Third Division
Russia
- Updated the Russian First Division Loan Rules
Scotland
- Updated the KDM Evolution Trophy Substitution Rules
Spain
- Trialists are no longer allowed to participate in the Spanish Women's Super Cup
Switzerland
- Fixed an issue causing youth players to be denied work permits after turning professional
Sweden
- Updated schedules for various Swedish leagues/competitions
Uruguay
- Updated the Uruguayan Transfer Window dates
- Updated the Uruguayan First Division schedule
U.S.A
- Fixed an issue causing players to incorrectly gain Green Cards/American nationality (NWSL)
- Expansion teams no longer play matches prior to being formed (NWSL)
Wales
- Updated the Nathaniel MG Cup Substitution Rules
April 2nd: Hotfix (26.3.0.2286575)
- Fixed an issue causing a crash that was sometimes triggered during half-time and full-time team talks.
Comments
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mjwaterboy
How does this update mine is showing 26.2 still does it update automatically
mons
It depends on your Steam settings but it should update automatically, yes.
Do keep in mind that it is the game version that is 26.3, but the database version is still 26.2. Perhaps that's where the confusion has arisen…
Dylaneufhueyhuie
will we need to wait on a updated file for logos i personally have metallic logos but not sure if a new file will be released
mons
Graphics have never needed to be reapplied once an official update has been released, as far as I'm aware. So you should be able to crack on 👍
Dylaneufhueyhuie
my badges disappeared for some reason i tried to re download them still no luck
RYMERA
Do you also miss face photos in national teams? Club teams have them as usual, etc. 😀
McG84
I thought I was the only one that had this issue. Hopefully there's a quick fix for this.
mons
This seems like it's a bug which has surfaced after the most recent update. Not much we can do about that - hopefully it gets resolved soon 👍
Vaulthunter
Why they still working on this game its broke and unfixable. Majority of the bugs still havnt been fixed.
luque_2535
Yes.
p373
Why can you no longer scroll custom training schedules?
serkantunali
Japan J1 league 2026?
edgardavids8
J League 2026/2027 will only start in August, so it will be a Football Manager 27 season.
Arturito91
After install today update, I don't see any faces or kits or logos. does anyone have a similar problem? ?
edgardavids8
Missing player faces on national teams its intentional, licensing related.
Arturito91
I don't have any photos at all, not only national ones. Nothing works for me, outfits, logos, etc
andibol73
Before the last update yesterday it worked fine.
Robert Lovell
100 Year Vision league is licensed by konami hence, no transfer update (unless you delete the relevant dbc files relating to japan etc, then those transfers WILL be updated)
Arturito91
After the last update, the --user_data_location="C:/My Path" option stopped working. Does anyone have any ideas?
ASSE25
Do you also miss seeing photos of faces in national teams?
Bielsa is a legend
Mentioned several times above
ASSE25
There's also a bug regarding substitutions; in friendly matches, substitutes are displayed and available, but in league matches, it says I have no substitutes in one out of every two or three matches
ASSE25
How can this be remedied?
M.C
There is no known workaround at this time. This is something Sports Interactive implemented, due to licensing constraints.
For now, I think the only position is to accept it and wait to see if SI reverse it in the future.
Bielsa is a legend
Back to fm24
GWINESCORE
Just waiting on the next update to fix VERY SCUPID match engine. My GK literally dribbles to the halfway line, refuses to pass, gets intercepted, and concedes a goal from mid-pitch. It happens in like 50% of my games right now. WTHIGO hahaha.