2026/27 League Updates - FM24 & FM26 - Official / Ongoing Status Thread

Thank you for all your hard work and the continued updating of FM24. As I've previously stated, my computer hasn't the memory space etc to run FM26 and I'm grateful to all of you for allowing me to keep my game up to date.Many thanks and best regards, Keith.

Sunderland is not in the Europa league 

An update to the file that handles European qualifications will follow in due course. My sole focus is on getting England for FM26 done today.

Thankfully the file for continental qualification is simple enough so I will do that next, as I know people will want that all lined up. Unfortunately it isn’t done simply based on finishing positions in the domestic leagues. As with everything, it is on the list and we will get it sorted ASAP but I can only get so much done with the time I have.

thank you for your reply back keep up the good work 

Any news on the League updates?

I am in the process of - as I type this - of validating/testing the FM26 England file, which includes playable divisions down to Level 11.

I will upload it as soon as I am confident it’s issue-free. I have no reason to believe it will throw up any issues.

To manage expectations, that England file is likely to be the only updated file release  through the rest of today. I will resume work tomorrow on other nations, but I can’t promise what those will be or when they’ll appear. I will also be travelling for work between 2-4 June, which will prevent my progress during that time. Unfortunately I’m not rich enough not to have to work.

Tried for FM26 and it looks weird!  Aston Villa are in Europa league (not Champions league) but clubs from last year (Spurs etc) also show as in Champions league?

Do I require the enhanced FM data update in order to access the new leagues update? (Sorry if this is a silly question) - unable to access on the free version.

@lpop - the FM26 file has not been released yet. I wasn't able to quite complete it last night. Definitely, today. However, as per my message a little earlier in this thread - the continental qualifications are handled by separate data. I would expect, for FM26, that the continental qualifications are identical to the ‘vanilla’ experience at the moment. I'll be taking care of updating those straight after completing the FM26 file for England.

@rockondiesel - the free version of the Data Update includes updated nations/leagues files. It's just that in the FM26 Data Update there aren't any such files uploaded/completed yet.

The Enhanced Data Update includes two key features/differences: updated player abilities (these are not in the free version) and a much faster release cycle (there is one daily release for the free version, whilst the paid version has a new release every 20 minutes).

Just to be clear, I will post a separate message, here, when the updated file for England for FM26 is available, as well as update the opening post.

Thanks M.C - every year I get a bit confused with it all so thank you for being patient with those not too familiar 🙂 - thanks again for your efforts its massively appreciated

Thanks for doing these updates always good to start a new save with the updated players and leagues. 

Same here! Can't wait to start a new summer save with +3 AGE and all loans terminated + future transfers ready in FM24 😀

24 is the king of FM. This game will be very active for many years. 

I have just uploaded the new file for England for FM26. This will be available in the update immediately for those with the Enhanced Data Update and from tomorrow morning (~04:30 BST on 02/06/2026) onwards for those on the free tier.

This file contains playable divisions down to Level 11. It contains updated constitutions (promotions/relegations) reflecting 2026/27 down to Level 6 (National League North/South). It contains updated competition histories for the top 6 levels. It does not contain updated individual club histories at this time. It also doesn't reflect last positions/previous divisions - which doesn't have any recognisable gameplay impact as far as I know, but may have some small visibility in some UI elements. It is something we do include in all of our files normally and we will take care of this in a future iteration.

I ran into significant validation challenges having done everything down to Level 11 and, in the interests of releasing something for the community, I started from scratch and Level 6 (National League North/South) was as far as I could reasonably go at this time.

On its own, this file will not automatically update continental qualification for all teams. This is something I will work on next and I will endeavour to sort this out today, before I travel for work.

We will get the deeper pyramid updated; but we will defer that for a short while.

Thanks M.C

Trying to understand fully, does this mean in tomorrows release Man Utd still wont be in the champions league in the new update?

I am, as I type this, working on the additional file that handles continental cup qualifications for Europe. To answer your question directly: if I manage to finish those files for FM24/FM26 tonight and upload them, then tomorrow's release will include those updated Champions League, Europa League and Conference League qualifications.

If I do not, then the European qualifications will still reflect 2025/26.

I have now uploaded the additional file that manages continental cup qualifications for Europe, for FM26. This should be available immediately for those on the Enhanced Data Update and should appear from tomorrow morning for those on the free tier. This will appear as a new file in the downloaded FM26 Data Update with the name sortitoutsi.net FM26 Data Update - Europe.fmf.

FM24 equivalent will follow in the near future - however, I also need to amend the Champions League ruleset to correct the first-season format before releasing that one.

Amazing work M.C. Thank you so much 

Great work…..is this the case for FM24 also?…….Cancel that question, just read your update 😂

I started a new game with the new database and noticed that FC Barcelona and Manchester City were in the Europa League instead of the Champions League. I'm mentioning this in case you hadn't noticed, so you can fix it.

Thank you very much for your work.

I would not expect that to be the case - I will need to investigate that on my return in a couple of days. Perhaps one of my staff colleagues will get to it quicker than that.

Hi there, Not sure if im doing something incorrect but i have downloaded the paid update for fm26 and the  promotion/relegations in england have not changed yet. Have i jumped the gun on this or has it not been put on the update. Keep up the great work 😀

Hi, is there any way to change players who signed last year to not being newly signed anymore, e.g. i cant sign mateus fernandes as he just signed for west ham in game. Is this something that is fixed in the paid version (as im using the free one atm), or will this be changed in future updates etc?

Yeah I'm getting the same as this, no Bournemouth in the Europa League either even though everything looks fine when you load the editor file in the Pre-Game Editor.

@Rich Devall

@ lpop

The Both of you need to read what M.C as posted it does help but here it is 

read it all and you will find your answer 

I have now uploaded the additional file that manages continental cup qualifications for Europe, for FM26. This should be available immediately for those on the Enhanced Data Update and should appear from tomorrow morning for those on the free tier. This will appear as a new file in the downloaded FM26 Data Update with the name sortitoutsi.net FM26 Data Update - Europe.fmf.

FM24 equivalent will follow in the near future - however, I also need to amend the Champions League ruleset to correct the first-season format before releasing that one.

Your pointless condescending reply does not help in fact, I am on FM26, so the European stuff he has done, but there is clearly a bug that is messing it up. Personally I think letting him know there is a little bug, which is no big deal they happen, is the way, you apparently think, well actually I don't know what you think, because like I said, your reply makes no sense. 

I think there's a problem with the FM26 editor itself, or they've added some rules for UEFA competitions on top of the ‘registered teams’ section that aren't obvious.

I re-worked all the UEFA qualifying for this season myself however Sunderland don't show as being in the Europa. When I combine the file in-game with an updated file for 25/26 league positions and competition winners, then it throws Bournemouth and Liverpool out of their competitions too, and for some reason puts Chelsea in the Europa League.

you did not state at all it was FM26 you was playing 

I just want to acknowledge that I’m aware the continental qualifications will be tricky to get 100% right; and I know the current file doesn’t achieve it, based on comments.

I‘m away with work until tomorrow so haven’t been able to engage with the discussion as quickly as I normally would. In my experience, to get all qualifications in place it is typically requires to have all of the individual nation files updated, as well, as a minimum. Certain qualifications seem to be prioritised based on Registered Teams; others on domestic competition winners (history entries).

I will review the full ruleset when I’m back and that will give me an understanding of exactly what the dependency chain is. It may transpire we first need all of the individual nations updated before the continental qualifications will reliably work. The file I quickly put together before my trip was a ‘free hit’ intended to get us some of the way quickly.

I did notice last year there was 82 UCL teams this year 81, maybe that discrepancy is messing up the algorithms somewhere? 

Appreciate all your work on this man.