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FMC-LB - Comments

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#882601 FM26 Nations Update
FMC-LB
1 year ago
15 hours ago
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28 May 2026 05:24:49
By renskay 28 May 2026 - 03:52 AM UTC 

That's interesting to know that there is still investment being put into grassroots at youth level because in western media it's pretty much been radio silence on all things Chinese football related for a long time so we don't hear about it. 

Would you say that any other ratings for China should be adjusted?

 

Looking forward to future updates!

Thank you buddy! The next project I'm going to release will be to update the Geography in the game with a bunch of cities.

I'm about halfway done with that so far.

The current group of young players does appear more promising. The U17 side lost narrowly 2-3 to Japan in the AFC U17 Asian Cup final, while the U23 team also reached the final and suffered a 0-4 defeat against Japan. Meanwhile, the senior national team failed to progress past the group stage at the 2023 Asian Cup.


Even so, youth team results do not equal a country’s football future. Back in 2004, China’s U17 squad won the AFC U17 Asian Cup, yet most of those players failed to live up to their early promise.


Investment in grassroots and youth football has increased noticeably now, so improvements to the youth system are expected in the long run. As discussed in the official thread before, if Youth Ratings can be adjusted dynamically, raising them in three to four years would be more reasonable. Youth investment works with a time lag — it serves the future rather than the present — and Youth Ratings reflect the quality of new talent each year.


For this reason, keeping the rating at 60 might be the safer option. The final call is yours. To me, 45 and 60 are practically the same haha.

#882593 FM26 Nations Update
FMC-LB
1 year ago
15 hours ago
6
28 May 2026 03:37:10
By renskay 28 May 2026 - 03:13 AM UTC 

I appreciate your opinion because for this update to improve it requires feedback to help me arrive at the correct ratings.

 

I think the truth with a lot of these ratings that are in the game is that hardly anybody knows what they really effect.

You are right to point out that China being below quite a number of countries feels wrong but most of these are steady European economically stable countries and a few are extinct nations or non football nations that don't effect the game.

 

17 out of 20 is still considered to be an extremely high rating by the game which is what China is at in my update, lowered by 1 from their intitial rating of 18 as there's been a scale back in funding to Chinese football was my thinking.

This ratings in the default game are confusing because Northern Ireland were actually one of the highest rated at 19 economic power so maybe there is some interpretation of what it's meant to mean that I am missing.

 

With the rivalries I've based them on historic rivalries and also lesser rivalries based on historic clashes at major tournaments as well as political/historic tension or even that the game between the nation's would be significant,

Obviously some will be less important than others and I tried to reflect that by giving them a lower rivalry %

When it's a lesser rivalry it's kind of a way of saying the teams/nations have history more than they full on hate each other.

 

It’s true that the era of money-fuelled football in China has come to an end. From what I know though, investment in youth development has risen substantially instead. It’s a tough transitional period. So I don’t take issue with your point considering the reduced investment in football. Looking forward to future updates!

#882591 FM26 Nations Update
FMC-LB
1 year ago
15 hours ago
6
28 May 2026 02:54:19
By renskay 27 May 2026 - 12:57 PM UTC 

Thanks for raising the contention. I'm open to tweaks on these types of ratings where there is uncertainty on where to arrive on the correct rating.

 

From my interpretation of how “Economic Factor” works in FM is that its not explicitly meant to be raw GDP numbers but to do with wealth and investment to football specifically as well as living standard in the economy. 

 

I haven't done extensive testing on how these changes all effect the game but hopefully with community input we can try to adjust them to a level where they feel more correct.

 

Football Manager have basically left all these values the same for 10 years which is why it felt like it needed some type of change.

 

There's an extensive write up I found on the effects of changing some of these stats here.

https://community.sports-interactive.com/forums/topic/463026-oc-experiment-investigating-the-factors-behind-a-youth-intake-and-the-countries-with-the-most-potential/

 

I've read through the link you sent, but I still believe the Economic Factor reflects a country's economic strength. And of course, this is not always equivalent to GDP. Perhaps FA Financial Power better represents a nation's investment in football. For example, we would never say that football authorities in China have greater financial clout than those in some Middle Eastern countries. This is merely my humble opinion.
Overall, thank you for the great patch. That said, do you think there are a bit too many National Team Rivals added? Many countries would not actually view each other as rivals. I can see these rivalries are rooted in history. Admittedly, England does have genuine historical rivalries with Iceland, Argentina and Ireland. When it comes to France and numerous African nations though, I suppose the ill will towards Les Bleus is largely one-sided.

#882431 FM26 Nations Update
FMC-LB
1 year ago
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27 May 2026 07:24:26

18 countries have a higher Economic Factor than China's 17? That doesn't feel right at all.

#871263 UEFA Super Cup & UEFA Alliance League
FMC-LB
1 year ago
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23 Feb 2026 10:22:42

Awesome!