r96 - Comments

The Interceptor and Phil Mitchell's kid in the team? You were never going to lose!

Joking aside, good to see Mr. McIlwaine make the welcomed decision.

Impressive start, as you say a relatively kind fixture list but you still have to beat what's in front of you! A shame that United didn't get the win though…😁

Despite what I'd consider positive performances, good results have not exactly been regularly occurring in this save so far. I'm not under any additional pressure yet, but without an improvement I'd surely be in trouble sooner or later. So you could say November is kind of a decisive month…

The perfect beginning, that! An excellent 4-1 road win at Brighton & Hove Albion, who were sitting third coming into this month. Ella Toone, Melvine Malard and Jess Park struck to give us an impressive three-goal half-time lead. Jun Endo would pull one back for The Seagulls, but Elisabeth Terland restored our interval advantage on 86 minutes.

Now we're talking! United follow up that fine win at Brighton with another sweet display at home to sixth place Aston Villa. Gabby George came up with a rare goal in minute 4, with that 1-0 lead lasting until seven minutes into the second half when Gabi Nunes equalised for our Leigh Sports Village guests. However, the scoreline was only level for four minutes as Ella Toone grabbed a go-ahead goal on 56 minutes. On 82 minutes, Tooney struck again to secure back-to-back victories in the WSL for the first time.

The goals are flowing all of a sudden! OL Lyonnes were surprisingly swept aside with ease in the UWCL league phase's matchday three. I mentioned in my last post that we needed to be more clinical and, wonderfully, we have starting becoming just that. Melvine Malard netted in the first half, with captain Maya Le Tissier opening the second half's scoring before Ella Toone and Elisabeth Terland got in on the act.

We came back down to Earth next time out, as derby day ended with defeat at the Etihad Stadium versus City. Bunny Shaw with the decisive goal. This was more of the same from prior months, as an even game was decided by a rare moment of composure. I did have to save/reload after the aforementioned Lyon fixture due to the same bug that I encountered back in August, so the City game technically came in a new session and we suspiciously stopped scoring… FM is never beating those allegations!😆

We suggested that that derby loss was a mere blip here, as the goals returned in November's final match against Vorskla in the UEFA Women's Champions League. Celin Bizet Dønnum and Elisabeth Terland got goals, either side of a second senior goal for Tamira Livingston; on what was her first senior start. I'm very happy with her progress! If not for solid performances from Melvine Malard on the left wing, I'd 100% be giving the youngster more starts.

There we have it. A vastly improved November, sure we lost the toughest fixture so still have work to do to catch the league's best but I'm happy with how we are going at the moment.

December brings with it four matches. Like in October, it'll be two WSL games and two UWCL games. Both league games are at home, with London duo West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur making the trip up north; they both sit in the bottom four, so hopefully we can extend our positive run of results. In Europe, it's Wolfsburg (A) and Juventus (H); both of them are inside the UWCL's top six, so shall not be easy.

As for the tables, our league position has unluckily only been improved by one position as we sit seventh - only five points off fourth place Arsenal though. In Europe, we sit a pleasant-looking second place; behind Chelsea, who lead both the WSL and UWCL. Both us, them and Eintracht Frankfurt have already secured a play-off knockout spot (at worst).

Fingers crossed December goes as nicely. Thanks for reading!

October 2025 is here. Four games, two domestic and two continental. We started the campaign with promise, if imperfect results. Would improvement be made?

Well, first and foremost: not quite. However, this opening defeat at Old Trafford was to title favourites Chelsea, who had won 4 out of 4 leading up to our encounter. The Red Devils actually took a first half lead through Celin Bizet Dønnum and held onto it until the 62nd minute, when Sandy Baltimore levelled things for The Blues. Sam Kerr and Catarina Macario added goals to give the table toppers a merited, if flattering, advantage. Ella Toone pulled one back in vain late on, but it at least made the scoreline more fair on the eyes.

Then came our UWCL league phase opener at Leigh Sports Village against PSV. Ella Toone put us ahead, though we conceded instantly through Fenna Kalma. Thankfully, Toone regained our lead on 23 minutes. We absolutely dominated this meeting, though it remained just 2-1 for the vast majority. Thankfully, the win was made certain on 88 minutes thanks to youngster Tamira Livingston. I mentioned that I was impressed by the recently debuting left winger in a past post, so you could imagine how happy I was to see the 18 year old pop up with a vital European goal here. A first senior start may not be too far off for the Englishwoman.

Everton were next on the schedule in the WSL. As you can see, it didn't go well as we fell to a 1-0 defeat thanks to Kelly Gago's late first half strike. We had a better xG (0.64 to 1.62) but in truth it was a close match-up - a draw would've been the fair outcome, but hey-ho. Admittedly, things weren't helped by me accidently playing the majority of the match on ‘Cautious’ instead of something more adventurous - I thought I switched, seemingly not… I blame the new UI!😄

October's action ended with our second match in the UWCL league phase in Sweden versus Häcken. It turned out to be a frustrating visit to Scandinavia as we were held to a 1-1 draw, despite dominating almost as much as we did against PSV. Tabby Tindell gave the hosts an undeserved advantage, albeit one that lasted a matter of seconds thanks to Melvine Malard's leveller.

Results are not good enough at the moment, but honestly our performances have truly been more than satisfactory - just been super unfortunate in terms of us not being clinical enough and our opponents being the opposite. Hopefully the results will come. The board ‘only’ want a top half finish, so no super pressure on me at least.

November has five matches. Brighton & Hove Albion (A), Aston Villa (H) and the first Manchester derby of the season with City (A) are upcoming in the WSL, while UWCL football gives us OL Lyonnes (H) and Vorskla (A). The WSL encounters are versus teams in the top six, so pretty tricky. Vorskla is the only game I'd definitively expect a win.

We sit 8th in the WSL and 6th in the UWCL. We deserve to be higher in both, but gotta start getting those three points more regularly.

Will November bring the necessary improvement? I do hope so! Thanks for reading!

I've managed to get through September 2025 without any major bugs (hopefully I've not tempted fate), so here's what the women's team of Manchester United got up to as the competitive campaign got underway.

Game 1 of the new WSL season saw us welcome Leicester City to Leigh Sports Village. It ended up being a narrow 1-0 victory thanks to a nice goal from Fridolina Rolfö, but in truth it was a fairly comfortable day for The Red Devils.

Then came the continuation of our quest to reach the UEFA Women's Champions League league phase, as we initiated our tough-looking final qualifying round tie with Liga F side Real Madrid. The first leg ended in a 3-2 victory, with Elisabeth Terland carrying on her pre-season form as she netted a hat-trick. The third goal of which was a 94th minute winner, which came three minutes after Athenea Del Castillo seemingly hit a late Real equaliser. Ex-Manchester City player Caroline Weir had put Las Blancas 1-0 ahead. This match also saw a senior debut for Welsh full-back Scarlett Hill.

A return to WSL action saw a shock result, as promoted London City Lionnesses beat us 2-0 at the Copperjax Community Stadium. It was a more even game than the scoreline suggests, but LCL were clinical through Poppy Pattinson and Sanni Franssi. The only good thing for us to take from this match was the debut off the bench for Tamira Livingston, a left winger who has come on as sub a few times since this encounter and has shown positive glimpses.

Back in the UWCL, we successfully sealed progression past Real Madrid. Melvine Malard and that woman Elisabeth Terland got our priceless goals, both were go-ahead goals that were followed by Caroline Weir (her again) and Alba Redondo levellers. Thankfully, we headed through 5-4 on aggregate. Lovely jubbly!

The first of two WSL fixtures to conclude September came at home to Arsenal on 21 September. Sadly, it was back-to-back league losses as ex-Red forward Alessia Russo netted an early brace. This was similar to the London City Lionesses game in that it was actually quite even but our oppo took their chances.

September ended with a fantastic 4-1 win at Anfield versus rivals Liverpool. In the women's game, it seems to me that Manchester City are our big rivals; whereas in the men's, it's certainly Liverpool. Either way, a win over that lot is always delightful. Elisabeth Terland popped up on the scoresheet again, as did Melvine Malard. However, Celin Bizet Dønnum stole the headlines with a quickfire double early in the second half. Sophie Román Haug got one back on 63mins for LFC, but thankfully no comeback was forthcoming. That was a much, much needed three points.

A tricky middle period, but September did have good moments too. Improvement is totally needed, though it feels like the building blocks are there. We head into next month sat in fifth place, already six points adrift of title favourites Chelsea - who we host next time out.

October currently has just four games scheduled, two in the WSL and two in the UWCL. Chelsea at Old Trafford and Everton at Goodison Park make for interesting league fixtures, while our league phase campaign in Europe starts with PSV at home and Häcken on the road. Future matches in that competition will be against OL Lyonnes, Vorskla, Wolfsburg and Juventus; Lyon and Wolfsburg are standout in terms of stature in the women's game.

My next post will detail all that the Halloween month has to offer. Thanks for reading!

Pre-season is now complete, as is our initial attempt to progress through UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying. Let's see what happened.

Our tour of Australia kicked off with a thumping 7-0 victory over Western Sydney Wanderers at Wanderers Football Park. New signing (irl, I've not signed anyone) Jess Park netted a hat-trick, as Elisabeth Terland notched a brace. Celin Bizet and fan favourite Ella Toone also scored. Big fan of Tooney, hopefully she's great for me in the save. The A-League Women is no match for the WSL, so this result is somewhat expected.

The aforementioned is shown to be true again here, as Central Coast Mariners also shipped seven goals to the Red Devils. Tiana Fuller got the hosts of Polytec Stadium a goal just before half-time, but United were already 4-0 ahead by that point. All four goals were scored by Elisabeth Terland, who went on to score a fifth in a second half that also included Ella Toone and Hinata Miyazawa goals.

Well, I knew the Australian sides wouldn't be able to handle a WSL team but I expected more from Liga F club Real Sociedad. 9-1 was the end result at Zubieta, as Elisabeth Terland and Melvine Malard hit hat-tricks. Ella Toone notched a double, as captain Maya Le Tissier grabbed one late on. Andreia Jacinto got Sociedad's consolation.

Then came the start of our UEFA Women's Champions League run - with a twist. I had to holiday this and the subsequent round's match due to a continuation bug; it's a beta after all, but long story short: couldn't continue or save post-Sociedad team talk, so had to holiday through to autosave (one month in; pre-WSL start thankfully) and reload the game. Unsure if fixed, won't find out till I play a game tomorrow. Anyway, Aktobe of Kazakhstan were expectedly not good enough to cause United any major issue. They did score three times in fairness, including from 2-0 down for 2-2. Elisabeth Terland is in sensational form, as she got another hat-trick here. Ella Toone and new signings Fridolina Rolfö and Jess Park also struck.

That win over Aktobe meant we'd face Nordsjælland (who beat Glasgow City 3-1) in this qualifying round's final. Sille Hjortsø gave the Danish team a shock 5th-minute lead, but Elisabeth Terland (x2) and Melvine Malard gave United the desired response. That sends us through to the final qualifying round, where we'll meet Real Madrid - that should be a vastly different encounter to the one with their Liga F counterparts Real Sociedad. It should be a tricky tie. I believe if we lose we'd drop into the UEFA Women's Europa Cup, which is the UEFA Europa League equivalent.

The fixture list is as described previously, except with the additional of those two legs with Real Madrid in Europe. My next post will be rounding up the results from September, assuming the noted bug isn't save-ending - time will tell, fingers crossed nope.

The pre-season period, which culminates with our UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying matches, is on the way. Here's how it looks.

Firstly, here are the competitions that we will be involved in across 2025-26. The WSL is obviously the bread and butter, but there is also the FA Cup and the aforementioned Champions League. The WSL Cup (aka League Cup) will be happening too, despite not showing on the competitions screen at the moment.

The UWCL's qualifying is a little confusing, in that there's a semi-final and third place play-off/final before a two-legged final qualifying round; I can't see that round in the schedule, but I'm probably missing it amid FM's somewhat overwhelming new-look. We face Kazakh side Aktobe in the semi-final, with Glasgow City (SCO) or Nordsjælland (DEN) awaiting the winner.

In pre-season, we will initially head to Australia to face Western Sydney Wanderers and Central Coast Mariners. After that Real Sociedad and Paris FC, though I think the latter will get cancelled due to the UWCL; in real life the third play-off and final take place on the Saturday after the semi-finals, which is when that Paris game is currently scheduled. We'll see!

In the WSL, it's Leicester City at Leigh Sports Village (our main stadium, Old Trafford is used periodically - in-game, first used at home to Chelsea in October) on the opening day of the season, with newly-promoted London City Lionesses following away from home a week later. After that? Standout games with Arsenal (H) and Liverpool (A).

Bring it on. Next will be a recap of the pre-season and UWCL matches. Thanks for reading!

So it begins. FM26 is here and I'm exploring all that it has to offer via a beta save with Manchester United's women's team in the FA WSL. Hopefully it goes fairly well, though I'm not expecting too much given how good the likes of Chelsea are in the women's game. Either way, it's a ‘serious but not serious’ sorta save. I'll do my best, but it's mainly a save to get through the unsure beta period.

I'm a United fan and although I do only have supreme affection for the men's team, I do follow the women's team and watch most matches; ever since their days in WSL2. I remember one of the early games when Casey Stoney's team battered Aston Villa about 12-0, iirc it was streamed on Villa's YouTube channel… how far the women's game has come! I've followed the women's game in general for over a decade, back when it first launched on ESPN/BT Sport. The game has come such a long way since then, which has been great to witness. And now it's in Football Manager - very cool!

Oh, and the title of this post for anyone interested is the hashtag used for/by the team on social media.

Here's my manager: Michael Smith. An Englishman who comes in with a global reputation and full coaching badges. I usually start from bottom, as I plan to do in a journeyman come November 4th, but for this I thought I'd start as an all-star of sorts. I've loaded England, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United States; as well as their male counterparts, accidently… I forgot you could untick the men's leagues, but it shouldn't interfere with anything so no biggie.

Next up, a rundown of pre-season and a look ahead to the season proper. Thanks for reading!

The end of the save has arrived. Mainly due to the FM26 beta releasing later today, but to be honest I think I've exhausted the save idea as much as I had originally anticipated; if not slightly more, to be honest. I didn't get that damn World Cup trophy, not that that's much of a surprise to me or anyone who has followed my saves down the years on Susie. Still, I did really enjoy playing the save - one that was strictly for fun, something I've never really done on FM so it was a pleasant change of pace.

Before I move on, I thought I'd do a recap of sorts to bookend this story post.

2026 - in United States/Canada/Mexico - managing England:

I underachieved in this one, no doubt about it. I led England to a round of 16 elimination at the hands of Japan, who were the less dominant side but took their chance and we did not. Argentina would end the tournament as winners.

2030 - in Türkiye - managing Belgium:

This turned out to be one or my two best campaigns in the save, both of which were in fact with the more underdog nations of the top seven in the world rankings. After leading The Red Devils out of the group (which I did with every nation managed - it would've been embarrassing had I hadn't, of course), I got some revenge on Japan as well as eliminating Switzerland and the United States. The star result was a semi-final triumph over France on penalties, thus gaining us a spot in the 2030 World Cup final. Sadly, Spain edged past us in the showpiece thanks to a Pedro Porro free-kick. Still, a great run.

2034 - in Japan - managing Brazil:

In 2034, I actually made a mistake with my team selection. Spain were the team I should've managed based on my rules of following the rankings and not re-managing a nation, but for some reason I thought I had already coached the Spanish - evidently, I hadn't. I didn't realise this mistake until post-tournament, so was too late to go back. Still, a tournament with Brazil was desirable. Unfortunately, the event didn't go overly well as my Brazilian bunch were knocked out in the quarter-finals - by England, who'd win the whole thing.

2038 - in South Africa - managing Argentina:

Another tournament where I should've done better, given I was coaching world no.2 Argentina. Like in 2026 with the English, it was to be a Round of 16 exit for me with La Albiceleste. Belgium, remember them, were the side to put us out. This was probably the biggest underachievement of the whole save. Belgium would, admittedly, reach the semi-finals, missing out on a spot in the final after losing to Wales; who'd be defeated by Germany in the Johannesburg final.

2042 - in Spain - managing the Netherlands:

This can be coupled with 2030's run with Belgium, as in 2042 I got the Netherlands into the final. Annoyingly, it was to be a second runner-up run of the save as former employers Brazil would dash my Dutch hopes with a 2-1 victory at Spotify Camp Nou. The United States and Sweden made for a kind start to the knockouts, prior to a quarter-final triumph over Belgium - who I got back for that aforementioned 2038 exit. In the semis, we got past surprise package Algeria. I'm still sorry, Les Verts.

Second place was as good as it got, as nothing improved happened across the subsequent five World Cups.

2046 - in Indonesia/Malaysia - managing Germany:

Round of 16 losers, again. Finals with Belgium and the Netherlands, but R16 exits with England, Argentina and Germany. Go figure! Those early eliminations came to Japan, Belgium and, in 2046, the United States. All three nations, esp. the USA around this point in the save, were all pretty good don't get me wrong, but how frustrating really. The States would go on to reach the quarters, but were sent packing by England. The English were denied the trophy in the final by France, who were triumphant at the Gelora Bung Tomo Stadium in Indonesia.

2050 - in Brazil - managing Spain:

Ah Spain, another disappointment (I'm sensing a theme). After knockout stage wins over Senegal and Italy, we met reigning champions France in the quarter-finals. There, we were extremely unfortunate. Admittedly the scoreline was bad (0-3), but based on the statistics a draw would've been the far fairer result. Alas, just like Japan in 2026, our opponents were clinicial and my boys simply were not. The French would not retain their title though, as the Netherlands beat them in the semi-finals. The Dutch, in another final after I got them there in 2042, would miss out again, as England won narrowly 1-0 at the Maracanã.

2054 - in England - managing France:

A quarter-final would be my limit again in 2054, despite managing third seed France. We would lose out in that round to Poland. Now, naturally, that sounds terrible on paper (and still is really). In reality, however, this was a World Cup of shocks. The Polish would end up reaching the tournament final, where they'd meet Belgium. It was also fine margins, given Poland netted a stoppage time equaliser to force extra time - where my squad were dead on their feet, given I went against rotation for once. Sadly for the Eagles, they wouldn't win their first-ever World Cup - that honour went to Belgium instead, as they won 3-1 at Wembley Stadium.

2058 - in Australia - managing Italy:

With this being World Cup no. 9, I was running out of nations to manage; given I set myself a limit of one run per (top 7) nation. Italy was one of two ‘top’ nations still available (the other being struggling Portugal). Italy weren't much better, but were still the most likely candidate in terms of finally claiming a World Cup. Obviously, that didn't happen. It was, in fact, the worst result of the entire save! Germany condemned Gli Azzurri to a second round exit; i.e. the first knockout stage. There was some solace in that the Germans would go on to win the tournament, at the expense of England. 2038 with Argentina was the biggest underachivement given Italy were #7 in the world, but this was still bad.

2062 - in Mexico - managing Mexico:

2062 was the The Last Dance (if The Last Dance was about no success). It did have some nice fitting though, as I managed Mexico (#10 in rankings; highest nation available) in a Mexican-hosted World Cup. It was arguably the most eventful period of the save, as there was some rare group stage drama that we narrowly advanced through and then we had a super knockout win over Argentina. Sadly, an exit was abruptly forthcoming as England smacked us (and I mean smacked us) 5-0 on our own turf. For the fifth time in the save, I was eliminated by the eventual victors; as Scotland lost to the English at the Estadio Azteca.

What I can take from this save is that I'm better at managing ‘smaller’ teams, which is something I pretty much knew already; my many journeymans always tend to showcase that. My tactics, team talks etc. are seemingly best suited to punching up rather than punching down. I don't mind that as it's arguably more realistic, to me anyway as I prefer the struggle over winning everything every season - not that I'd turn that down!😁

As enjoyable as this World Cup save was, I am very eager to jump back into a journeyman when FM26 fully releases. Lastly, thanks to anyone who has been following along!

Good call, I never start my ‘proper’ save until the full release due to the reasons you mention. Who are you going to manage in your quick save?👀

The 2062 FIFA World Cup reaches the Round of 16!

Cor blimey, guv'nor. England gave Javier Borgetti's Mexico, what we call in the business, an absolute violation. I mean, look at the stats man… 3.69 xG, 24 shots, 64% possession. I haven't been thumped like that on FM for quite some time. Sheesh!

Quite a few stories across the other Round of 16 ties. Scotland keep their fantastic run going by beating France on spot-kicks, while Peru knocked out Italy and Brazil beat Spain; they were fortunate to get out of their group, but the Brazilians are now ticking along nicely to be fair. South Africa and Nigeria are eliminated, so CAF's hopes are over at this World Cup.

In the quarter-finals, Scotland vs. Norway is a fascinating encounter as England, Brazil and the United States have favourable matches with Türkiye, Belgium and Peru. Let's see how it all goes down.

Peru are World Cup semi-finalists, how about that! What a 3-1 win that is over the United States. Scotland join them, as they defeated Norway 4-2. England and Brazil face no problems though, getting the better of Türkiye and Belgium.

The semi-finals are Scotland vs. Peru and England vs. Brazil, so an underdog is guaranteed to make the 2062 final. But which one?

Scotland vs. England it will be in the showpiece. Scotland won on penalties, which is a heartbreaking end for the Peruvians. England, meanwhile, narrowly beat Brazil 1-0. So it's an all-British final for the second time in the save after 2034 (when ENG beat Wales).

I'm English, but 'mon the Tartan Army!

It took extra time, but it's England who are World Cup winners once again. That's their fourth triumph in this competition. Nil poi for me yet again. Boo!

I suppose I had a bit of a cheek questioning Brazil's luck, when in fact us Mexicans got just as much good fortune!😁

The 2062 FIFA World Cup reaches the knockout stages!

Miguel Herrera🫡

From the 7th-best nation in the world, to the one at the top of the rankings. England are next. Bring it on, I say.

Elsewhere, Türkiye knocked out underachievers Portugal on penalties, while Germany went out to Brazil. South Africa, Peru and Serbia are the pick of the underdogs who advance.

The expectation of the FMF was the Round of 16, so anything else from here on in is a bonus. Brazil vs. Spain is the standout tie, surely Brazil's luck will run out at some point.

The 2062 FIFA World Cup group stage concludes!

Matchday 3:

Group A…

China 1-4 Scotland

Mexico 4-1 Paraguay

Group B: Iran 0-2 Argentina, Türkiye 4-2 Ghana

Group C: Ecuador 2-0 El Salvador, Morocco 1-1 Norway

Group D: England 3-3 Colombia, Republic of Ireland 1-0 Thailand

Group E: Brazil 1-2 South Korea, South Africa 1-0 Northern Ireland - Brazil sneak through in 3rd on goals scored ahead of NIR (harsh)

Group F: Canada 1-0 Algeria, Japan 0-1 France

Group G: Egypt 2-1 Portugal, New Zealand 2-1 Belgium

Group H: Iraq 0-4 Italy, United States 3-3 Cameroon

Group I: Germany 0-0 Saudi Arabia, Côte d'Ivoire 1-1 Costa Rica

Group J: Australia 1-4 Netherlands, Sweden 1-2 Peru

Group K: Mali 0-0 Spain, Wales 3-1 Honduras

Group L: Serbia 4-2 Nigeria, Uzbekistan 1-2 Chile

Eliminated: China, Paraguay (both A), Ghana, Iran (both B), El Salvador (C), Thailand (D), Northern Ireland (E), Algeria (F), New Zealand (G), Iraq (H), Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire (both I), Australia, Sweden (both J), Honduras (K), Uzbekistan (L)

Phew! There'll be no group stage elimination for hosts Mexico, who produce a terrific final group game performance versus Paraguay; that's how the China match would've went if not for Mr. Zheng. With Scotland beating the aforementioned China, it means El Tri snatch second place. Just the small issue of Argentina next…

Rest of the Round of 32 draw:

Scotland vs. Ecuador

South Africa vs. Republic of Ireland

Türkiye vs. Portugal

Mali vs. France

Cameroon vs. Norway

South Korea vs. Nigeria

England vs. Canada

Saudi Arabia vs. Belgium

Peru vs. Wales

Morocco vs. Italy

Serbia vs. Colombia

Egypt vs. United States

Germany vs. Brazil

Japan vs. Spain

Chile vs. Netherlands

The 2062 FIFA World Cup continues!

Matchday 2:

Group A…

Scotland 3-0 Paraguay

Mexico 0-0 China

Group B: Iran 1-1 Ghana, Argentina 0-0 Türkiye

Group C: Norway 2-0 Ecuador, Morocco 1-1 El Salvador

Group D: England 5-1 Thailand, Colombia 1-2 Republic of Ireland

Group E: South Africa 1-1 South Korea, Northern Ireland 3-1 Brazil (incredible, stick that next to David Healy vs. Spain!)

Group F: Japan 0-0 Algeria, France 6-0 Canada

Group G: Egypt vs. Belgium, Portugal 3-0 New Zealand

Group H: Iraq 0-4 Cameroon, Italy 2-2 United States

Group I: Costa Rica 0-3 Germany, Côte d'Ivoire 0-3 Saudi Arabia

Group J: Sweden 2-3 Netherlands, Peru 0-0 Australia

Group K: Mali 2-2 Honduras, Spain 3-0 Wales

Group L: Chile 2-3 Serbia, Uzbekistan 2-2 Nigeria

In the words of John McEnroe: “You Cannot Be Serious!”. China somehow dig in to secure a point, despite Javier Borgetti's Mexico claiming a win 19-3 on shots and 2.91 vs. 0.21 on xG. The reason? Shanghai Port goalkeeper Zheng Xuan, who saved an early penalty as he put in a display rating of 9.2! 9.2! Fair play to that man, honestly.

1pt from a possible 6pts is not good, but we still have hope. If we beat Paraguay we should be alright to at least qualify as a best third place side, but you'd like to think Scotland will defeat China so second place would then be taken. I might have to contact those Ecuadorians I met in 2058… wait, what?

The 2062 FIFA World Cup is here!

Matchday 1:

Group A…

Mexico 1-2 Scotland

Paraguay 1-1 China

Group B: Türkiye 0-0 Iran, Ghana 1-1 Argentina

Group C: Ecuador 2-2 Morocco, El Salvador 0-2 Norway

Group D: Thailand 1-4 Colombia, Republic of Ireland 0-2 England

Group E: Brazil 3-1 South Africa, South Korea 3-1 Northern Ireland (the group of directions)

Group F: Canada 1-1 Japan, Algeria 0-4 France

Group G: Belgium 1-0 Portugal, New Zealand 2-3 Egypt

Group H: United States 2-1 Iraq, Cameroon 0-2 Italy

Group I: Saudi Arabia 2-1 Costa Rica, Germany 5-1 Côte d'Ivoire

Group J: Netherlands 1-0 Peru, Australia 2-2 Sweden

Group K: Wales 0-0 Mali, Honduras 1-2 Spain

Group L: Nigeria 4-4 Chile, Serbia 3-0 Uzbekistan

Gotta hold my hands up with that one, got the starting tactical set-up all wrong. Damage was done by half-time with Scotland 2-0 up, but a much better second half performance gives hope going forward - hopefully it won't be a costly mistake, Paraguay and China drew in the other match so that kinda helps. Gotta beat 龙之队!

The 2062 FIFA World Cup Preview:

Hosts: Mexico

Holders: Germany (2058, Australia)

Random # (1-7): 1 to 9 ENG, FRA, ESP, NED, BEL, BRA, GER, ARG, ITA (already managed) / 10 = Mexico

Last World Cup Win: n/a

For (most likely) my last World Cup attempt, I can only manage the next nation available - which is 10th in the rankings Mexico, who are the 2062 hosts. How fitting.

(no qualifying screenshot due to El Tri qualifying as hosts.)

At the most recent CONCACAF Gold Cup, which Mexico did win as the United States went out at the quarter-finals to eventual finalists Costa Rica, 22-year old Iván Gómez (Fulham, just placed as seventh top scorer in the Premier League) did score in every round as he notched 10 goals; including a hat-trick over Trinidad & Tobago. The man to watch! In a pre-tournament friendly, my former employers Italy beat Mexico 3-2 at the Rose Bowl in the USA.

Finals: Group A with China (57th), Paraguay (39th), Scotland (20th).

Fixtures: Scotland > China > Paraguay

Squad:

Rest of the tournament:

Group B: Argentina, Ghana, Iran, Türkiye

Group C: Ecuador, El Salvador, Morocco, Norway

Group D: Colombia, England, Republic of Ireland (tasty), Thailand

Group E: Brazil, Northern Ireland (GAWA! first Q since 1986!), South Africa, South Korea

Group F: Algeria, Canada, France, Japan

Group G: Belgium, Egypt, New Zealand, Portugal

Group H: Cameroon, Iraq, Italy, United States

Group I: Costa Rica, Germany, Côte d'Ivoire, Saudi Arabia

Group J: Australia, Netherlands, Peru (first Q since 2026!), Sweden

Group K: Honduras, Mali, Spain, Wales

Group L: Chile, Nigeria, Serbia, Uzbekistan

Mexico's previous best is quarter-finals in 1970 & 1986, which is when they were also hosts.

El Tri make for my first team managed in the save that isn't from CONMEBOL or UEFA and the first host nation I've (well, Javier Borgetti has…) led.

It's all written in the stars for World Cup glory, surely! [tongue firmly in cheek] but in the words of Cher or Smash Mouth… Believe!/I'm a Believer! (delete as appropriate for your musical taste)

You're not wrong! Here's hoping I can sneak a successful campaign in at the death, but I'm not liking my chances with the lack of top nations available to manage. An at rock bottom Portugal or an underdog story it'll most likely have to be!

The 2058 FIFA World Cup reaches the knockout stages!

How have we lost that then? Despite a fifth-minute red card and being on the back foot for the rest of the match, it's Germany who advance to the Round of 16. Italy head home, with the most apt headline from Get Italian Football News, to be fair. Worst run (in terms of round reached) of the save, this.

Elsewhere in the opening knockout round, Brazil suffered a shock exit at the hands of Nigeria. Apart from that, not much to note.

In the Round of 16, all the favoured nations have matches that you would expect them to progress in. Let's see if they would…

They all would safely sail through to the quarter-finals. Argentina survived extra time against Ecuador, as Morocco ran England close at 1-0.

England vs. France and Argentina vs. Germany stands out, Spain will fancy themselves against Japan while Belgium have a great chance to continue their title defence with a match against Saudi Arabia. Here's how the quarters went down…

Spain beat Japan, Belgium beat Saudi Arabia, England beat France, Germany beat Argentina.

In the semi-finals, it's Spain versus Germany and Belgium against England. #TeamBelgium

They'll be no back-to-back wins for Belgium, as they go out to England. In the other tie, Germany defeated Spain.

The 2058 FIFA World Cup final will be between England and Germany - two old foes match-up at the MCG, what scenes down under.

England go for WC #4, Germany aim for WC #3…

Germany are champions! Felix Maier nets a 22-minute brace to seal victory for Die Mannschaft!

I can only dream! Miles, mate, can ya release the FM26 beta please… put me out of my World Cup misery.😆

🤞 2062 🤞

The 2058 FIFA World Cup group stage concludes!

Matchday 3:

Group A: Australia 3-2 Uruguay, Canada 0-4 Croatia

Group B: Iran 2-1 Algeria, Wales 0-3 Scotland

Group C: Senegal 0-1 Japan, Slovakia 0-4 Spain

Group D: Belgium 2-0 Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia 4-2 Guinea

Group E: DR Congo 1-1 Mexico, Türkiye 2-1 Paraguay

Group F: Brazil 2-1 Austria, Jamaica 2-4 South Africa

Group G: England 3-0 Norway, Côte d'Ivoire 1-0 United Arab Emirates

Group H: Argentina 6-1 Republic of Ireland, United States 2-0 Thailand

Group I: Cameroon 1-0 Honduras, Portugal 0-1 Serbia - Portugal are out! Bottom of the group!

Group J…

Ecuador 1-0 Italy

South Korea 0-1 Tunisia

Group K: France 0-0 Colombia, Nigeria 2-0 Uzbekistan

Group L: Chile 2-0 New Zealand, Germany 0-0 Morocco

Eliminated: Canada (A), Wales, Algeria (both B), Senegal, Slovakia (both C), Guinea, Costa Rica (both D), Paraguay (E), Jamaica (F), United Arab Emirates (G), Republic of Ireland, Thailand (both H), Portugal (I), South Korea (J), Uzbekistan (K), New Zealand (L)

A loss to end the group stage to Ecuador, but one Gigi Meazza's team practically asked for given they changed almost their whole starting eleven; bar two central midfielders, who only played around 60 minutes themselves.

South Korea and Tunisia were likely not happy with the changes - but I can confirm no payments were made or received to or from an Ecuadorian… 😇

A titanic clash with Germany awaits. Norway or the United States for the victors.

Rest of the Round of 32 draw:

Spain vs. Croatia

Saudi Arabia vs. Türkiye

Scotland vs. Cameroon

Brazil vs. Nigeria

Australia vs. Iran

Tunisia vs. Japan

Chile vs. Mexico

South Africa vs. Belgium

England vs. Honduras

Colombia vs. Ecuador

Uruguay vs. Argentina

DR Congo vs. Morocco

Norway vs. United States

Serbia vs. Austria

France vs. Côte d'Ivoire

The 2058 FIFA World Cup continues!

Matchday 2:

Group A: Canada 2-4 Uruguay, Australia 0-2 Croatia

Group B: Scotland 1-1 Iran, Wales 0-1 Algeria

Group C: Senegal 1-0 Spain, Japan 4-1 Slovakia

Group D: Belgium 8-0 Guinea (ouch!), Costa Rica 1-1 Saudi Arabia

Group E: DR Congo 3-2 Paraguay, Mexico 1-0 Türkiye

Group F: Austria 3-2 Jamaica, Brazil 0-0 South Africa

Group G: United Arab Emirates 0-5 England, Côte d'Ivoire 2-2 Norway

Group H: Argentina 6-0 Thailand, Republic of Ireland 3-0 United States

Group I: Cameroon 1-2 Serbia, Honduras 4-0 Portugal

Group J…

Ecuador 1-1 Tunisia

Italy 6-0 South Korea

Group K: Nigeria 0-0 Colombia, Uzbekistan 0-2 France

Group L: New Zealand 0-1 Germany, Chile 0-2 Morocco

Best performance and result of the entire save, I do believe. Very satisfying! That's qualification secured and practically top spot netted too, given only our Korean opposition can catch us and they are just the 13 goals away on goal difference.

The 2058 FIFA World Cup is here!

Matchday 1:

Group A: Australia 1-0 Canada, Uruguay 0-0 Croatia

Group B: Iran 0-3 Wales, Algeria 1-4 Scotland

Group C: Spain 2-2 Japan, Slovakia 2-1 Senegal

Group D: Guinea 3-2 Costa Rica, Saudi Arabia 0-5 Belgium

Group E: Paraguay 1-4 Mexico, Türkiye 1-0 DR Congo

Group F: South Africa 1-0 Austria, Jamaica 0-5 Brazil

Group G: Norway 4-0 United Arab Emirates, England 4-0 Côte d'Ivoire

Group H: Thailand 3-2 Republic of Ireland, United States 1-1 Argentina

Group I: Serbia 0-0 Honduras, Portugal 1-1 Cameroon

Group J…

South Korea 2-1 Ecuador

Tunisia 0-2 Italy

Group K: France 4-1 Nigeria, Colombia 3-2 Uzbekistan

Group L: Germany 2-2 Chile, Morocco 1-1 New Zealand

A dominant start for Italia against their North African opponents. Bayern Munich's Elia Sottile carries his top scoring qualifying form into the tournament proper with a brace. On to the next one!

The 2058 FIFA World Cup Preview:

Hosts: Australia

Holders: Belgium (2054, England)

Random # (1-7): 5 = Spain / 6 = Argentina (already managed) / 7 = Italy

Last World Cup Win: 2006 (4th)

Qualifying: UEFA's Group B. Won 7/10, GF 24, GA 5, 23pts. In a group with Slovakia, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein.

Most Goals: 7 - Elia Sottile (Bayern Munich)

Most Assists: 4 - Giacomo Marin (Manchester City), Marco Russo (Real Madrid)

Average Rating: 7.83 - Riccardo Raffaelli (Inter Milan)

Pre-Tournament Friendlies: 1-1 draw at home to Japan, 3-0 loss away to Colombia 😬

Finals: Group J with Ecuador (25th), South Korea (=32nd), Tunisia (50th).

Fixtures: Tunisia > South Korea > Ecuador

Squad:

Rest of the tournament:

Group A: Australia, Canada, Croatia, Uruguay

Group B: Algeria, Iran, Scotland, Wales

Group C: Japan, Senegal, Slovakia, Spain

Group D: Belgium, Costa Rica, Guinea (first Q since 2026), Saudi Arabia

Group E: DR Congo, Mexico, Paraguay, Türkiye

Group F: Austria, Brazil, Jamaica, South Africa

Group G: England, Côte d'Ivoire, Norway, United Arab Emirates

Group H: Argentina, Republic of Ireland (COYBIG; first Q in the save/since 2002), Thailand, United States

Group I: Cameroon, Honduras, Portugal, Serbia

Group K: Colombia, France, Nigeria, Uzbekistan (first Q since 2026)

Group L: Chile, Germany, Morocco, New Zealand

No Netherlands!

🗣️

Stringiamci a coorte! 
Siam pronti alla morte.
Siam pronti alla morte, 
L'Italia chiamò.
Stringiamci a coorte!
Siam pronti alla morte.
Siam pronti alla morte,
L'Italia chiamò. Sì!

Took me long enough but I've belatedly read through this. Well written! Nice work with the promotion, one step closer…

Fingers crossed! Though it's gonna be more difficult as I've already managed the top nations, so unless Italy and/or Portugal (or whoever else) shoot up the rankings I'll have to achieve it with a non-elite team. Then again, my two best runs so far have been with Belgium and the Netherlands so it might be a blessing in disguise!

Keep the updates coming!👍

There's been a few supposed FM26 leaks out, one screenshot seems to show the possibility of adding biography and playing career for a manager, which would be pretty cool.

The 2054 FIFA World Cup reaches the quarter-finals!

Well that's Poland off the Christmas card list. They inflict a painful loss on Olivier Mbappé and France, who were 2-0 up inside 7 minutes and remained ahead until the 96th minute (!!) when Atlético Madrid's Bartłomiej Zieliński popped up with an equaliser. At this point, The French were dead mentally and physically; Mbappé took the risk of playing the same starting eleven all tournament, so when that Zieliński goal went in it was extremely clear that extra time was a step too far… and so it proved.

Fair play to The Eagles. They were joined in the semi-finals by England, Spain and Belgium. Who'd make the final?

How. About. That! Two major semi-final shocks as England (hosts and holders!) lose on spot-kicks to Belgium and Poland beat Spain by a single goal. Belgium and Poland face-off in the 2054 FIFA World Cup final - incredible!

So… who won?

Belgium are world champions! A first-time winner was guaranteed and it's the Western European side that go all the way, at the expense of their impressive Eastern Europe counterparts.

That's consecutive quarter-final exits for yours truly now, as well as still FIFA World Cup in my personal trophy cabinet… a tiny bit embarrassing, let's be honest. Perhaps it'll come before (whenever) the FM26 “advanced access beta” drops.

The 2054 FIFA World Cup reaches the Round of 16!

The run continues, as France sweep aside Portugal. Another fairly comfortable showing from Les Bleus.

The big result from this stage came from the all-CONMEBOL match-up between Ecuador and Argentina. It was La Tricolor who impressively advanced to the quarter-finals - what a win that is for nation managed by ex-Manchester City and Inter Milan man Felipe Caicedo. Germany are eliminated by Italy, while Nigeria's notable sequence of results is ended by hosts and holders England.

Ecuador's reward for dumping out Argentina is 2030 runners-up Belgium, can they carry on this already historic run? Looking past them, England meet Italy as Wales play Spain. Our French lads face fellow Group I alum Poland, which is a good draw… on paper.

The 2054 FIFA World Cup reaches the knockout stages!

As expected, El Salvador were no match for Olivier Mbappé's France, who go through to the Round of 16 to face Portugal.

England and Argentina win those rivalry battles with Scotland and Brazil. Wales knock out the United States elsewhere, with Poland eliminating the Netherlands on penalties. Gambia's dream debut run is over, as they lost 2-1 to Ecuador.

Germany vs. Italy catches the eye, with the rest of the big boys kept apart. Hosts England meet Nigeria, who are having their best campaign of the save so far.

The 2054 FIFA World Cup group stage concludes!

Matchday 3:

Group A: England 4-1 Saudi Arabia, Suriname 0-4 Sweden

Group B: El Salvador 4-0 Mali, Wales 3-1 Japan

Group C: Ghana 1-4 Germany, Thailand 0-3 Scotland

Group D: Chile 3-0 Costa Rica, Spain 2-1 South Africa

Group E: China 0-0 Italy, Egypt 1-5 Denmark

Group F: Paraguay 1-1 South Korea, Portugal 0-1 Nigeria

Group G: Senegal 1-4 Netherlands, United Arab Emirates 2-2 Ecuador

Group H: Belgium 2-2 Gambia (The Scorpions place 2nd on debut - quality!), Venezuela 2-0 United States

Group I…

France 2-0 New Zealand

Poland 0-0 Uruguay

Group J: Australia 4-1 Côte d'Ivoire, Brazil 4-3 Serbia

Group K: Algeria 0-2 Mexico, Iran 0-2 Switzerland

Group L: Argentina 5-1 Panama, Türkiye 1-0 Morocco

Eliminated: Saudi Arabia, Suriname (both A), Mali (B), Thailand (C), Costa Rica (D), Egypt, China (both E), Paraguay (F), Senegal, United Arab Emirates (both G), Venezuela (H), New Zealand (I), Côte d'Ivoire (J), Algeria, Iran (both K), Panama (L)

Into the knockouts we go. Three wins, all convincing. El Salvador await in the next round, with potentially Portugal or Mexico afterwards.

Rest of the Round of 32 draw:

Scotland vs. England

Denmark vs. Chile

Wales vs. United States

Nigeria vs. Uruguay

Japan vs. Sweden

Germany vs. Australia

Morocco vs. Italy

Spain vs. South Korea

Poland vs. Netherlands

Switzerland vs. Serbia

Ghana vs. Belgium

Türkiye vs. South Africa

Gambia vs. Ecuador

Portugal vs. Mexico

Argentina vs. Brazil

SCO/ENG + ARG/BRA 👀