Can YOU win the World Cup?! Football Manager confirm international football will return in upcoming FM26 after signing deal with FIFA

Beginning with the new edition of the game, Football Manager will be able to depict the FIFA World Cup in all its glory – with all 48 teams featured in the game, in addition to broadcast graphics and tournament branding.

The multi-year licensing deal with FIFA will begin with next summer’s 2026 World Cup in the US, Canada and Mexico, with later editions set to include the FIFA Women’s World Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup.

The ground-breaking development will allow gaming fanatics and football lovers alike to have a go at winning the World Cup for themselves, getting the opportunity to manage their favourite nation to glory or see if they can do a better job with England than Thomas Tuchel.

FM26 will be released across all platforms on 4 November 2025, with the World Cup update set to arrive ahead of the beginning of the tournament in June. It will be available across all consoles and devices.

Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson said of the landmark: “Revealing this partnership with FIFA is an incredibly historic moment for the studio.

“Heading into a World Cup year, revamping International Management and making it a much more feature-rich module for our players was important.

“To be able to do that with the support of FIFA with an official licence, giving us the tournament broadcast graphics and tournament kits in-game, is a real honour and something we’re delighted our fans will be able to experience next year.

“And this is just the start of our relationship – stay tuned for more to come in 2026 and beyond.”

Sports Interactive said in a statement: “Elevating authenticity to truly global heights, Sports Interactive are delighted to have signed our first partnership with FIFA, football’s world governing body. The multi-year deal brings official licences for FIFA’s biggest competitions to the Football Manager series, including the FIFA World Cup 26™ held in Canada, Mexico and USA.

“The inclusion of officially branded and titled FIFA competitions will begin in FM26 with the FIFA World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup and FIFA Club World Cup, with further tournaments set to follow. This coincides with the future inclusion of a revamped International Management module in a Content Update next year for FM26, FM26 Console and FM26 Touch in advance of FIFA World Cup 26.

“Full feature details will follow in due course, but this deal means that the official kits of the final 48 FIFA World Cup 26 teams will be included in FM26 when they’re available alongside broadcast graphics and tournament branding.

“FM26 is released worldwide across platforms from November 4, setting the stage for football fans to define their destiny by taking them to the heart of the beautiful game. Made with the Unity Engine for the first time, FM26 refreshes the entire managerial experience and sets a bold new standard in Sports Interactive’s and SEGA’s iconic history.”

Football Manager released a promotional video for the partnership on X, where they curated a selection of the World Cup’s greatest moments to show fans what the new update will bring to the game next year.

Famous World Cup moments involving Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappe, Zinedine Zidane and even Siphiwe Tshabalala featured in the video, which stated “History Made. Future Ready. Change The Game” in bold letters as the clip came to a close.

This new development will no doubt come as music to the ears of Football Manager’s many existing players, who will only find newly increased anticipation for the World Cup with the opportunity to play it for themselves as the real thing unfolds.

With the tournament just under eight months away, national sides across the world are beginning take shape and gel as further teams begin to secure qualification. England secured their spot in the North American showpiece with an emphatic 5-0 victory in Latvia last time out, while there is still a lot of work to be done for a lot of the world’s biggest footballing nations. The time is now to begin preparing ourselves for one of the biggest summers of football we have seen.