Sports Interactive, the video game producer owned by global industry giant Sega, has agreed a new multi-year partnership with soccer's world governing body FIFA for its annual Football Manager series.
The licensing deal means that FIFA’s top-line soccer competitions will be available in-game for Football Manager 2026, including next year's World Cup, the Women’s World Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup, with broadcast-style graphics and full tournament branding for each of the properties.
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In securing a multi-year aspect to the deal, Sports Interactive ensures that future editions of FM will also maintain the FIFA license.
Additionally, the deal ensures that kits for all 48 participating national teams in the upcoming 2026 World Cup will be present in the game, with those teams becoming playable with a content update set to launch next year in anticipation of the tournament.
Miles Jacobson, the studio head of Sports Interactive, claimed earlier in 2025 that the previous edition of the Football Manager franchise, launched in November 2023, had garnered 19.09 million players, of which, he claimed, 7.5 million played longer than five hours.
The game, which launches on November 4, will be available on several platforms, including its primary edition on Windows, PlayStation, Xbox, and Xbox Game Pass, with its FM Touch edition (available on Nintendo Switch) and FM Mobile edition (available via Netflix) to launch at a later date.
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By GlobalDataDespite having begun the Football Manager series in 1992 (when it was known as Championship Manager before a 2004 rebrand), this is the first time Sports Interactive has licensed FIFA properties for the series.
Other licenses featured in the game include the English Premier League (also for the first time), France’s Ligue 1, Germany’s Bundesliga, the Dutch Eredivisie, Scotland’s Premiership, and Belgium’s Pro League.
In 2022, Sports Interactive also licensed UEFA’s slate of international club competitions – the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference League – for the game, growing its coverage of soccer’s top competitions.
Women’s soccer will also debut in Football Manager 2026, with competitions including England’s Women’s Super League (WSL) and WSL2, Germany’s Frauen-Bundesliga, and Sweden’s top two leagues – the Damallsvenskan and Elitettan.
