Football Manager 2026: Miles Jacobson on What to Expect from the New Era
It has been almost two years since a new edition of Football Manager hit the market, but the wait is nearly over. Sports Interactive, the game’s developers, are preparing to launch Football Manager 26, and anticipation is building fast. When they posted a teaser video for their newest game on X on August 13, it racked up 25,000 likes and 1.4 million views within an hour.
“It’s not what FM25 was going to be, because that was a mistake. There is a lot of FM25 in there. There’s also some more FM24 things in there than there were going to be and there are some things that we already had down for FM26 that are now in there.”
One of the biggest shifts has been with the game’s user interface. FM25 was set to abandon the long-standing email system in favour of a new ‘tile and card’ system, but that direction has been scrapped. Instead, FM26 sees a redesigned and improved version of the older system.
“Whilst the game is a sequel, the best sequels always have nods back to their predecessors,” Jacobson says. “We got rid of too many of them, trying to be too ambitious. It’s all well and good saying everything’s new, but we’ve been the best football management game in the market for 30 years — why would you throw all of that out? So we brought some of that familiarity back in.”
Women’s Football Arrives
A major milestone in FM26 is the introduction of women’s football. Over 35,000 women’s footballers have been rated, with the number of countries and leagues currently in the low double figures. Players will be able to run male-only, female-only, or mixed career saves, with men’s and women’s leagues operating side-by-side.
“We’re really proud,” Jacobson says. “We’re doing more in year one than any other video game has done in women’s football, full stop.
“Also, a massive thanks to EAFC, who have been really helpful throughout this whole process. In most of the areas where they’ve had exclusive licences in women’s football, they’ve actually agreed to carve us out so that we can have licences as well. We can’t thank them enough.”
FM26 combines lessons from FM24, abandoned elements from FM25, and brand-new features that mark a new chapter for the series. As Jacobson puts it, the focus is on familiarity, innovation, and a historic step forward with women’s football.