Some people play Football Manager to build dynasties and scout wonderkid. On the other hand, me? I boot up a simulation, hit continue, and watch the game generate absolute football nonsense.
As the 2026 World Cup approaches, with an expanded format and three host nations, it’s the kind of summer tournament chaos that always produces at least one “how have they ended up here?” semi-finalist. It’s the perfect excuse for a deep dive simulation!
So I did what any normal person would do: I simulated the entire 2026 World Cup ten times in Football Manager 26. Some of it made total sense. Some of it absolutely didn’t.
The FM26 World Cup simulation results
Simulation 1
England won the very first simulation, beating Brazil in the final, with France and… Scotland?! making up the semi-final line-up. Scotland in a World Cup semi-final on the very first run shows you just what sort of thing you should expect from this simulation.
Kylian Mbappé walking away with Player of the Tournament and Harry Kane grabbing the Golden Boot returns it to normalcy.
Simulation 2
The second run gave us France as champions, with Spain finishing runner-up. Brazil were back in the semi-finals again. England also made another semi-final, which meant we’re starting to see the same teams make the end of the tournament.
Player of the Tournament goes to FM wonderkid Xavi Simons. Whilst the Golden Boot? Scott McTominay. That is not a typo. The World Cup Golden Boot. Scott McTominay.
Simulation 3
By simulation three, Portugal decided they were the main characters. They won the tournament, beating France in the final, with the USA and Germany somehow joining them in the semi-finals.
You just know that USA making a World Cup semi-final involves a ridiculous 1-0 win with 23% possession and Christian Pulisic becoming prime Messi for one match.
Player of the Tournament was… Scott McTominay again. Golden Boot was also Scott McTominay. At this point, it isn’t a fluke. Scott McTominay just might be one of the greatest players of all time.
Simulation 4
Portugal weren’t done. They won again, this time beating Italy in the final, while Algeria and Austria turned up in the semi-finals like they’d taken a wrong turn on the way to the group stage.
Jude Bellingham was Player of the Tournament, which felt like the game briefly remembering reality.
The Golden Boot went to Mohamed Amoura. This isn’t the last time we’ll see his name appear. And I’ve got to make a confession, I have no clue who he is.
Simulation 5
After watching Portugal hog the spotlight, Brazil came roaring back. They won the tournament, beating France in the final, with Portugal and England back in the semi-finals again.
FM26’s World Cup script is starting to look like:
- Brazil
- France
- Portugal
- Everyone else
The Player of the Tournament was Mohamed Amoura again, confirming FM26 had fully fallen in love. Once again, I have no idea who he is. Golden Boot? Vinícius Jr. And this will become a recurrent theme.
Simulation 6
And then FM26 completely lost its mind. Mexico won simulation six. They beat France in the final, with England and Belgium making up the semi-finals, meaning this was a tournament where the hosts went on a full summer rampage.
The Player of the Tournament was Nico Williams. Golden Boot stayed with Vinícius Jr, who is clearly a cheat code in real life and in the game.
Simulation 7
Portugal returned for their third win in seven simulations, beating Spain in the final. If this simulation is anything to go by, Portugal are the team to beat.
Algeria were back in the semi-finals again, which is the sort of thing that would cause absolute national hysteria in real life, but in FM it’s just another random simulation.
France were also there, because France basically lived in the last four across this entire experiment. The Player of the Tournament was Vinícius Jr. Golden Boot was Vinícius Jr.
At this stage, FM26 isn’t simulating the World Cup. It’s preparing us for the Vinicius Jr Ballon d’Or campaign.
Simulation 8
Prepare yourself for the wildest simulation of the bunch. Mexico weren’t satisfied with one title. They won again. Back-to-back World Cups for Mexico is the sort of sentence that only exists in Football Manager simulations.
This time they beat Nigeria in the final, with Ukraine and Algeria in the semi-finals. That is an all-time great FM semi-final line-up. But, it gets even weirder.
Player of the Tournament went to Danny Namaso and Golden Boot was Santiago Giménez, I think I’m getting more out of touch with international football as I hardly know either of these players.
Simulation 9
After the Mexico fever dream, France stepped back in and restored some order. They won simulation nine, beating Brazil in the final, with the Netherlands and Senegal reaching the semi-finals. Senegal in a World Cup semi-final feels plausible enough to be exciting rather than ridiculous.
Player of the Tournament was Andy Robertson, obviously. Golden Boot returned to Vinícius Jr, because of course it did.
Simulation 10
The final simulation gave us France winning once more, beating Portugal in the final. Canada made the semi-finals. Argentina made the semi-finals. Canada was FM giving us one final reminder that it can still get weird whenever it feels like it.
Mbappé was Player of the Tournament again, while Romelu Lukaku somehow popped up with the Golden Boot, presumably scoring five penalties and a header in the final.
But more importantly, by the tenth run, the bigger picture was clear. Here are the full simulation results if you’re interested:
The weirdest moments across all ten simulations
Across ten full World Cups, FM26 produced some genuinely hilarious alternate history.
Mexico winning twice is the headline. Back-to-back host nation dominance.
Algeria reaching the semi-finals three times is another. FM26 clearly rates them as the ultimate tournament dark horse.
Canada making a semi-final in the final one is certainly a bold prediction.
And then there’s the individual awards:
- Scott McTominay winning the Golden Boot twice
- Danny Namaso being Player of the Tournament
- Andy Robertson randomly becoming the best player on Earth for a month
- Vinícius Jr basically owning the Golden Boot race across the entire experiment
The stats after ten runs
Once you zoom out, the patterns become clearer
Most World Cup wins:
- France (3 wins)
- Portugal (3 wins)
- Mexico (2 wins, somehow)
- England (1 win)
- Brazil (1 win)
France and Portugal were basically the simulation’s main rivals, meeting in the final twice and constantly going deep.
Brazil were always around, but only got one title. England won once, then disappeared from view entirely. And Mexico… FM26 clearly decided the hosts were about to have the greatest era in football history.
So… should we take any of this seriously?
Absolutely not. But if the real 2026 World Cup is even half as strange as FM26’s version, we’re in for an all-timer. Just don’t be surprised when Algeria make the semis and Mexico turn into Spain 2010
