Sports Interactive’s Football Manager 26 has not launched in a great state, and player numbers show a worrying slump for the new sports management game compared to its predecessor. However, new major updates are on the way including International Management, new game modes, and more.
FM26 has already seen some major patches that focus on UI speed, performance improvements and introducing cut features like Shouts back into the game. While patches are slowing down for the Christmas period, Sports Interactive has big plans for 2026.
Confirmed in a new community blog post by community team member Kyle Brown, Football Manager 26 updates will resume “in the middle of January with planned releases approximately every 2-3 weeks”.
New patches will continue to focus on the game’s UI and navigation with SI stating they’re “taking all feasible steps to improve both”. Additionally, there will be “tweaks to media and additional features to improve immersion” with pass maps nearly finished.
The big addition coming sometime in 2026 is the addition of International Management, something that was sadly missing on launch despite the game being a World Cup year release. Sports Interactive has now confirmed that International Management will release in a free update after the completion of the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualifiers.
While no concrete release date was given, the qualifiers’ end date of March 2026 should result in an April release for International management. However, not everything will be complete when the game module launches with official tournament assets coming to the game at a later date.
Alongside International Management, Sports Interactive also teased that “additional game modes” are coming to Football Manager 26 in future updates, although the studio did not reveal which game modes will be added.
“While we’re not ready to reveal details just yet, you can expect a separate announcement on future initiatives shortly, which signals our ongoing commitment to further development in this area,” the studio said.
“Everyone at SI is working tirelessly to deliver the improvements needed to enhance your experience further,” the studio concluded. “Thank you for your continued support and for helping us shape our future direction.”
While Football Manager 26 isn’t the game that many fans wanted, Sports Interactive’s willingness to keep improving the game is endearing to say the least . With International Management and more game modes coming, the game will be more feature-complete later next year, although it’ll likely be finished mere months before the release of FM27.
