Football Manager 26 is finally here, bringing with it a huge amount of upgrades and overhauls. As Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson explained, Football Manager 26 is not just “a better version of FM24”. In fact, FM26 represents a whole new era for the series, with Match Day overhauls, Women’s Football and an overhauled UI designed to make it easier for seasoned veterans to navigate and for those new to the series to manage.

So, what’s different between the two games? Here we’ll outline the main upgrades and, if you’re in doubt, don’t forget there is a FM26 demo that’ll be available once the game launches fully on November 4.

Key differences between FM24 and FM26

We’ve summarised the main differences between the two games in the table below. We’ll then go into detail about what this actually means in terms of experience. The biggest change this year, by far, comes from a technical perspective – with the legacy proprietary engine replaced with Unity for the first time. As a result, the dated graphics get a significant overhaul, which we’ll go into below.

Differences at a glance

Feature	Football Manager 24 (FM24)	Football Manager 26 (FM26)
Core Game Engine	Legacy Proprietary Engine	Unity Engine (This is the first time a FM game has been built on this engine)
Tactical Setup	One formation for both attack and defense.	Dual Tactics System (split into In Possession and Out of Possession formations).
Match Visuals	Dated graphics due to legacy engine – minimal improvement on predecessor.	Significant graphical upgrade – improving everything from lighting and player animation to stadium detail. New cutscenes have also been added – as well as improved Match Day presentation package.
Women’s Football	Not included.	Fully integrated for the first time with licensed leagues (e.g., WSL, NWSL). Custom player animations have been captured to ensure subtle differences in movement are reflected in Match Day.
User Interface (UI)	Traditional menu and sidebar layout, typical of previous Football Manager games.	Reimagined UI with a new “Portal” and ‘Tiles’ system – designed for speed and ease of use for those new to the series.
Manager Creator	Basic model customization.	Revamped Creator featuing more detailed facial options, hairstyles and apparel options.
Licensing	Standard club/competition licenses.	Includes the official Premier League license (logos, kits, player photos).
Legacy Saves	Compatible only with FM23 saves.	Compatible with FM23 AND FM24 saves (PC/Mac versions).
Tactical Feedback	Mainly just text and statistics.	A new Tactics Visualiser shows how shapes and roles shift across the pitch phases.

The core game engine has been upgraded to Unity

One of the largest changes this year is the move to the Unity Engine, which replaces the legacy engine that powered FM24. The plus side with Unity is that the overall Match Day presentation, from player animations to cutscenes, lighting and stadium detail are far more impressive than in the previous game. The result is far more realistic gameplay, taking a step towards FC26 in terms of presentation (but still some way off that). Player behaviour on the pitch has also been overhauled.

FM26’s new Dual Tactics system

Like in FM24, you’ll be able to change your preferred tactical style; however, this year you’ll pick two formations instead of one. The new In Possession and Out of Possession shapes give you more control of how your team behaves. The game will suggest three Out of Possession formations that are designed to complement the In Posession set up.

Women’s Football finally makes an appearance

For the first time in the series, Women’s Football features in the game. It was first revealed back in 2021 that SI had ambitions to bring the women’s game to Football Manager, so it’s great to see it finally in the game. For launch, there are 14 playable leagues across 11 nations and three continents – and includes a number of licensed competitions, which we’ve listed below:

• Barclays Women’s Super League (England)
• Barclays Women’s Super League 2 (England)
• National Women’s Soccer League (USA)
• Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga (Germany)
• WE League (Japan)
• Serie A Femminile (Italy)
• OBOS Damallsvenskan (Sweden)
• Elitettan (Sweden)
• A-Liga (Denmark)
• A-League Women (Australia)
• Adran Premier (Wales)
• UEFA Women’s Champions League (Europe)

User Interface (UI) revamp

The User Interface is your direct window into the game and everything happening behind the hood. The Reimagined UI of FM26 represents a complete overhaul which aims to streamline and improve your managerial experience. The new Tiles and Cards provide you with an at-a-glance perspective into nearly all aspects of the game. When you click on a Tile to get more info, you’ll be taken to the relevant Card, which breaks down the snapshot into more detail. Meanwhile, the Portal replaces the old Home screen, modernizing the approach by combining the old feature with your Inbox and a few other bells and whistles, all navigable through four sets of filters.

Manager Creator improvements

With the game’s transition to the Unity engine comes more than just visual improvements for players. Your own manager can be fleshed out as a character in their own right. The new system provides not only greater graphical fidelity, but also more details, more options, and even sculpting tools if you want a bit of a Sims experience in your Football Manager game. That’s not all – FM26 provides a bigger wardrobe to choose from for your character. Will they be a dashing professional wearing a suit and tie? Or feel closer to their players by sporting a tracksuit? The options are there, and it’s all up to you! You can even mix and match different styles and clothing options.

Brand new Licensing deals

Arguably, an immersive Football Manager experience lives or dies on its licensing. Simply put, nothing can take you out of the game’s “realism” as quickly as no-name branding and lack of proper colours, logos, and player images. Adding to the previous FM roster of licenses, Football Manager 26 brings several new big names to the fold, including:

• FIFA
• River Plate (Argentina)
• Ninja A-League Women (Australia)
• SK Slavia Praha (Czechia)
• Premier League (England)
• WSL Football (England)
• Serie BKT (Italy)
• Serie A Women Athora (Italy)
• SOMPO WE League (Japan)
• A Lyga (Lithuania)
• Club América (Mexico)
• Damallsvenskan, Elitettan (Sweden)
• ADNOC Pro League, Adib League Cup, Emaar Super Cup (United Arab Emirates)
• Natinal Women’s Soccer League (USA)
• Adran Premier (Wales)

Legacy Saves for backwards compatibility

Continuing where you left off in a previous version has been something of a fan-favourite feature in previous Football Manager games. In the olden days, you had to use third-party software to convert saves. Later on, the games came packaged with compatibility with the saves from the previous year’s version, culminating in FM24’s compatibility with FM23 saves. Football Manager 26 takes this approach a step further, allowing you to load up not only FM24 saves, but your FM23 saves as well. So if you had a particularly memorable run in either of those games, you will be able to load them up in FM26 and continue the journey using the new engine and UI!

Visual Tactical Feedback

All Football Manager veterans can tell you that realizing how their tactics play out before match day came from poring over lines of text, stats, and several options and knobs. This tangled web could misfire from a single incorrect input in a spectacular fashion once the match starts. With FM26 comes a new tool to help with that – the Visualiser. Found in the Team Instructions menu, this tool (as the name suggests) gives you a visual output for your tactics, along with the ability to click on focus areas on the pitch and fine-tune their gameday approach. This system uses training match scenarios to give you actionable feedback on your tactical choices in various situations, so you’re never caught flat-footed by a misaligned setup ahead of your next big game.

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Football Manager 26 promises a ton of upgrades when compared to FM24. From the huge engine shift to a complete UI overhaul, and everything else in between, the new game will be a completely new package for newcomers and veterans alike. It offers immersion like nothing seen before and could be the ultimate managerial experience. We have been looking forward to everything FM26-related, including the bad and the good, so keep reading!