SEGA and Sports Interactive have signed a multi-year deal with the world soccer association, FIFA, which will bring the World Cup, Women's World Cup, and Club World Cup to upcoming management game Football Manager 26. All competitions will be featured with the official kits, branding and broadcast visuals of their real-world counterparts.
This is the first partnership between the iconic series and FIFA, and it won't stop at the coming World Cup held in the United States, Mexico and Canada. This licensed content will arrive in the game via a major update in 2026 across platforms, just ahead of the World Cup kicking off.
All 48 World Cup teams will be represented, allowing hobby managers to take control of the strongest national teams in soccer. As usual, the package does not include rights to player likenesses, which largely continues to be held by former FIFA partner EA Sports.
The World Cup content will be implemented in the form of a completely revamped international management mode, which Sports Interactive declared to be "much more feature-rich" than any of its predecessors.
Football Manager 26 will launch on Nov. 4, 2025.