Football Manager 26 Gets Big Bug-Fixing Update as Review…

Football Manager 26 has received a sizable bug-fixing update. The first patch following the game's release addresses some of the critical issues recently raised by fans, though additional problems continue to plague Football Manager 26.

Football Manager 26 - trailer screenshot

Following a year-long hiatus, Sports Interactive's popular sports sim franchise returned on November 4, when Football Manager 26 debuted on PC and consoles, as well as mobile devices. The launch did not go smoothly, with the game immediately review-bombed across multiple platforms. Fans cited UI issues, missing features, bugs, and a general lack of polish as key problems affecting their experience. As of this writing, the game sits at over 3,000 "Overwhelmingly Negative" Steam reviews, as well as 1.83- and 2.1-star ratings on the PlayStation and Xbox/Microsoft Stores, respectively.

Best Wonderkids in Football Manager 26

Finding the best wonderkids in Football Manager 26 is naturally a top priority for many players, so check out the top youth prospects.

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By Joe Grantham

Football Manager 26 Gets First Post-Launch Patch, But It's Beta-Only For Now

As the Football Manager 26 review bombing campaign continues, the sports sim has now received its first post-launch update on November 5. Identified by version number 26.0.4, the patch addresses a wide breadth of technical issues, including some that fans have been complaining about since launch, such as UI wonkiness and player training bugs. The update is currently only available on Steam, as part of the game's public beta branch.

The non-exhaustive changelog that Sports Interactive shared alongside the new beta build lists 66 items. Among them are fixes for various UI issues, such as overlapping text and other misaligned elements. The patch notes also mention "substantial" progress on stability, including crash fixes. Numerous translation errors have been addressed, with the update also introducing additional fixes for bugs causing matches to freeze at the start of the second half in single-player Career mode. While this particular issue was first identified during the Football Manager 26 beta in late October, the latest changelog suggests it has now been reduced but not fully resolved, as there's more than one potential reason matches can freeze.

Football Manager 26 - official steam screenshot 1

The 26.0.4 update also introduces several new FM26 features, including a preference option for customizing attribute colors and 1.5x match speed highlights. It addresses various scouting and substitution bugs, along with UI issues on the Individual Training Focus and Squad Planner screens, among others.

FM26 is the first series entry to ditch Sports Interactive's Match Engine that powered Football Manager games for about 17 years in favor of Unity. As a result, many fans were expecting it to be buggier than usual, simply on account of not having the benefit of years' worth of incremental updates to build upon. However, the ongoing review bombing suggests the game’s day-one state has fallen short even of those lowered consumer expectations. Sports Interactive is expected to continue releasing regular updates to polish the experience in the coming months, though it remains to be seen whether those efforts will be enough to improve Football Manager 26's user reviews.

Football Manager Update 26.0.4 Patch Notes

Substantial crash and stability fixes.
Numerous string translation fixes.
Numerous text overlaps and misalignment fixes.
Numerous tile/card polish.
Further fixes to Matches Freezing at start of the second half in Single-Player Career
Added a preference to turn off/alter the speed of UI transitions between screens
Change to default colouring of attributes to make them more distinguishable.
Added preference option to allow users to customise attribute colours.
Added 1.5x Match Speed during highlights and 4x Match Speed between highlights
Manually scouting a player will now correctly delegate an appropriate scout.
Newgen portraits will now appear during match broadcast graphics.
Fixed issue preventing subs processing that were made at halftime via the tactics screen.
Fixed issue where white match ball would be used in snowy weather.
Set piece attributes are now visible when setting Set Piece/Penalty takers.
Tactic Familiarity will now correctly progress over time within Match Day > Tactics.
Fixed issue causing World Golden Ball award to be skewed towards South American players.
Text scaling preference option will now be saved after exiting the game.
Fixed issue preventing user from closing Fixtures & Results popup post-match.
Fixed issue causing Player Database to return incorrect results if user switched between Interest Levels
Fixed issue forcing user to holiday past End of Season Team Meeting
Staff Responsibilities has been made more accessible and easier to locate.
Selecting any carousel option besides the first on the 'Club Staff' now takes you to the correct view
Career Stats will no longer display GK columns for outfield players
Fixed issue preventing users to progress through UCL Squad Registration despite correct number of Homegrown players included.
Correct pronouns will now be used within ‘Ask Agent About Availability’ conversation.
Mental Attributes will now display correctly when set within the Staff Database tool.
Fixed issue where there was no way to tell which clubs were promoted/relegated via Season Preview
Club badges are now shown on the Media Dream Eleven
Back navigational directional arrow shortcut now functional across cards/tools
Overall start/until dates within Club > Finances > Debts & Loans will no longer display 01/01/1900.
Fixed issue where Squad Numbers would be missing if making a single substitution.
Injury icon now better displayed on contrasting red kits.
User can now select ‘None’ as an option for Individual Training.
User can now remove previously set Individual Training Focus.
Career > Managerial Vacancies will now display both men’s and women’s teams.
Fixed issue where player would reject the own asking price that they themselves had set.
Fixed issue preventing user from continuing if loanee was injured on international duty.
Manager Creation > Accessories will now correctly reflect colour changes.
Manager Creation > Fixed wrinkles slider not applying
Manager attire choices will now save correctly.
Fixed issue where remove button was not displaying in Squad Planner
Fixed User being able to sell instalments within clauses tool
Club Header in Welcome Pack will now display the correct information.
User can now only mortgage transfer instalments from the point they took over, not from real world transfers that occurred pre-game start date.
Refined 2025 squad registration rules for the NWSL.
“Exit Talks” button now functions correctly within Contract Negotiations.
Reworked Match Momentum Graph to better show teams with dark colouring.
Opposition team will now be highlighted in Europa/Conference League pre match league tables.
Winners will now display within Competitions Card.
User is now always taken back to portal after using instant result for a friendly match
Red card icon will now correctly display for each respective team within the Scorebar of men’s Champions League matches.
Fixed spacing of the aggregate score within the Scorebar of men’s Champions League matches.
Space bar can now be used to interrupt holiday or processing.
Fixed issue where “Find Similar Player To…” within Player Database wouldn’t filter out correct results.
Fixture tile on Portal will now correctly update post-match.
The “Scouting Finished” message headline will now display the name of the player.
The “Intermediary Suggestion” headline will now display the name of the player.
Fixed issue causing the Attributes Graph within Progress Report not to display graph lines.
Added a Leave button to Continue panel so spectators of an online match can leave during halftime.
Fixed inconsistency of teams being selected by default via 'Quick Start'
Fixed “non-EU” rule in Serie A that was preventing certain players being registered in game despite being registered in real life.
Unmanageable divisions will no longer display within Advanced Game Setup.
Improved in-game tooltips, resolving issues with text wrapping and display location logic
Tooltip has been readded to First Team > Form to display numeric rating.
Changed the colour styling on First Team > Position Selectors to ensure the position selectors reflect the team selection correctly
Fixed issue preventing Medical Centre > Season Summary table from loading despite having injured player.