It's been a long time since we last saw anything FIFA in the world of video games, namely because EA took the risk of saying goodbye to the official sports association license. back in 2022. However, the question of whether it has literally paid off is neither here nor there now, as FIFA announced this week that it had signed a “multi-year partnership” with Football manageronce again bringing its recognition(if potentially damaged) back to video games.
Well, technically this is the second FIFA game since EA split, as earlier this month it also announced FIFA Heroesbut this is only for phones, so we can ignore it for now. Either way, it looks like this particular deal will come into effect pretty soon as there will be official licenses for things like FIFA World World Cup, Women's World Cup and Club World Cup.
According to blog postAll of these FIFA features will be part of a “game-based, updated international management module” coming to Football Manager 2026 sometime next year, ahead of the World Cup itself – which kicks off (pun intended) in mid-June, so this update will be out at least in the first half of the year. The said blog post also notes that kits for all 48 teams participating in the World Cup will be included, as well as some broadcast graphics and tournament branding.
Are any of these especially necessary? Probably not, but it shows that FIFA is still very interested in the games' presence. Time will tell if this has happened recently, and internally contradictoryprivate EA buyout we will see that EA Sports FC will return its old name.
Football Manager 2026 is will be out next month February 4.
