What age is Football Manager for?

It is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB and PEGI 3 in Europe, so the content is no concern. The challenge is the reading and the patience it takes. Most kids get the most out of it from about 11 or 12.

Is Football Manager 26 worth getting, given the reviews?

FM26 moved to a new engine and a rebuilt interface, and many longtime players disliked the change, so its Steam reviews are Mostly Negative and critics rated it mixed. Sports Interactive kept updating it through mid-2026, adding international management and the officially licensed FIFA World Cup 2026. The management game at its center is the same deep simulation the series is known for.

Does Football Manager have in-game purchases?

On PC the only add-on is the In-Game Editor, $8.99, which lets you change any player, club or budget in a save. There are no player packs or loot boxes. FM26 Touch on Apple Arcade has no purchases at all.

Which version should we get?

Football Manager 26 on PC or Mac is the full game ($59.99 on Steam, and it is on PC Game Pass). FM26 Console runs on PlayStation 5 and Xbox. FM26 Touch, the streamlined edition, is on Apple Arcade and Nintendo Switch. Netflix members can play a separate mobile edition, Football Manager on Netflix.

Was there a Football Manager 25?

No. Sports Interactive cancelled FM25 in February 2025 after two delays, the first year without a new edition since 2004. Football Manager 26 followed on November 4, 2025.

Football Manager – WISE Score & Parent Review | Screenwise

Football Manager

Name: Screenwise
Author: Screenwise

game2004Simulator, Sport

86%

WISE Score

The soccer game where your kid never touches the ball: they run the whole club, from the transfer budget to the half-time team talk.

Football Manager

game

2004, Simulator, Sport

86%

WISE Score

The soccer game where your kid never touches the ball: they run the whole club, from the transfer budget to the half-time team talk.

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Screenwise Verdict

The deepest soccer game a kid can play. Your kid picks a real club, makes the decisions a manager makes, and watches the results play out on a 3D pitch.

It suits a numbers-minded kid of about 11 and up who reads well and likes menus. There is no violence, and career mode has no strangers in it.

The current edition, Football Manager 26, had a rough launch in November 2025, and its Steam reviews are Mostly Negative. It is still the standard for management games, and on PC the only extra for sale is an $8.99 editor.

Age Fit

Best from about 11. Nothing in it is a content worry for younger kids (it is rated E and PEGI 3), but the reading load and the slow pace suit a confident middle schooler. Many teens and adults play it for years. A younger soccer fan who wants to play the matches will have more fun with a game where they control the players.

WISE Breakdown

Wholesome

A calm sports game about running a club well. There is no violence, and the setbacks are lost matches and failed transfers. The ESRB lists mild language.

Imaginative

Kids build the story of their own club across many seasons in their heads, but the creativity runs through tactics boards and tables of numbers rather than building or art.

Safe

Rated E and PEGI 3, and career mode involves no strangers. On PC the only purchase is an optional $8.99 editor, and there are no player packs.

Enriching

Constant practice with numbers, budgets, comparisons and cause and effect, plus a lot of reading. It rewards planning and patience over reflexes.

Parent Info

✓

Why It Might Be Great

Every screen is a decision with numbers behind it: player ratings, wages, transfer fees and a season budget.
Matches play out on their own, so the skill is planning and adjusting at half-time, not fast fingers.
Women's football joins the same world in FM26, with 14 leagues from 11 countries, including the WSL and NWSL.
FM26 has the fully licensed Premier League for the first time: real badges, kits and player photos.
No player packs or loot boxes. The Touch edition on Apple Arcade has no purchases at all.

⚠

What to Watch For

It is reading-heavy. Inbox messages, scouting reports and attribute screens assume a confident reader.
A single season takes many hours and a career can run for years, so agree on a stopping point, such as the end of a match.
FM26 launched with complaints about its new interface and performance. About 36% of its 36,000+ Steam reviews are positive.
The ESRB lists mild language, and the paid In-Game Editor ($8.99) lets players change any number in a save.

Conversation Starters

"If you had the club's budget, would you spend it on one star or three solid players? Why?"
"Which young player are you developing, and what does he or she need to get better at?"
"Your team lost that one. What would you change at half-time next time?"
"Where does your club get its money, and where does it all go?"

Deep Dive

Your kid runs the club and never kicks the ball

Football Manager puts you in the manager's office, not on the pitch. You choose a real club, from a Premier League giant to a small lower-league side, and you handle what a manager handles: transfers, contracts, training, tactics and the budget. Your players have their own moods and ambitions. A star who is not getting minutes can ask to leave, and a teenager you give a chance can grow into the best player at the club.

A player report screen showing a midfielder's technical, mental and physical attributes scored out of 20, with his value, wages, fitness and happiness A player report in Football Manager 26 Touch: dozens of attributes scored out of 20, plus value, wages, fitness and happiness on one screen.

That screen is most of the game, and for the right kid it is the fun part. They compare numbers, weigh a player's wages against his value, and work out why a team that looks better on paper keeps losing. It is the kind of thinking a kid who already argues about stats does for free.

Match day is the payoff, and you watch it

Matches play out on a 3D pitch with real club kits. You do not control anyone. You change the shape, make substitutions and give a team talk at half-time, then watch whether it worked.

A Premier League match in progress viewed from above, Newcastle against Aston Villa at 0-0, with a strip of player ratings along the bottom of the screen Newcastle against Aston Villa in FM26's match view, with live player ratings along the bottom.

A kid who wants to score goals with a controller will be bored here, and that is fine. Soccer games for kids covers the games where you play the match yourself.

FM26 changed a lot, and longtime fans pushed back

There was no Football Manager 25. Sports Interactive cancelled it in February 2025 after two delays, saying it was not good enough to release. Football Manager 26 arrived on November 4, 2025, rebuilt on a new engine with a new interface. It added women's football for the first time, with 14 leagues from 11 countries in the same world as the men's game, and the first full Premier League licence.

Many longtime players disliked the new menus and reported performance problems, and its Steam reviews are Mostly Negative: about 36% positive out of more than 36,000. Critics rated it mixed. Updates through mid-2026 brought back international management and added the FIFA World Cup 2026. The previous full edition, Football Manager 2024, is still the version many fans compare it with.

Pick the edition that fits the kid

The full game is on PC and Mac ($59.99 on Steam, also on PC Game Pass), with FM26 Console on PlayStation 5 and Xbox. FM26 Touch, a streamlined edition built for quicker play, is on Apple Arcade and Nintendo Switch; the Apple Arcade version has no purchases or ads. Netflix members can play a separate mobile edition, Football Manager on Netflix, which is quicker still.

For a kid new to the series, Touch is a gentler start. Move to the full game when they start asking why they cannot change something.

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