The Ultimate Football Manager Challenge

[goonergez]

Ivory Coast: 2038 World Cup

Midway into my first season managing in South Korea I got a respite by leading my Ivory Coast team into the World Cup hosted in South Africa. My aim was purely to go as far as we could, but mainly just to make the expectations of the nation and keep hold of my job for next years African Cup of Nations. A competition much more likely to prove winnable.

The squad I took didn’t include many surprises, although I did take midfielder Mohammed Boli, a player signed for my Pohang Steelers side. We began with a couple of warm up matches, mixing a 1-2 defeat against Mexico with a 1-0 victory over Canada.

We performed really poorly for both of our matches, somehow exploiting the system as a best placed runner up to reach the knockout rounds. We began with a dominant 0-0 draw against Jamaica before being completely outplayed by Croatia. Thankfully a late consolation strike from my former Flamengo midfielder Mohamed Doukore proved enough to finish ahead of Jamaica and clinch our back door spot in the next round.

We did fantastically to reach the semi finals before our fairy tale run would come to an end. First up we faced two lots of African opposition in two very tight matches. A strong Morocco side held on valiantly for an hour with ten men, but we found a breakthrough and won the tie 1-0. Algeria was a lot tougher and we needed penalties to prevail having twice thrown away a lead. The Argentina performance in the quarter finals was sensational. We were pegged back after taking an early lead through Barcelona striker Cheikh Oueadraogo but put in a fantastic second half to score twice and reach the semis. Unfortunately that’s where our run would end as we were comfortable put aside. Croatia then beat us for the second time in the tournament to ensure we wouldn’t win the third placed play off either. All in all we exceeded expectations though and I am left excited about the next edition of the AFCON which comes early next year.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   tbc




2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-      Ivory Coast			  -

		

3/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

3/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores)
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 8/32

 

[goonergez]

Pohang Steelers: 2038 Review

My first season in South Korea has ended and I must say I actually really enjoyed it. I was armed with a decent amount of money and hit pre-season hard trying to sort out the holes in the squad. I brought in a couple of foreign players (both Ivorian) for small fees although the restrictions on how many can be in the squad prevented me from many more. My biggest signing was striker Ahn Je-Soon from Gaengju in a £2,000,000 deal. The 19-year old shone though, finishing as the top goal scorer in the league with an impressive 25 in just 27 appearances.

A very average end to our season prevented us from hitting the 100 point mark although we still strolled to the league title at a relative canter. We won the title before the league splits, an impressive five matches before the end. The goal scoring of said pre season signing certainly helped but in truth we were streets ahead of everyone else quality wise and I can’t see that changing anytime soon. At one stage we went on a 24 match unbeaten run before only losing as I named second string sides to protect players for Champions League contests.

Outside of the league things weren’t quite so rosy though as we failed to lift any other silverware. The Korean Cup was a mess as we suffered a penalty shoot out loss at the first hurdle to opposition in the league below. The only saving grace being that the team had a host of top players playing as anybody on military service plus their trade there during it. 

The Asian Champions League runs from mid season to mid season so I’ve actually managed part of two campaigns so far. My arrival came with the side already into the knockout stages and I had high hopes. We made it through to the semi finals before being knocked out by fellow Koreans Suwon. A 0-0 draw at home seemed a good result when we raced into an early two goal lead in the away tie. Unfortunately we capitulated though and threw it away to lose 2-3 and exit. The next campaign has been solid as a 5-1-0 record has seen us into the knockout rounds. When we return to action we will face more fellow Koreans in Gwangju. We should breeze through fairly comfortably.

Next up is the AFCON though with my Ivory Coast side. We breezed through qualifying unbeaten and actually only dropping points in one match. Having made the semi finals of the World Cup I’m confident we can go a long way and in truth anything other than lifting the trophy would be a huge failure. Either way I think that this tournament will be my last in charge of the Ivory Coast though. It would be nice to sign off with my first international trophy though.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   tbc




2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-      Ivory Coast			  -

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

3/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores)
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 9/32

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2027/8 Atlas Report 

I eventually obtained a new job with Atlas in Mexico 8 matches into the Apertura. I pretty soon regretted it. Too many foreign players I couldn’t register. Too many strikers, (and not enough of everything else). More than anything else, regardless of coach reports, star ratings, attributes, everything, these guys stank.

I had to adopt a totally different set of tactics to fit the team for the remainder of the Apertura, to avoid losing every match. We didn’t do great, but we squeaked into the playoffs in 12^th place, where we lost to eventual champs Monterrey.

Having made a few signings before the next stage I reverted (almost) to my usual formation. We started dodgily but then won 10 league matches in a row (which in a 17 match season is helpful). We only finished 2^nd in the end behind Monterrey after a couple of losses.

The closing stage knockouts were a set of stoppage time s-shows, but we somehow made it to the final against Monterrey. We won the home leg, but they easily turned it around in the 2^nd.

It’s not the end of the world. I’m going to be here a few more seasons for the other competitions, and we should be able to overtake Monterrey eventually. I hope we’ve qualified for the NACL, but then again, maybe if we haven’t we’ll be in the Mexican Cup instead.

With a few further signings we should be a lot better next year.

Top Goalscorer – Connor Buck – 18

From only 20 starts.

A foreign player who wasn’t anywhere near my best striker when I took over, so I tried to sell him. He’s developed into my best striker and appeared on the NxGn wonderkids list, but is leaving now his contract has ended, maybe because of my initially transfer listing, but probably because the rest of the team sucks.

 

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Connor Buck – 7.46

 

Man of The Match – Connor Buck / Connor Esparza - 5

My 2 starting strikers. I’d prefer to go back to starting with just one striker at some point.

Most Valuable Player– Connor Buck

But him going shouldn’t be the end of the world. I should be able to bring in another foreign player who’ll help.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd					Lost in final.

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-			Morocco


Challenge Progress 3/32

Club
 1/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 1/5 club continental championships	(Africa)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 0/5 continental tournaments 		
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[Tubzinho]

I have decided to try this on FM23. Is there some kind of a bug though? I have checked my reputation level is Sunday League, no coaching badges and unemployed and got offered the Brazilian National Team job? Very bizarre.

Edited December 18, 2022 by Tubzinho
Added Picture

[SkiIIs]

Season 2, 2023 - Deportes Capiopo

First full season as manager was a successful one. I've managed to train up to National B and currently studying towards A. We were given a warchest of 1m on transfer funds upon promotion and for this level that was plenty! The squad i inherited was an ageing one so I turned over the majority of the team and also maximised the 5 foreign players we're able to register. 

In the league, we were generally in the midst of a title challenge however in the second half of the season we lost too many games including 3 in a row leading up to the final game cost us a spot in next year's Copa Libertadores as we slide to 5th place.

In the Cup we were disappointing, getting knocked out in the first time of asking against lower league opposition. 

Towards the end of the season, we had a takeover, although i dont think it will change much as we're making a 100k monthly profit on average each month so finances are quite healthy for a charge next season.

Edited December 19, 2022 by SkiIIs

[SkiIIs]

Quick update to state that I've got a couple new gigs, one being with club Huachipato who approached me after a decent season in the Chilean First division.  Huachipato finished in 6th but came runners up in the Chilean Cup and qualified for the Libertadores and my thinking was they were a bigger club.  Once I accepted, i quickly realised it was pretty much a sideways move, oh well:

second bit of news is I am now an international manager with:

They were knocked out of the African Nations in the QF to Congo recently so the position became available.  Next up is qualification to the World Cup later in the year

[vikeologist]

9 hours ago, Tubzinho said:

I have decided to try this on FM23. Is there some kind of a bug though? I have checked my reputation level is Sunday League, no coaching badges and unemployed and got offered the Brazilian National Team job? Very bizarre.

It must be a bug, I guess, but we have to cope with the negative bugs, so no harm in my eyes rolling with the positive ones.

As a rule, I say not to start off with international management, (because it makes it harder to get the hard to get anyway first job) but Brazil may be an exception to that rule. 

[Tubzinho]

11 hours ago, vikeologist said:

It must be a bug, I guess, but we have to cope with the negative bugs, so no harm in my eyes rolling with the positive ones.

As a rule, I say not to start off with international management, (because it makes it harder to get the hard to get anyway first job) but Brazil may be an exception to that rule. 

To be fair it must be a bug, I have been rejected for almost all the club jobs I have applied for except the Brazil job and I was also offered the Ghana job on the same day so I will ride with it and see what happens. In my two previous attempts, the only job I could get was the Georgia and DR Congo jobs and they helped me get a club job so fingers crossed a good showing with Brazil will spring board me into a decent job. And there is no reason why Brazil should not be winning the World Cup with that squad.

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 07/12/2022 at 22:17, SkyjumperTalon said:

PSG it is!

French Champions

A quick stint in France sees us take two easy trophies, and officially reaching the halfway point of this challenge!

A nearly undefeated season in the league and a solid champions league campaign saw us to the final, but fell short to FC Barcelona. The season was otherwise successful

Challenge Progress
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Country: NONE

Domestic Leagues 6/10 (1 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 16/32

Club
Season        Team                Position            Notes and Achievements
2021/22        Aizawl FC            1st                Champion of Airtel I-League, Indian Confederation Cup. Runner-up in Durand Cup
2022/23        Aizawl FC            3rd at resignation  Resigned with 1 game left in the season (title already decided). Runner-up of Durand Cup again
2023           Bhayangkara          4th                Runner-up of Piala Indonesia. Qualified for Asian Confederation Cup.
2024           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Go-Jek Liga 1. QF in Piala Indonesia.
2025           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Piala Indonesia
2026           Persib Bandung       1st (at time of departure)
2026-27        Orlando Pirates      1st                Domestic Quadruple (League, MTN 8, Telkom, Nedbank)
2027-28        Orlando Pirates      1st                Treble (League, Nedbank, Champions League)
2028-29        Brentford            6th                Lost in Playoff Semi-Final
2029           Daegu FC             3rd
2030           Daegu FC             1st                League Champions
2031           Daegu FC             1st                Treble (League, FA Cup, Champions League)
2031-32 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 1st            Lost in Clasura final
2032-33 AP     CF Monterrey         Ap. 1st            Won Clasura final
2032-33 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 4th            Copa MX Quarterfinal, won CCL
2033-34        PSG                  1st                Won Coupe de France, UCL Finalist



International
Season         Team                Competition                Notes
2022/23     Indonesia U-23         U-23 Asian Cup Quals      Guided the team to an unlikely qualification after beating Thailand 2-0 in an upset. Every goal mattered, qualifying as a 2nd place finisher on goal difference
2024        Bermuda                CONCACAF WCQ              Resigned after 2026 WCQ failure
2025        Congo RC               CAF WCQ                   Qualified for 2026 World Cup
2026        Senegal                World Cup                 Lost in Third Round to Brazil
2027        Senegal                AFCON                     Won in Final vs Morocco 4-1, resigned after win
2029        USA                    CONCACAF WCQ              Qualified for 2030 World Cup
2030        USA                    World Cup                 Quarterfinalists
2031        USA                    Gold Cup                  Champions
 

MVPS
2021/22: Richard Kassaga
2022/23: Travis Major
2023: Andik Vermansyah
2024: Wander Luiz
2025: Agus Santoso
2026-27: Agus Santoso
2027-28: Agus Santoso
2028-29: Shakur Omar
2029: Mariano Gomez
2030: Paik Sang-Hoon
2031: Cho Sang-Jun
2031-32: Daryl Dike
2032-33: Daryl Dike
2033-34: Dusan Vlahovic

[vikeologist]

I've run into what looks like an identical problem with registration for the NACL as many of us had with the African continental competitions.

@goonergez @SkyjumperTalon did you have this problem? If it's every continental competition, it's going to make this challenge very difficult.

[goonergez]

I believe I did run into it @vikeologist but was much easier to get by in the NACL than it was in South Africa. I think I had only been affected with one or two players. I didn’t come across it at all in Asia though so I don’t think it affects all of them.

[vikeologist]

12 minutes ago, goonergez said:

I believe I did run into it @vikeologist but was much easier to get by in the NACL than it was in South Africa. I think I had only been affected with one or two players. I didn’t come across it at all in Asia though so I don’t think it affects all of them.

My problem is that the Atlas side I took over was a hot mess, so I've had to buy a lot more new players. If I can't win the NACL first time, I might change clubs and try to win it with someone else. Who knows, maybe an MLS side.

The SI advice on the bug tracker for those people who've been waiting months for a fix is to move on to another save, so it doesn't sound like they're confident they can ever fix it.

Incidentally, I'm not sure it's the same cause, (players having played in the NACL for a different team). Might be. Not much point my spending time figuring it out or reporting it.

Will update the bug warning at the start of this thread.

Edited December 20, 2022 by vikeologist

[vikeologist]

Tempted to change the name to the Ultimate Football Manager Bugs Challenge.

Edited December 20, 2022 by vikeologist

[SkiIIs]

2 hours ago, vikeologist said:

My problem is that the Atlas side I took over was a hot mess, so I've had to buy a lot more new players. If I can't win the NACL first time, I might change clubs and try to win it with someone else. Who knows, maybe an MLS side.

The SI advice on the bug tracker for those people who've been waiting months for a fix is to move on to another save, so it doesn't sound like they're confident they can ever fix it.

Incidentally, I'm not sure it's the same cause, (players having played in the NACL for a different team). Might be. Not much point my spending time figuring it out or reporting it.

Will update the bug warning at the start of this thread.

dont quite understand the bug, are you able to explain?   

[vikeologist]

21 minutes ago, SkiIIs said:

dont quite understand the bug, are you able to explain?   

Ostensibly it's at least similar to the African CL bug. You can't register players who've played in that continent's continental matches for another side since the start of the save.

I'm not going to waste my time investigating though. I'm 100% sure on the African one. 

[SkiIIs]

Season 3, 2024 - Huachipato, Chilean First Division

First season with Huachipato, it was evident that it was a bit of a sideways move from Deportes Copiapo so needed to do a mini rebuild. Unfortunately the Copa Libertadores qualification came too soon and wasnt able to register my new players. In the second round of qualification, we had Venezuelan competition in Estudiantes de Merida who really werent at our level, 6 - 0 on aggregate.  Next up and final qualification before the group stage was Nacional from Uruguay. Despite being outplayed away up first, we had opportunities to salvages something from the game that we ended up losing 2 - 1. We did miss a penalty to open the scoring and we did cop the second goal in the 92nd which in the end was telling as we drew the return leg at home 1 - 1. Conceding a penalty in the 78th minute hurt. This put us in the Sudamericana where we didnt make it out of the group stage.

In the league, it was a slow start and by the 7th game we were sitting in 9th spot. Once we were knocked out of the Sudamericana, we then went on a 14 game unbeaten streak which then put us in the challenge for Libertadores qualification. The transfer window came and went and I topped up with a midfielder and winger but after the window shut, my 21yo Argentinian defender (who didnt need to be registered) min release clause was triggered by River for 1.5m and i also lost my two starting wingers for 2 months due to injury in the same game and the season kind of derailed a little. We ended up losing 3 of the last 6 games only winning two and finished in 4th place.  The 4th Libertadores spot went to the Cup finalist unfortunately. 

In the Cup we were knocked out convincingly in the semi final against eventual winners Universidad Catolica who did the double. 

Special mention goes to Sepulveda who was a phenomenon up front for us in his first season. Averaged more than a goal a game in all competitions he played and only 4 pens in his 59 goals! 

Ive been given a massive warchest of 3m in transfer funds next season, i dont think we're too far off challenging for the title which would be nice.  Ive never managed in Chile before this save so would be fab to tick the title off

Edited December 20, 2022 by SkiIIs

[goonergez]

Pohang Steelers: 2039 Review

After winning the Korean league title during my first season here I came into the second and final year of my deal full of confidence. This season would be all about chasing the Asian Champions League crown, although I’d also put a serious attempt into trying to lift the Korean Cup too. Domestic cups certainly haven’t been my forte so far as a manager.

I spent around £10,000,000 in pre season, bringing in some of the brightest talent within South Korea. The best signing would be 19-year old striker Yoon Tae-Won for £2,000,000 from Daegu. I had tried to sign him last season but pulled out as they chased a few around double what we paid this time. He would go on to be top scorer in the K-League with an impressive 30 goals in 38 appearances.

We would win a second title but it certainly wasn’t as impressive as last time around. In fact for half of the season it was. We battered everyone in front of us as we raced into a thirteen point lead at the top of the pile. Then European clubs absolutely battered my squad. Key players left us as bids consistently came in matching release clauses. We lost our first choice keeper, two centre backs and a striker as our squad was left gutted. The second half of the season was a real slog and the gap just kept reducing as the games kept being played. We managed to hold on, but very much only just.

Thankfully it wouldn’t matter one bit as we lifted the one trophy I was chasing. I’m truth we breezed through the competition with ease and I need not have worried about it.

Even the final wasn’t a real challenge as we met Al-Duhail of Qatar. Midfielder Kim Dong-Hyun (a pre season arrival from Suwon) scored a hat trick as blitzed them 3-0 at home in the first leg. Despite conceding early in the second tie we equalised just before half time to effectively kill this tie. We would lose 1-2 on the day but win the trophy with a 4-2 aggregate victory.

The Korean Cup would be my last quest and unfortunately it would end in failure. We got through one round before an early red card ruined us in the Quarter Finals. We surprisingly led Daegu 1-0 with three minutes remaining before two late goals saw my ten men eliminated 1-2.

This season would see my time in South Korea draw to a close as I walk away at the expiration of my contract with the club. The board desperately tried to keep hold of me but having lifted the continental trophy I was free to move on. I’m sad to go but also hopeful for the future. I can now head off to Europe and attempt to put together clusters of club trophies. I’m excited for the next leg of my journey, although at this stage I have no idea where I may end up.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners




2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-      Ivory Coast			  -

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 10/32

 

[goonergez]

Career Update: 2040

Having walked away from Pohang in South Korea it would take me just two months of unemployment before I would find myself in Europe. It would be AS Roma who would take a punt on me, and it was an exciting opportunity indeed. The club would be sat in 4th place just after the midway point, just five points behind leaders and reigning champions Juventus. Roma haven’t finished in the top three spots of Serie A for six years, but this season looked a really possibility.

I join a club with bags of qualify although a somewhat unbalanced squad. Money isn’t great and I join just after the January window has slammed shut. I’ve got until the end of the season to assess my squad before attempting to build a squad capable of challenging for honours. Roma haven’t won a trophy since the Europa League in 2029, and my job is to change that and put trophies into the cabinet. I’m hopeful, but it is one of the bigger challenges I’ve taken on as a manager.

The challenge would last a little over twenty games before I walked away for a new challenge. I simply couldn’t get the side to perform and we won just six matches after I took over. Frustratingly we lost out in the Italian Cup semi finals to Inter Milan whilst also being eliminated by Sporting Lisbon in the Champions League. In the domestic lead we dropped way down to 7th and out of the title race very quickly. I’m not one to quit a challenge but after being called in for a board meeting I decided to walk away before they relieved me of my position. A frustrating few months and a real dent into my aspirations of football in Europe.

After my failures in Italy my next home would be in Germany as I took charge of Eintracht Frankfurt. Fresh from finishing 3rd in last seasons Bundesliga table the club eyed a new direction and I was the man they turned to. I inherited a strong squad and was also armed with an impressive transfer budget just below £40,000,000. My challenge would be to break the dominance of Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, although more of a longer term project than one built for instant success.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma				Serie-A			   n/a
2041/42	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   tbc



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-      Ivory Coast			  -

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

0/5 International Continental Tournaments
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 10/32

 

[goonergez]

Ivory Coast: 2041 African Cup of Nations

It’s fair to say my time with the Ivory Coast has been a successful one, although leading into this tournament I still found myself without an international trophy. My time here had yielded a World Cup semi-final, before we lost at the same stage of the 2039 AFCON. I took my squad to Algeria for the next edition of the African Cup of Nations hoping that finally we would end the hoodoo. The sole aim was to win the tournament and we came into it ranked 14th in the world and one of the bookmakers favourites to lift the trophy. I took a familiar squad, sure to be spearheaded by Barcelona striker Cheikh Ouedraogo. There were two uncapped players included but I didn’t really surprise anyone with my squad selection.

We breezed our way through the Group Stage, mainly due to striker Cheikh Ouedraogo as expected. He scored twice as we saw off The Gambia 3-0 in the opener before it was Mohamed Boli who scored a brace in a 3-1 victory over Guinea-Bissau. With qualification secured we had another Ouedraogo goal to thank as we beat Tunisia by a sole goal to win our group.

The knockouts would see us progress but certainly not without drama. First up we threw away a two goal lead over Cameroon to end up having to go to the lottery of a penalty shoot out. We held our nerve but it certainly didn’t help the heart. Neither did our quarter final against Ghana. Cheikh Ouedragao had scored in every game but found himself rested for this one. We took an early lead before a second half turnaround had us looking for flights home. No surprise he came off the bench to score a late equaliser. We dominated extra time but couldn’t score and again scrambled through after a shoot out.

Ironically our toughest game of the tournament was actually our simplest. 8th in the world Morocco we’re no match for us and although we conceded a late goal we actually completed a relatively simple 2-1 victory to reach the final. My first as an international manager.

We cruised through a tough final to gain the victory and lift the AFCON trophy. Unbeaten throughout the entire tournament and with Barcelona striker Cheikh Ouedraogo to thank more than anybody. He scored in every single round of the tournament to cement his status as an Ivory Coast legend. A fantastic tournament for us draws to a close and at long last I get to lift my first major trophy in international football. With that I handed in my resignation and moved to focus on club football until a new opportunity pops up at international level. Fair to say with an AFCON trophy and semi final appearances at both another AFCON and the World Cup my spell here was pretty successful. Even if at times I felt a bit like we were underachieving by not winning honours.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2041/42	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   tbc



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast			  -

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[SkyjumperTalon]

7 hours ago, vikeologist said:

I've run into what looks like an identical problem with registration for the NACL as many of us had with the African continental competitions.

@goonergez @SkyjumperTalon did you have this problem? If it's every continental competition, it's going to make this challenge very difficult.

I'm still playing on FM22 so I would have no idea

[vikeologist]

23 minutes ago, SkyjumperTalon said:

I'm still playing on FM22 so I would have no idea

Ah, so looks like our friend of the thread is the fave to be the first to complete the challenge on FM23.  Probably the last as well.

Welcome to the leader board @goonergez. Sorry I've run out of ideas for getting to this point, but you've been here before. Just rooting for you to complete it.

[SkiIIs]

2025 AFCON - Ivory Coast

In the midst of the Chilean season fell the 2025 African Nations Cup. We had Uganda, Egypt and Benin in our group and we played them in that order.  Beat Uganda 3 - 0, Egypt 2 - 0 and changed the whole team for the Benin game to rest the players and drew 1 - 1 with them to top the group. Second round opponents were Burkino Faso.

Second Round

Spoiler

scrapped through with a 92nd winner by Fofana 4 - 3. We conceded first in the 22nd minute but then quickly equalised before going into the break up 2 - 1.  After the break they swiftly equalised before we took the lead again in the 75th minute through Pepe. iIt looked like it was going to penalties once Traore equalised in the 86th minute but fortunately it didnt.   A tough one next in Ghana

Quarter Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

It couldnt have started any worse, Gyan scoring within the first minute to give Ghana the lead.  Zaha then equalised in the 17th minute however Ghana took the lead again in the 31st minute.  We had a disallowed goal in injury time of the first half so we were down at the break.  We peppered but couldnt find the equaliser until Fofana scored in the 86th minute.  Oh wait, the offside flag is up and hence we lose and consequently got sacked!

Semi Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

N/A

Final (if applicable)

Spoiler

Egypt beat Ghana in the final, a really disappointing tournament for us.  I think the whole resting the full team against Benin through us out a bit so will learn from that

 

[SkiIIs]

and with that I am now the manager of (who were knocked out by Ghana in the second round):

[SkiIIs]

Season 2025 - Huachipato - Chilean First Division

Second season leading the charges here and there was a noticeable improvement. My foreign spots were maxed so the focus was trying to recruit the best Chilean players that were willing to join us, noting that we hadnt qualified for the best continental competition so that was a bit of a challenge. 

The league quickly turned into a two horse race between us and the title holders Universidad Catolica. The ladder below makes it look much closer than what it really was with Catolica holding a 7 to 10 point gap for the majority of the season.  They lost the last two games once the title was won.

In the Cup, we again got knocked out in the semi final, disappointingly this time it was against lower league opposition in penalties with Catolica awaiting us in the big dance. In a two legged battle, we only managed 1 goal within 47 shots at goal and a combined 5xG.

Our star man was again Sepulveda up front scoring an impressive 56 goals for the year which was 3 less than last year, but had 5 more league goals from the same amount of games (much more pens though). He was awarded the League Player of the Year

Im a 3 star rated manager now and my stint in Chile has been a fun one, but i think its time to make a dash for some trophies.  The board are refusing me to further my badges which im stuck at Continental B.  It's December and there's a couple of interesting jobs available so watch this space....

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by SkiIIs

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 19/12/2022 at 23:23, SkyjumperTalon said:

French Champions

A quick stint in France sees us take two easy trophies, and officially reaching the halfway point of this challenge!

A nearly undefeated season in the league and a solid champions league campaign saw us to the final, but fell short to FC Barcelona. The season was otherwise successful

Challenge Progress
Club: Paris Saint-Germain
Country: NONE

Domestic Leagues 6/10 (1 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 16/32

Club
Season        Team                Position            Notes and Achievements
2021/22        Aizawl FC            1st                Champion of Airtel I-League, Indian Confederation Cup. Runner-up in Durand Cup
2022/23        Aizawl FC            3rd at resignation  Resigned with 1 game left in the season (title already decided). Runner-up of Durand Cup again
2023           Bhayangkara          4th                Runner-up of Piala Indonesia. Qualified for Asian Confederation Cup.
2024           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Go-Jek Liga 1. QF in Piala Indonesia.
2025           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Piala Indonesia
2026           Persib Bandung       1st (at time of departure)
2026-27        Orlando Pirates      1st                Domestic Quadruple (League, MTN 8, Telkom, Nedbank)
2027-28        Orlando Pirates      1st                Treble (League, Nedbank, Champions League)
2028-29        Brentford            6th                Lost in Playoff Semi-Final
2029           Daegu FC             3rd
2030           Daegu FC             1st                League Champions
2031           Daegu FC             1st                Treble (League, FA Cup, Champions League)
2031-32 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 1st            Lost in Clasura final
2032-33 AP     CF Monterrey         Ap. 1st            Won Clasura final
2032-33 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 4th            Copa MX Quarterfinal, won CCL
2033-34        PSG                  1st                Won Coupe de France, UCL Finalist



International
Season         Team                Competition                Notes
2022/23     Indonesia U-23         U-23 Asian Cup Quals      Guided the team to an unlikely qualification after beating Thailand 2-0 in an upset. Every goal mattered, qualifying as a 2nd place finisher on goal difference
2024        Bermuda                CONCACAF WCQ              Resigned after 2026 WCQ failure
2025        Congo RC               CAF WCQ                   Qualified for 2026 World Cup
2026        Senegal                World Cup                 Lost in Third Round to Brazil
2027        Senegal                AFCON                     Won in Final vs Morocco 4-1, resigned after win
2029        USA                    CONCACAF WCQ              Qualified for 2030 World Cup
2030        USA                    World Cup                 Quarterfinalists
2031        USA                    Gold Cup                  Champions
 

MVPS
2021/22: Richard Kassaga
2022/23: Travis Major
2023: Andik Vermansyah
2024: Wander Luiz
2025: Agus Santoso
2026-27: Agus Santoso
2027-28: Agus Santoso
2028-29: Shakur Omar
2029: Mariano Gomez
2030: Paik Sang-Hoon
2031: Cho Sang-Jun
2031-32: Daryl Dike
2032-33: Daryl Dike
2033-34: Dusan Vlahovic

Club

Probably my toughest year in FM, I came into the season without a true goalkeeper (only a 3 star potential 16 year old in the u19s) and so had to scramble to get someone in on loan. Our strikers couldn't finish and our defending was shaky, so we ended up 9th, not even playing in Europe at all this season. Maybe that'll serve as helpful to avoid distraction

Country

Got the Italy job after they underperformed at the World Cup, they're ranked 3rd. Hopefully we can have a strong performance at the Euros.

 

Challenge Progress
Club: Hertha Berliner-Sportclub
Country: Italy

Domestic Leagues 6/10 (1 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 16/32

 

Club
Season        Team                Position            Notes and Achievements
2021/22        Aizawl FC            1st                Champion of Airtel I-League, Indian Confederation Cup. Runner-up in Durand Cup
2022/23        Aizawl FC            3rd at resignation  Resigned with 1 game left in the season (title already decided). Runner-up of Durand Cup again
2023           Bhayangkara          4th                Runner-up of Piala Indonesia. Qualified for Asian Confederation Cup.
2024           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Go-Jek Liga 1. QF in Piala Indonesia.
2025           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Piala Indonesia
2026           Persib Bandung       1st (at time of departure)
2026-27        Orlando Pirates      1st                Domestic Quadruple (League, MTN 8, Telkom, Nedbank)
2027-28        Orlando Pirates      1st                Treble (League, Nedbank, Champions League)
2028-29        Brentford            6th                Lost in Playoff Semi-Final
2029           Daegu FC             3rd
2030           Daegu FC             1st                League Champions
2031           Daegu FC             1st                Treble (League, FA Cup, Champions League)
2031-32 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 1st            Lost in Clasura final
2032-33 AP     CF Monterrey         Ap. 1st            Won Clasura final
2032-33 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 4th            Copa MX Quarterfinal, won CCL
2033-34        PSG                  1st                Won Coupe de France, UCL Finalist
2034-35        Hertha Berlin        9th                UCL 3rd, UEL R16, DFB Rd.3



International
Season         Team                Competition                Notes
2022/23     Indonesia U-23         U-23 Asian Cup Quals      Guided the team to an unlikely qualification after beating Thailand 2-0 in an upset. Every goal mattered, qualifying as a 2nd place finisher on goal difference
2024        Bermuda                CONCACAF WCQ              Resigned after 2026 WCQ failure
2025        Congo RC               CAF WCQ                   Qualified for 2026 World Cup
2026        Senegal                World Cup                 Lost in Third Round to Brazil
2027        Senegal                AFCON                     Won in Final vs Morocco 4-1, resigned after win
2029        USA                    CONCACAF WCQ              Qualified for 2030 World Cup
2030        USA                    World Cup                 Quarterfinalists
2031        USA                    Gold Cup                  Champions
2034        Italy                  Nations League            Won Nations League Group
 

MVPS
2021/22: Richard Kassaga
2022/23: Travis Major
2023: Andik Vermansyah
2024: Wander Luiz
2025: Agus Santoso
2026-27: Agus Santoso
2027-28: Agus Santoso
2028-29: Shakur Omar
2029: Mariano Gomez
2030: Paik Sang-Hoon
2031: Cho Sang-Jun
2031-32: Daryl Dike
2032-33: Daryl Dike
2033-34: Dusan Vlahovic
2034-35: Joseph Owusu

 

[ANGL]

BEIJING BSU 2025

 

First year in Chinese Superleague, and achieved a 4th and ACL qualyfication! Made 5 starting 11 signings, which were key to success. Also, I was a little lucky, as I had this run at the beggining of the season:

But then was able to turn things arround, and keep on pushing until qualyfing for ACL.

Also, was named China Superleague Manager of the Year! (I am using a spanish name fix which only translates to spanish, sorry about that)

I'm satisfied with the result, but I don't think the squad is good enough to make a good paper in continental competition, and the board refuses to allow scouting on Europe or South America. In that way, is really hard to atract foreign players who really make a difference, so with only 2 months left at my contract, I am taking a look at jobs available: Shangai SIPG look impossible as they keep on winning the league every year, but another top chinese team or a korean one would be nice. If not, I will sign a new contract and play continental football!

 

Title count: 0/32

Edited December 23, 2022 by ANGL

[treva]

Loaded up my FM20 save of this and yet again I'm already wanting to delete the save file - lost the World Cup Final on sudden death penalties with Brazil vs Argentina. I think I have now lost 7 finals in this save, majority of them for trophies I needed for the challenge. Absolutely gut wrenching.

[vikeologist]

18 hours ago, treva said:

Loaded up my FM20 save of this and yet again I'm already wanting to delete the save file - lost the World Cup Final on sudden death penalties with Brazil vs Argentina. I think I have now lost 7 finals in this save, majority of them for trophies I needed for the challenge. Absolutely gut wrenching.

I winder what the record is for lost finals in this challenge.I'm probably not the only one with a similar record to you.

Quick check. I think 7 is my record as well, but the horrible thing is that 3 of them came in a 9 year spell at the end of the save when I just needed the Euro and Asian Cup. (I gave up the challenge at this point, and nearly gave up Football Manager).

I'm at 2 already in my current challenge, which is only 8 seasons in.

I suspect Goonergez may be there or thereabouts with one of his doomed challenges.

[SkiIIs]

so to Europe we go to start the trophy count:

They were 18 games in and sitting first by 2 points and in the QF of the cup. We ended up winning the league quite comfortably and won the Cup in penalties over Slovan Liberec needing a 75th equaliser through a penalty to take it to pens.

Job is done here in the Czech Republic so the stay will be a short one, will be on the look out for a new job and have the World Cup coming up next month too

[SkiIIs]

 

next part pf the journey takes me to Slovenia where Ive never managed before. I take over during preseason with the transfer window open. Maribor havent won it since the start of this save and finished a disappointing 7th out of 10 teams last season.

[goonergez]

On 26/12/2022 at 08:40, vikeologist said:

Throughout my three or four attempts at this challenge I’m 99% sure I’ve lost in a lot more cup finals than I’ve won. On my attempt where I ended one trophy short of completion I’m pretty sure I lost the elusive Copa America in at least three finals!

[SkyjumperTalon]

On 23/12/2022 at 00:33, SkyjumperTalon said:

Club

Probably my toughest year in FM, I came into the season without a true goalkeeper (only a 3 star potential 16 year old in the u19s) and so had to scramble to get someone in on loan. Our strikers couldn't finish and our defending was shaky, so we ended up 9th, not even playing in Europe at all this season. Maybe that'll serve as helpful to avoid distraction

Country

Got the Italy job after they underperformed at the World Cup, they're ranked 3rd. Hopefully we can have a strong performance at the Euros.

 

Challenge Progress
Club: Hertha Berliner-Sportclub
Country: Italy

Domestic Leagues 6/10 (1 Big 5)

2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2024: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2027: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2030: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2032: Mexico (CF Monterrey)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Domestic Cups 5/10
2022: India (Aizawl FC)
2025: Indonesia (Persib Bandung)
2026: South Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: South Korea (Daegu FC)
2034: France (Paris Saint-Germain)

Club Continental 3/5
2028: Africa (Orlando Pirates)
2031: Asia (Daegu FC)
2033: North America (CF Monterrey)

Continental 2/5

2027: Africa (Senegal)
2031: North America (USA)

Global 0/2

TOTAL PROGRESS: 16/32

 

Club
Season        Team                Position            Notes and Achievements
2021/22        Aizawl FC            1st                Champion of Airtel I-League, Indian Confederation Cup. Runner-up in Durand Cup
2022/23        Aizawl FC            3rd at resignation  Resigned with 1 game left in the season (title already decided). Runner-up of Durand Cup again
2023           Bhayangkara          4th                Runner-up of Piala Indonesia. Qualified for Asian Confederation Cup.
2024           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Go-Jek Liga 1. QF in Piala Indonesia.
2025           Persib Bandung       1st                Champion of Piala Indonesia
2026           Persib Bandung       1st (at time of departure)
2026-27        Orlando Pirates      1st                Domestic Quadruple (League, MTN 8, Telkom, Nedbank)
2027-28        Orlando Pirates      1st                Treble (League, Nedbank, Champions League)
2028-29        Brentford            6th                Lost in Playoff Semi-Final
2029           Daegu FC             3rd
2030           Daegu FC             1st                League Champions
2031           Daegu FC             1st                Treble (League, FA Cup, Champions League)
2031-32 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 1st            Lost in Clasura final
2032-33 AP     CF Monterrey         Ap. 1st            Won Clasura final
2032-33 CL     CF Monterrey         Cl. 4th            Copa MX Quarterfinal, won CCL
2033-34        PSG                  1st                Won Coupe de France, UCL Finalist
2034-35        Hertha Berlin        9th                UCL 3rd, UEL R16, DFB Rd.3



International
Season         Team                Competition                Notes
2022/23     Indonesia U-23         U-23 Asian Cup Quals      Guided the team to an unlikely qualification after beating Thailand 2-0 in an upset. Every goal mattered, qualifying as a 2nd place finisher on goal difference
2024        Bermuda                CONCACAF WCQ              Resigned after 2026 WCQ failure
2025        Congo RC               CAF WCQ                   Qualified for 2026 World Cup
2026        Senegal                World Cup                 Lost in Third Round to Brazil
2027        Senegal                AFCON                     Won in Final vs Morocco 4-1, resigned after win
2029        USA                    CONCACAF WCQ              Qualified for 2030 World Cup
2030        USA                    World Cup                 Quarterfinalists
2031        USA                    Gold Cup                  Champions
2034        Italy                  Nations League            Won Nations League Group
 

MVPS
2021/22: Richard Kassaga
2022/23: Travis Major
2023: Andik Vermansyah
2024: Wander Luiz
2025: Agus Santoso
2026-27: Agus Santoso
2027-28: Agus Santoso
2028-29: Shakur Omar
2029: Mariano Gomez
2030: Paik Sang-Hoon
2031: Cho Sang-Jun
2031-32: Daryl Dike
2032-33: Daryl Dike
2033-34: Dusan Vlahovic
2034-35: Joseph Owusu

 

Couldn't resist the chance to manage at my favorite club...

Auf geht's Bayer!!

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2029 Morocco ACON Report 

Wasn’t at all sure about taking the Morocco job 2 years ago, but I guess we do stand a chance in this competition. We’ve only played one competitive match against a top African side (In WC Qualifying) but we did win easily.

We have to reach the semi-finals if I want to keep my job. Would be nice to nab the ACON first time though.

Oh, an we’ve an easy group. Tempting fate saying that, of course.

 

Group Stage

Morocco     4-1    Guinea

Morocco     3-2    Uganda

Morocco     1-1    The Gambia

Not a reassuring set of results, or performances.

Now for the heat of the meat. First off in the knockout rounds is Algeria.

Second Round

Spoiler

Morocco     2-0    Algeria

Not as easy as I expected.

Next up is Egypt, who are in our WC Qualifying group, but who we haven’t played yet. From here on in it gets tough.

Quarter Final

Spoiler

Morocco     5-0    Egypt

Obviously a great performance. It looks like 4 of my team will be suspended for the next match, but honestly I was worried it would be more, and they’re mostly not our best players.

We play the top ranked African side, Nigeria, and they’ve stormed through the competition so far.

Semi Final

Spoiler

Morocco     6-7aet        Nigeria

No, that’s not the score of a penalty shootout. Just a normal 13 goal match. We threw away a 2 goal lead twice. 5-5 after 90 minutes, we went ahead in extra time, but lost the most ridiculous match I’ve ever had in FM. Gutting.

Final / 3^rd Place Playoff

Spoiler

Morocco     3-1    Mali

 

After The Tournament

Spoiler

Obviously our defence is the problem, but we have promising players coming through there, so I think I want to give this another shot in 2 years. The Nigeria side looks a bit long in the tooth by comparison.

The only interesting vacated job is Senegal, but I’ve invested quite a bit of time into Morocco now, including my loss in the Olympics final 6 years ago with the U23 side.

One bad thing is that one of our best players has retired from international football at only 30, but hopefully I can persuade him to come back sometime in the next 2 years.

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-			Morocco				ACON S/F


Challenge Progress 3/32

Club
 1/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 1/5 club continental championships	(Africa)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 0/5 continental tournaments 		
 0/1 World Cup	

 

Edited December 28, 2022 by vikeologist

[goonergez]

My career throughout the world had been pretty successful. That was until I found myself in Europe. First up there was a failure with AS Roma before another one in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt. It’s fair to say my confidence had taken a bit of a hit with this disappointments, but I was determined to try and put things right. Fortunately after a disappointing couple of years I found myself with a fantastic opportunity that presented itself.

The blue side of Milan had finished second to Juventus last season and had a squad packed full of potential and quality. It was an exciting opportunity to challenge for honours, made all the sweeter with a massive £145,000,000 transfer budget. I added more to that by clearing a chunk of the squad and then went about spending my huge kitty. I would spend £140,000,000 and in truth it didn’t prove worth it. I would spend just shy of twenty matches with the club before being sacked sat way down in 9th place and a ridiculous 14 points adrift of the league leaders. Another disappointing journey in Europe and one that left me seriously doubting my managerial credentials on this continent.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   tbc



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-present Spain

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[goonergez]

Lille: 2041/42 Review

Three failures at European clubs had been a real setback, especially the last one with Inter Milan. I had joined a club primed for success and despite spending a small fortune found myself hunting a new job a little over four months after walking into the club. I was beginning to worry that Europe wasn’t for me, although not quite ready to pack my bags and leave the continent just yet. I sat out of work for a few months before jumping back onto the managerial bandwagon.

Having failed twice in Italy and once in Germany this time I would head to France to try to topple the mighty PSG. Unsurprisingly dominant it would certainly prove a task. I would join Lille with a few games remaining of the season and in truth very little to play for. Sat in 7th my only real aim would be to climb a few places and qualify for one of the European continental competitions. 

My arrival would see the players almost immediately respond to my methods and we put together a great run of form to end the season in 5th place and qualification for the Europa Conference League.

A run of 5-2-1 was certainly a far cry from the disappointing form I had inherited from the previous regime. Especially as our only defeat came against champions PSG. It certainly makes me feel a little bit confident for the future. Especially once I can add some players to our ranks and ones that will be a good fit for my system. I’m pleased with my start here though and my plan is to stay here for the considerable future. I need to put some more success into my resume and I need to rebuild a reputation that has been slightly hampered by my last few managerial gigs.

The World Cup has just finished and I’ve also made a return to international management after a small break. I was passed up by two jobs I really wanted (Argentina or Brazil) and also Iran who I fancied a pop at the Asian Cup with before Spain took a punt on me. They’re ranked 11th in the world so hopefully having a run at the Euros or the next World Cup is somewhat realistic.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   tbc



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-present Spain

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[glengarry224]

On 20/12/2022 at 00:25, vikeologist said:

Tempted to change the name to the Ultimate Football Manager Bugs Challenge.

Yeah, sheesh.  Enjoy reading your thread and hope you and the others can finish the challenge.  Curious, and not expecting you to, but do you know if the user-created databases for other countries fix this problem?  For example, if I played with the Steam Workshop Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt databases, would I have this problem? 

I know that using additional databases is against your rules but it's hard enough to take on these long challenges without having to out-maneuver the bugs, as you've pointed out.

 

[vikeologist]

2 hours ago, glengarry224 said:

Yeah, sheesh.  Enjoy reading your thread and hope you and the others can finish the challenge.  Curious, and not expecting you to, but do you know if the user-created databases for other countries fix this problem?  For example, if I played with the Steam Workshop Nigeria, Morocco and Egypt databases, would I have this problem? 

I know that using additional databases is against your rules but it's hard enough to take on these long challenges without having to out-maneuver the bugs, as you've pointed out.

 

I very much doubt it will work with other leagues. It's a problem with the continental competitions in N America and Africa, not the individual nations.

It's just something we have to live with. 

[glengarry224]

11 hours ago, vikeologist said:

I very much doubt it will work with other leagues. It's a problem with the continental competitions in N America and Africa, not the individual nations.

It's just something we have to live with. 

Thanks for replying.  That's what I suspect too.  When you could not register good players, did they get angry that they were not playing in the CAF?

[vikeologist]

18 minutes ago, glengarry224 said:

Thanks for replying.  That's what I suspect too.  When you could not register good players, did they get angry that they were not playing in the CAF?

no. 

[goonergez]

Lille: 2041/42 Review

I would manage Lille for just shy of eighteen months before finding myself yet again out of a job from a European side. My first full season in charge would actually be a huge success though. In pre season we spent £8,000,000 to sign Brazilian striker Danielson and he would score 25 goals in 26 league appearances for us. His efforts would win him the French league player of the season award and see us finish in an impressive 2nd spot, behind only the mighty PSG. In fact we probably should’ve won the title really as we fell away in the latter stages to let a resurgent PSG lift the crown.

We would win silverware though, breezing through to win the Europa Conference League. I’m not surprised and neither was anyone else really. We entered the competition as one of the favourites and never really looked back. An early exit in the French Cup was disappointing but all in all it had been a very positive campaign.

Midway through the next campaign with Lille everything was looking extremely rosy. We topped the league almost from the get go and right the way up until the end of November. At that stage everything went wrong. We absolutely divebombed and come March I wasn’t at all surprised that the board took the decision to end my reign and send me packing. We had dropped to seventh and sat a whole 14 points adrift of the league leaders. We had gone from contenders to nothing in the space of a few months. After my departure Lille would finish in 7th and fail to qualify for continental football.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   2nd		Europa Conference League Winners,
2043/44	Lille				Ligue 1		   n/a



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-present Spain

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[goonergez]

Spain: European Championships 2044

Just a few months on from my club level failure I would get some respite though, taking my 7th in the world Spain side into the European Championships. I had high hopes for our chances, mainly as our attacking trio were probably as good as anybody else in world football.

We opened with back to back 2-0 victories over wales and Denmark to qualify with a game to spare. Barcelona striker Toni Martinez had scored all four of our goals and looked really up for the fight of trying to win this tournament. In fact we would go on to score a hat trick off the bench in our final group game, a turnaround 3-2 victory over Norway. At this stage I had real belief we could do well.

Our run would stretch to the semi final stage before the Spanish would suffer more penalty heartbreak. Having got through Croatia with ease I was shocked to find it was Serbia waiting for us in the semi finals. We fell behind before brilliantly fighting back. A hat trick from Toni Martinez ensuring the game would end 3-3 after 90 minutes. We controlled extra time but simply couldn’t take our chances. The moment the game ticked to penalties I panicked. We missed our first three kicks and that was all she wrote. Absolutely gutting and a miss in a tournament that I genuinely had a chance of winning.

In the aftermath of the tournament I made the tough decision to walk away from Spain for a new challenge. They wanted me to stay on but I was too disappointed to stick it out. Instead I am now the new manager of the England national team.

Turning down my country of birth was never really an option and it’s a definite sideways step. Ranked 4th in the world they had a shocker by losing to Denmark in the first knockout round of the Euros. I’m confident that this nation will work for me though and that I’m capable of winning some international honours with them. Next up is the next World Cup and I can’t wait to get there with them. My club career may well be beginning to falter but at international level I certainly still seem to be quite a catch.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   2nd		Europa Conference League Winners,
2043/44	Lille				Ligue 1		   n/a



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-2044   Spain
2044-		England

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[goonergez]

Career Update: April 2045

Despite a relatively decent run at international level I still found myself out of work at club level. My takeover of England had proven fruitful enough, an opening defeat to Norway in the Nations League our only failure. We backed that up with five wins to win the group and will now face turkey in the semi finals. The World Cup qualification group has also been drawn and I fully expect us to qualify with ease.

It would take almost exactly a year from my departure with Lille to gain a new club management job, but it’s an exciting one.

I would take over one of the biggest clubs in European football and one which should be set for success. I take over the side with just six league matches remaining and the league title way out of reach. Sat in 4th the task would be just to clinch a top-4 spot and start to get the side comfortable with my style of play. I want to start chalking off trophies soon and with over £100,000,000 in my transfer budget I’ll be hoping to push for that as of next season.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   2nd		Europa Conference League Winners,
2043/44	Lille				Ligue 1		   n/a
2044/45	Real Madrid			La Liga		   tbc



2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-2044   Spain
2044-		England

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[vikeologist]

Vikeologist's 2028/9 Atlas Report 

We wrote above about the number of finals we have lost in this challenge over the years, but it looked as though I might not even get to a final this season.

League Apertura – Lost in semi-final  (on higher league place)

ACON – Lost 7-6 in semi-final in extra time

NA Champions League – Lost in semi-final, largely because injuries and suspensions hit, (alongside the registration bug).

League Clausura – The final, which we lost.

So up to 3 finals losses in competitions that I needed. I’m after more than just a share of that record, treva.

It’s not like losing any individual competition is a huge injustice. We’ve finished 2^nd in the regular season all 3 of my complete seasons with Atlas. Cumulatively, very frustrating.

I need to find new players who are eligible for the Champions League, sell all the foreign players not in the first team and develop my youngsters.

Top Goalscorer – Jesús Esparza - 34

He didn’t start every match, so he was pretty prolific. My other striker was a very promising youngster on loan, but I have to give some of my own promising kids a chance next season.

 

Highest Average Rating (minimum 10 matches played) – Kevin Castañeda – 7.76

Now that’s what I call a good average rating. Attacking midfielder. Ran him into the ground this season though.

Man of The Match – Kevin Castañeda – 12

Most Valuable Player– Kevin Castañeda

Domestic
Season	Team		Division	Position	MVP			Notes										
22/23	Black Leopards	S African L1	5th					Took over with 8 matches to go.Edge of relegation to edge of promotion.
23/24	Black Leopards	S African L1	1st		Kiyaam Bull 		SA Cup Q/F
24/25	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	10th					Took over with 6 matches to go. Won SA Cup.
25/26	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	2nd		Sphesihle Maduna	Won Confederations Cup.
26/27	Kaizer Chiefs	S African Prem	1st		Mduduzi Shabalala	League, ACL, SA Cup, S8 Cup.
2027	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	12th					Took over after 8 matches. Lost in Playoffs Prelim
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Connor Buck		Lost in final.
2028	Atlas		Mex 1st Ap	2nd					Lost in S/F
2029	Atlas		Mex 1st Cl	2nd		Kevin Castañeda		Lost in final.

International
Year			Team				Achievements
23-24			Fiji				Oceania Cup S/F
24			Morocco U23			Olympics Losing Finalists
26-27			Iran				Asian Nations Cup losing finalists
27-			Morocco				ACON S/F


Challenge Progress 3/32

Club
 1/10 top domestic leagues 		(S Africa)			
 1/10 domestic cups 			(S Africa)							
 1/5 club continental championships	(Africa)		
 0/1 club world championship

International
 0/5 continental tournaments 		
 0/1 World Cup	

 

[glengarry224]

A Whole New World to Bamboozle

After getting disbarred, an Albuquerque, New Mexico (former) lawyer decides to take up football management.  If teams are smart, they'll let him handle all of their negotiations:

 

Sadly, my art skills, and the FM hair styles, are nowhere good enough to get the look right.

Edited January 2, 2023 by glengarry224

[glengarry224]

First Job

Thank you to other players before me who warned that I might not get a job until a few months into the season. 

I waited a little longer than I expected but finally was hired to my first job, 9,343 miles from Albuquerque and just 40 miles north of the Cape of Good Hope, in Cape Town = Kaapstad, in Afrikaans.  Btw, a great place to visit with one of the most picturesque urban rock formations, Table Mountain.

 

Formerly knows as Ajax Cape Town, the Urban Warriors were renamed after Ajax Amsterdam sold its majority stake in the Spurs during the heart of the pandemic, in September 2020.  The Spurs unveiled our new logo:

Based in the Parow, a suburb of Cape Town, the Spurs play most of their games in Athlone Stadium:

CT Spurs have one of the best youth academies in the country and the board expects me to maintain that. 

Little do they know that I have no intention of staying that long.  I lied in my interview.  Yes I did. 

Just three days after South African Reconciliation Day, I take over during the winter break.  The board's required mid-table finish should not be hard to achieve, and I have hopes of finishing much higher:

Our attack is pretty good but needs improved finishing.  Despite underperforming our league leading Xg, we are 6th in goals-for.  Our defense is poor, allowing 19 in 15 games, tying us for 4th worst in the league.

No time for safaris and wine country tours.  Time to get stuck in and move up the table...

 

Edited January 2, 2023 by glengarry224

[glengarry224]

BTW, I see that SI has not fixed this problem from previous versions.  In my interview, I was asked if I could work with a 115,000 transfer budget but of course, now that I took over, it's zero.  Also, when interviewing, there is no way to know that my payroll, which I said I could work within, is already way over budget.  Oh well

[goonergez]

Real Madrid CF: 2044/45 Review

Having only taken over at the Bernabau in April I would take charge of just six matches until the end of the season. In truth they would go near enough as expected. We picked up four victories including a sensational 5-1 demolition of rivals Atletico, whilst also losing once and drawing once. A solid if not spectacular start here that leaves me feeling pretty confident.

I’ve had a chance to assess my squad though and that’s where the problems lie. We have ten players on over £200,000 a week and that means i have no room to bring in new faces. I’m going to be forced to let players leave if I want to bring in new arrivals. I also have difficulty in that we have a squad lacking balance. In attack and on the wings we are packed with options but defensively we possess limited numbers. I’ve promoted a 16-year old centre back into the senior squad but we’ve got to find a way of bringing in some more defensive minded players. Most frustratingly is a number of high earning players in the B team that I have no chance of shifting. They’re on huge wages and lack quality. This could be a longer term clear out than I had hoped.

I’m not expecting immediate successes here, but I certainly want to be competitive. I’m hoping to challenge across multiple fronts next year including fighting for the league title. We finished 22 points adrift of Barcelona and that is a real significant gap to make up. It’s a tough challenge but I reckon we have what it takes as a club to begin a rebuild.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   2nd		Europa Conference League Winners,
2043/44	Lille				Ligue 1		   n/a
2044/45	Real Madrid			La Liga		   3rd
2045/46	Real Madrid			La Liga		   tbc




2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-2044   Spain
2044-		England

		

4/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 11/32

 

[goonergez]

Real Madrid CF: 2045/46 Review

With so much money being spent on existing players my task of improving the squad actually became a real challenge. I tried to clear out as best I could, but could only chalk off around £400,000 a week in wages. My transfer budget was also fairly limited to build a side capable of competing at the top again. I signed a few really promising young players including goalkeeper David Dominguez from Fluminense (£12,000,000) and Serbian midfielder Samuel Sabo for £6,500,000. Our biggest and most important signing was defensive midfielder Melih Bayram who arrived from my former side Lille in a £30,000,000 rising to £40,000,000 deal. He would go on to be a key performer. Young winger Murphy Kabamba was a player I wanted whilst in france and we paid £18,000,000 to bring him to Madrid.

We put a fantastic season in to win the title against the odds and end my trophy hoodoo at club level. We went 24 games into the season without losing before suffering a mid season blip. That blip saw us throw away a five point lead at the top and we spent the remainder of the season battling with Sociedad to be crowned champions. Eventually a seven match winning run at the end of the campaign proved enough and we won the title with a match still to play. A very pleasing and very surprising campaign for us.

Outside of the league we were far less impressive however. We crashed out of the Spanish Cup to lower League opposition at the first hurdle as I used it as an opportunity to rest our key performers. A last minute goal seeing Leganes pick up a huge scalp in a 2-3 defeat. I paid the price for squad upheaval in the Champions League too as a raft of changes saw us start our campaign with some really damaging losses. We bounced back to secure a spot outside the automatic qualification places but in the play offs, but were eliminated by Dortmund over two legs. 

With that I will hand in my resignation with Real Madrid and move onto a new challenge. I’m not sure where my next move will be, I’m just pleased to get back to winning trophies at club level after a few disappointments. Firstly comes the World Cup with my England side though. We smashed our way through our qualification group and at this stage I’ve still only lost my very opening game as manager. A record of 14-1-1 is pretty impressive and gives me hope ahead of another major international tournament.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   2nd		Europa Conference League Winners
2043/44	Lille				Ligue 1		   n/a
2044/45	Real Madrid			La Liga		   3rd
2045/46	Real Madrid			La Liga		   1st (C)		La Liga Winners




2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-2044   Spain
2044-		England

		

5/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League, 2045/46 La Liga)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 12/32

 

[goonergez]

England: 2046 World Cup

In the wake of winning the Spanish league title and then departing Real Madrid it was a return to the international fold for me and the opportunity to lead my England team into the World Cup, hosted by china.

My record with England was strong leading into the tournament and we entered ranked number two in the world. We were definitely considered one of the favourites to win the crown and I was certainly confident that we could go a long way. Especially with 26-year old Chelsea striker Milo Bedini in the squad. He arrived in china with 85 international goals in just 66 appearances and on the back of a successful campaign with his Champions League winning club.

Our final preparations for the tournament went well, as we picked up a couple of comfortable victories against Sweden and Tunisia. We entered the tournament in a group with Guatemala and Algeria and I was confident that we could progress with a minimal of fuss.

We opened up against Guatemala and it took Milo Bedini just fifteen minutes to bag himself a hat trick. I’m fact by half time he had himself five and we led 7-0. I made a couple of changes to rest players but it didn’t stop us from running out as 11-0 winners. Having already qualified I rested all of our first choice players for the Algeria game and they responded well. A 2-0 victory clinching the group winners tag and giving us a second round tie against Colombia.

Unsurprisingly the big guns were restored for the Colombia game and it took just fifteen minutes to effectively seal progression. Milo Bedini scored twice and at 2-0 up we were never to be in danger. We cruised along for the victory to book our spot in the Third Round where we would meet Norway. 

It would be that man again for us against Norway as a goal in each half and either side of a Norwegian strike from Milo Bedini would see us progress. A confident yet tense 2-1 victory booking out spot in the Quarter Finals and a mouth watering tie against France to try and reach the last four. For me it was at this stage our tournament would really begin as we focused on the business end of it and try to go on and lift the trophy.

Our tie against France was always going to be a huge one as we entered it as the two top ranked sides in world football. I went into it with nerves but also excitement as we knew if we could beat them then there was nobody left in the tournament that we should be fearful of.

The Quarter Final was an absolute epic. We fell behind before levelling up just minutes before half time. We then took a second half lead before being pegged back with around twenty minutes remaining. In the end we would grab a 92nd minute winner as Kemoy Nash (bagging a brace) was our hero to send us into the semi finals.

I think I had some sense of complacency as we just couldn’t get on top in our game with Belgium. We did well to fight back after conceding early but after a sucker punch goal early in the second period we were just too wasteful in front of goal and we crashed out. Disappointingly Milo Bedini failed to score against France or Belgium and that really didn’t help us as he wasted chance after chance. He bounced back with a couple in the 4-2 dismantling of Italy in the Third Place Play Off but in truth winning that wasn’t much of a consolation for us.

I expected to make the final and to not get that far was a real disappointment. Having beaten the French we should’ve been able to defeat anybody else and so to not even make the final has to be seen as a massive disappointment. This was a really good opportunity for me to chalk off another international trophy and we failed. It’s a really tough one to accept. Unsurprisingly my job after the tournament was in real doubt but perhaps more surprisingly the FA made the decision not to sack me and so for the time being I am still left in charge of the England squad. I’ve also picked up my next club managerial job,

Thankfully my success in Spain was taken into account and I now have the opportunity to try and chalk of some trophies in France. After my failure with Lille I’m excited to go back and try to right those wrongs. Unsurprisingly the squad I inherit is packed full of talent and anything other than trophies will be an absolutely massive fail.

Season	 Team				League			Position			Notes & Achievements
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2022/23	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  8th
2023/24	 Polokwane City		S.Africa Div1		  1st (C)		SA First Division Winners
2024/25	Mamelodi Sundowns	S.Africa Premier		   -
2025/26	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  2nd			SA Cup Winners
2026/27	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2027/28	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2028/29	Kaizer Chiefs		S.Africa Premier	  1st (C)		SA Premier League Winners, African Champions League Winners, SA Cup Winners, SA Knockout Cup Winners
2030	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  3rd
2031	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th
2032	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  1st (C)		MLS Cup Winners,
2033	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  10th
2034	Inter Miami FC		MLS			  4th			NA Champions League Winners,
2035	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  2nd		Rio State Winners,
2036	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  1st (C)	First Division Winners,
2037	Flamengo FC		Brazilian Premier	  3rd		Copa Libertadores Winners, Brazilian Cup Winners, Rio State Winners
2038	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League	 	   1st (C)		K-League Winners
2039	Pohang Steelers		Korean K-League		   1st (C)		Asian Champions League Winners, K-League Winners
2040/41	AS Roma			Serie-A			   n/a
2040/41	Eintracht Frankfurt	Bundesliga		   n/a
2041/42	Inter Milan			Serie-A		   n/a
2041/42	Lille				Ligue 1		   5th
2042/43	Lille				Ligue 1		   2nd		Europa Conference League Winners
2043/44	Lille				Ligue 1		   n/a
2044/45	Real Madrid			La Liga		   3rd
2045/46	Real Madrid			La Liga		   1st (C)		La Liga Winners
2046/47	Paris Saint Germain	Ligue 1		   tbc




2030-2032	Mexico	
2037-2041   Ivory Coast	
2042-2044   Spain
2044-		England (2045 Nations League Winners)

		

5/10 Domestic Leagues (2026/27 SA Premier League, 2032 MLS Cup, 2036 Brazilian First Division, 2038 K-League, 2045/46 La Liga)
2/10 Domestic Cups (2025/26 SA Cup, 2037 Brazilian Cup)

4/5 Club Continental Championships (2028/29 African Champions League, 2034 NA Champions League, 2037 Copa Libertadores, 2039 Asian Champions League)
0/1 Club World Championship

1/5 International Continental Tournaments (2041 AFCON)
0/1 World Tournaments

TOTAL: 12/32

 

[SkiIIs]

Season 2026/27 - Maribor - Slovenia First League

Entering the first season with Maribor, the hope was to find a few over the top players to lead us the way at this lower level league. There werent any 4.5 or 5 star players on offering but managed to bring in some 4 star players that would lead us to a very straight forward league win which was wrapped up with 7 games to go.

Focus then was to do the double which we they were hoping to win for their 11th time in their history. This was achieved with a 4 - 0 against second place Mura in the final.  So that makes it 4 ticks in the space of 18 months for this challenge.

With the season completed, it was time to move on and after getting snubbed by both Chelsea and Porto, I bit the bullet and decided to take the Kaizer Chiefs role in a long term play to conquer this region. They had finished a disappointing 9th last season despite the Board wanting continental qualification.  They're only wanting a mid table finish next year so im sure we can achieve that.

 

Edited January 9, 2023 by SkiIIs