Koetzer

April – July 2024 Perfect defensive performance, and we finished the first month as joint leaders! This included an away win over predicted league winners Mjøndalen who had Wanderson (the Bulgarian one) and world champion Shkodran Mustafi in their squad (he assisted our backup striker for a second goal ) Couldn’t score before the cup game, which we lost anyway but at least broke this bad form. Mathisen made his debut from the bench against Grorud, almost immediately assisted to Svarups and missed a great chance to score in stoppage time, awesome start for a youngster! A month of comebacks: from 0-2 in first two games (one was spoiled by a late goal conceded) and from 1-4 against Fram Larvik where Mathisen became our youngest ever goalscorer! Then we lost to Arendal, a team sitting bottom despite probably an excellent squad (Crisetig, Ante Coric, Jarstein play for them among others). The biggest win and quite a disappointing 95th minute equalizer to end this part of the season, the next game will be in a month. Two leaders have a small advantage, but nothing is set. We are closer to relegation zone in points, though still can dream about promotion.

Norway is obviously the northernmost place where football is played professionally. Current champions Bodø/Glimt are based beyond the Arctic Circle, Tromsø played a lot of European games being even further to the north, and that’s not the limit. Welcome to Hammerfest, a town with 11 thousand inhabitants situated north of 70th parallel. Local football reached its peak in 2000s with five seasons in Norwegian third tier (so were playable in FM08, my first game in the series). Later the club faced decline, eventually folded and was re-established as HIF-Stein in 2018. In 2022 the new club earned promotion to the 4th tier (and already relegated back IRL, but here I’ve managed to get them promoted to fully playable league). (technically this career is a spin-off of my youth academy try, which predictably ended after first season as the default squad wasn’t enough even to fill the starting 11 and first season’s newgens were only slightly better than grey ones) Breidablikk, our stadium with the only stand and 200 seats (not much room for expansion either ) After the first transfer window we got these players as the best eleven: Opgård – Svārups – Rødsand Martynenko – Rolland – Balto Mayounga – Çepele – Lima – N’Gakoutou Molla Defense is the most interesting part here – we signed the Andorran legend, 44 year-old Ildefons Lima (still good at this level, at least for a season), two young Albanians (both born in Italy) and two African internationals. Balto and Svarups remained from the default squad and four other players were released by our neighbours Alta (they play in another group on the same level). The first youth intake is ironically much better than one I’ve got in the academy challenge, right winger Mathisen and Eritrean goalkeeper Abraham have good personalities and potential for this level. This new squad is still assessed as the worst in division, however it certainly won't be hopeless.

Unless it's an edited database (replacing Russia with USSR or other inactive nation), you won't get European games to complete the challenge.

Well, no miracles here. The attack was solid (4th in goals scored and Svarups eventually won the top goalscorer title), but defense simply didn't exist (there was a game which we lost 4-8 ). Got first point in 7th game, first win in 14th, second half was much better but surely not enough.

Profile The northernmost available team for this challenge (predicted bottom in a view-only 4th tier, so it took LOTS of reloads to make them promoted), based in Hammerfest far beyond the Arctic Circle. Yes, that's the whole squad, not enough even to fill the first eleven (could be even worse if three players, including the only GK, weren't signed before the season update). Survival is hardly possible, but let's see Key players: Øigarden | Balto | Mienna | Svarups We also have the first youth preview, nevermind the ratings - any player will be useful for now, hope they arrive before the season start in April. @darren1983 restart date for Norway is January 13.

Season 2049/50 Changes No outstanding players here, except this Ukrainian goalkeeper. World Cup This time England won the final shootout… against Ecuador (they had only one naturalized player as a backup, the team leader Zambrano came through a local club)! Philippines couldn’t get any points at their first World Cup, while other debutants Barbados (the best player is a center-back Chandler) managed to win a group on better goal difference! And so it’s time to finish this experiment. In 28 years we got two new world champions (Serbia and Belgium) and new champions in every continent except Oceania (Austria, Venezuela, Gambia, Angola, China, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, Suriname). Most capped player: Rohan Luthra (India) – 199 caps. Best goalscorers: Sergio Mane (Guinea-Bissau) and Ross Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago) – 93 goals. Best naturalized players by CA in 2050: Rob Cann (Montserrat) – 172 Mohamed Cisse (Togo) – 170 Abdoulaye Diakite (Mali) – 167 Best players of smaller nationalities in 2050 (appeared without manual nation change): Tyreek Gilzene (Jamaica, first club: Portmore Utd) – CA 180 Dondre Campbell (Jamaica, Waterhouse) – 178 Fabian Fredlein (Bosnia, Hertha) – 177 Simon Mwamba (Zambia, Zanaco) – 162 Mario Pedro (Angola, Sp.Cabinda) – 158 Alberto Rodriguez (Panama, CD Universitario) – 157 Aboubakar Nikiema (Burkina Faso, CF Rahimo) – 156 Gia Gelashvili (Georgia, Dinamo Batumi) – 152 Oybek Usmonov (Uzbekistan, Molde) – 151 Remy Goncalves (Luxembourg, Gent) – 151 Marios Adamou (Cyprus, AEK) – PA 178 Jean Marie Cineas (Haiti, Lens) – 164 Hamza Al-Kurdi (Syria, Tishreen) – 160 Matty Buffonge (Montserrat, Aston Villa) – 158

Season 2048/49 Changes Nigeria, Mali and Suriname got the best players here, San Tome and Principe made quite an unexpected appearance in this list. African Cup One more trophy for Morocco. Despite Togo losing in the first playoff round, Mohamed Cisse finished the tournament with the best overall rating. Gold Cup A boring final of two biggest nations.

Season 2047/48 Changes Mali get a really top player unnoticed by Spain so far. Euro A classic English shootout loss. Ireland could convert their last season’s improvement into a great result, but lost to another surprising team Sweden in quarter-final. Copa America The most reputable teams returned to the final. OFC Cup Solomon Islands without a single player from abroad defeated New Zealand in the group and only lost the final 0-1!

Season 2046/47 Changes A great year for Ireland with Sam Earl leading a group of four excellent players joining them. Other top players went to Ghana and Trinidad. Asian Cup Eighth trophy for Japan and another good performance from Philippines. Robert Giganto once again finished with the best overall rating and topped the assistants table. African Cup It’s the first trophy for Morocco since 1976! Tanzania had the best ever result with Suleiman as their leading player. Gold Cup After producing a lot of great Dutch players Suriname finally won the trophy itself! Surprisingly enough their best player came through a local academy.

Season 2045/46 Changes The best player here moved from Argentina to Israel. Ethiopia and Hong Kong also got their new leaders. World Cup Fourth final in a row and second title for Belgium, Emerson won the Golden Ball. Japan managed to reach the final four, Angola and Bosnia also got some surprisingly good results. Gambia, the only debutants, lost both games in group.

Season 2044/45 Changes San Marino got obviously the best player in nation’s history, also a good improvement for Switzerland, Japan and Belarus. African Cup Ghana defended the title, Angola with a new generation of Portuguese players made it to the final. Sergio Mane retired after this season with 93 goals in 100 international games, so shared a record for players in this experiment (not overall though). Gold Cup Jamaica won the trophy, El Salvador reached semi-final and that’s where a really surprising number was found. Orellana (not a naturalized player, came through a local club) broke Ronaldo’s world record with 135 goals for the national team!!!

Season 2043/44 Changes Top players joined Togo and Nigeria, also Ewen Tchen became the best player so far to join an Oceanian nation (he could be third best in New Zealand squad). Euro Italy won the first trophy since 2021, not too surprising as they have the world's best player right now - Davide Stazi (187/198 at 33 so he probably was even better at the peak)! A great result for Denmark despite this defeat. Copa America First final since 2011 without both Brazil and Argentina, and Uruguay won it that time too! OFC Cup Of course, one top player wasn’t enough to change anything, Tahiti couldn’t even advance to playoffs.

Actually Curacao is even smaller and made debut earlier. No idea about FM24 yet, maybe when I get tired of regular saves. Season 2042/43 Changes Not the best bunch overall, Grenada got a good player with amazing name (and yes, he’s really brave!) Asian Cup One more trophy for Japan and no unexpected teams in later stages. African Cup Guinea-Bissau only lost the final in shootout, Sambu won the best goalscorer title with 8 goals. Mane isn’t their first choice now but still managed to increase his goal count to 91 (Philips retired after this season with 93). One more remarkable thing is Lesotho qualifying to main stage for the first time (Ratsiu from Celta is their best player). Gold Cup Mexico returned to the top.

Season 2041/42 Changes Rob Cann is an incredibly good player for Montserrat, Faroe Islands and Aruba also got some decent improvement. World Cup England won the trophy without a single goal conceded in playoffs! Belgium played in three finals in a row now, Chile defeated Colombia for first ever World Cup medals. Comoros had a tough debut, still a good achievement for a small island nation to qualify ahead of stronger African teams.

Season 2040/41 Changes Bolivia got one more quality player who previously represented Argentina. African Cup Senegal defended the title, Guinea Bissau reached quarter-final with Sergio Mane as the best goalscorer. His international stats are really impressive – more than a goal per game, though he’s not the top scorer overall in this experiment (see below). Gold Cup Jamaica ended the USA domination with a late double from Gibson. Ross Phillips has 87 international goals now, maybe with weaker Caribbean opponents he would be able to reach the hundred mark before retirement.

Season 2039/40 Changes Quite a weak intake, the best player here joined Jamaica. Euro First ever continental title for England, no unexpected teams in later stages. Copa America Argentina won the classical final, Colombia scored eight against Chile! OFC Cup Anyone doubted?

Season 2038/39 Changes Another great player joins Mali, also there’s a very good improvement for Vietnam, Philippines, Montserrat and Ethiopia. Asian Cup Saudi Arabia beat Iran in the final, but what a run for Philippines! Already mentioned Robert Giganto became MVP and the best assistant of the tournament, while the top goalscorer title was shared between Syria’s Khalil and Thailand’s Boonsing (29 international goals with finishing 5 ) African Cup Senegal won the trophy this time, Togo reached the semi-final again with Yacoubou scored 6 goals. Gold Cup Three in a row for USA, not so expected final for Honduras and Trinidad reaching semi-final with Phillips as the best goalscorer.

Season 2037/38 Changes Mali got an elite striker Keita, while some other African nations (like Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea and Benin) also improved this year. World Cup After disappointments of 2010s generation and losing the final in 2034 Belgium finally won the trophy! Girones was included into the best eleven. Denmark beat hosts South Africa for bronze, both teams achieved it without naturalized players. Tunisia, Syria and Bolivia surely can be proud of their results.

Season 2036/37 Changes I’d say it was the weakest group in all years (probably newgens tend to switch to their second nations more often?), the most interesting player here goes to Belarus. African Cup No big surprises (maybe except Algeria losing all three games), Ivory Coast won the title with Lancine Karamoko as their best player. Gold Cup One more boring final. Saint Vincent and British Virgin Islands played in the group stage, but it’s a clear bug – they actually lost in playoffs.

Season 2035/36 Changes India got a potentially world-class midfielder, also a great improvement for Central Africa, Eritrea and Liechtenstein. Euro Spain repeated the success of Xavi/Iniesta generation, defending the title, and Israel continues to surprise. They don’t have any naturalized players, but high quality newgens (Sinay is the best) allow them to achieve impressive results. What’s even more interesting – both finalists played in the same group where all teams finished with equal points and were sorted randomly! Copa America Two in a row for Brazil, Chile reached the final with help from goalkeeper Rivera who previously played for Argentine youth teams. OFC Cup The hardest tournament for New Zealand so far. Vanuatu only had players from local league but managed to challenge the giants both in group stage and final. Yes, Philippines get the best improvement from Germany, Braga and Ilustre are their best players now, few more newgens come from Spain and England. Indonesia has only one foreign newgen from Norway (surprisingly no one from Netherlands). And speaking of other nations in region, Thailand's Soonsup-Bell is so far the best goalscorer in this experiment.

Season 2034/35 Changes A worse list in terms of abilities than last years, the most interesting player here is former English youth international Ibrahimov moving to his homeland Azerbaijan. Asian Cup First ever trophy for China with the only naturalized player – Spanish striker Ivan. Uzbekistan didn’t have them at all, but both other semi-finalists surely benefited from this experiment, getting players like Ali and Amyn in their squads. Defending champions Japan couldn’t even advance to playoffs! African Cup Ghana defended the title with 8 goals from Justin Diehl! Despite this heavy loss, it’s still a historical achievement for Togo (led by Wisdom Amey). Gold Cup USA won the first trophy since 2021, still a good result for Jamaica and the best ever run for Suriname (Muringen is their best player). Guadeloupe declined after retirement of their leaders and stopped at the group stage.

Season 2033/34 Changes Daniel Nyobe moved to Cameroon, and not many small nations got really good players this time. Only Suriname (especially as goalkeeper position is usually a weak spot for these teams) and Bolivia are worth mentioning. World Cup Serbia became the first new world champions since 2010, defeating Belgium (also first ever final for them)! Lazar Samardzic and Emil Girones played in the final. Jamaica reached quarter-finals, only losing to the future champions on penalties. Dean Chin obviously played a huge part in this result with four clean sheets. Debuts for Thailand, Guinea-Bissau and Curacao weren’t too remarkable.

Season 2032/33 Changes Former Man City prospect Harrison gains American passport, while Moldova, Trinidad & Tobago, Somalia, Pakistan and Lesotho get their new leaders for years. African Cup Angola was close to defending the title, losing to Ghana in overtime. Sierra Leone with their best player David Kalokoh achieved highest ever result reaching quarter-final, while some regular title contenders couldn’t even advance from groups. Gold Cup Mexico and USA returned to the top (though reaching the final wasn’t easy for both).

Season 2031/32 Changes The best players stayed in Europe (special attention to Sam Llewellyn with PA 197!), however some really exotic nations also got improvement, like Dominica, Seychelles and Cambodia. Euro Spain won second major trophy in two years, Israel made in into semi-final (they only had two naturalized players, both over 30 and not actual team leaders). Copa America After two surprising final appearances from Venezuela things returned to normal state here. OFC Cup New Zealand lost a game… only to get a massive revenge in the final. Another notable achievement – Indian goalkeeper Rohan Luthra became the first player in this experiment to play 100 games for his country.

Season 2030/31 Changes First big wave of newgens, with big names joining Suriname (Kompagnie) and Bolivia (Flores). Asian Cup Japan defended the title at home, Appelkamp is still their regular starter. The only other player from top four teams to change nationality was Qatar’s veteran Angelino. Surprisingly Tajikistan reached the quarter-final without any boost! African Cup Tiago Tomas scored seven goals and lifted the first continental trophy for Angola! The biggest surprise was Central African Republic reaching quarter-final with Oumar Solet as their best player. Gold Cup Jamaica became another new trophy winner with Jonathan Rowe’s five goals!