20.2 Update (ME 2026)

[CJ Ramson]

Hello everyone,

Update 20.2 is out and includes an updated Match Engine (2026) 

The Match Team have addressed multiple known raised issues;

- Too many penalties being awarded and soft looking penalties being awarded
- Decision making from wide players at the byline
- Through balls in the attacking third
- One on one chances

There have also been multiple other small fixes to further balance the Match Engine.

Thank you for your continued feedback.

CJ

[Fabregas96]

Hi CJ,

are there more low through balls and CAM-Striker interactions/involvement in the game since the last patch? I would love to see my playmaker make defence splitting (low) balls onto my strikers but the last edition was a disappointment for me.(fm19)

for this reason i am yet to buy this year’s edition as i also saw the same issues on the forum this year. I would love to play the game but without these features the game is unplayable for me.

[Weller1980]

Is there a fix for through balls in the final 1/3 in this patch? 

[CJ Ramson]

We have addressed the balance through balls in the attacking third in the updated Match Engine

[Johnny Ace]

Thanks for the update @CJ Ramson, I'm only into my 4th game of the night but I've noticed a lot of positive improvements 

[timbo1983]

7 hours ago, CJ Ramson said:

Hello everyone,

Update 20.2 is out and includes an updated Match Engine (2026) 

The Match Team have addressed multiple known raised issues;

- Too many penalties being awarded and soft looking penalties being awarded
- Decision making from wide players at the byline
- Through balls in the attacking third
- One on one chances

There have also been multiple other small fixes to further balance the Match Engine.

Thank you for your continued feedback.

CJ

Hi CJ, just wondering if this update has also included a fix for the amount of cards received in a game? I've seen a few people report this (myself included) but I'm not sure if it has been addressed in this update, or if it is being addressed at all. Looking forward to getting home tonight and playing with this update  thanks for you help!

[fmnatic]

29 minutes ago, timbo1983 said:

Hi CJ, just wondering if this update has also included a fix for the amount of cards received in a game? I've seen a few people report this (myself included) but I'm not sure if it has been addressed in this update, or if it is being addressed at all. Looking forward to getting home tonight and playing with this update  thanks for you help!

@timbo1983 check if your assistant is setting hard tackling opposition player  instructions.  I've managed to reduce/eliminate the cards, by reducing/removing those.

[timbo1983]

1 hour ago, fmnatic said:

@timbo1983 check if your assistant is setting hard tackling opposition player  instructions.  I've managed to reduce/eliminate the cards, by reducing/removing those.

@fmnatic thanks, but I don't let my assistant do anything, including opposition instructions - I'm too much of a control freak haha

[fmnatic]

3 hours ago, timbo1983 said:

@fmnatic thanks, but I don't let my assistant do anything, including opposition instructions - I'm too much of a control freak haha

Are you setting hard tackling on any opposition players? I've noticed if you set hard tackling on one opposition player, if he roams hes likely to get multiple of your players to foul him. 

[CJ Ramson]

6 hours ago, timbo1983 said:

Hi CJ, just wondering if this update has also included a fix for the amount of cards received in a game? I've seen a few people report this (myself included) but I'm not sure if it has been addressed in this update, or if it is being addressed at all. Looking forward to getting home tonight and playing with this update  thanks for you help!

Yes, along with the penalty issues this was linked to various smaller issues which were creating the problem. The balance of yellow cards has been improved.

[midtgaard10]

Still cannot score 1vs1 ..... misses 95% of the time,, also when 2 against the goalkeeper the striker shoots himself eventhough he is on a very tight angle, and dosnt even pass even eventough it would have a sure goal... Still boycutting the game, regards fmscout

[JR2009]

As a loyal fan for the past decade, I'm never buying this game ever again. Patch took so long to come out and the issues still persist. I am paying money to play a finish product and not be your bloody beta testers to help you debug your game. You guys owe the community an apology.

Edited Wednesday at 21:35 by JR2009

[midtgaard10]

agree!!

[janrzm]

Whilst I would strongly disagree with the overall sentiment of the two posters above I think the frustrations are legit. I can't think of any other business where you'd sell a product while essentially still working on it. I will always support the game because it still represents huge value for money when the sale price is divided by the number of hours entertainment, but please release a game that's closer to finished. 

EDIT: I wasn't seeing too many missed one on ones, or through balls over the top, until after the patch......go figure.

Edited Thursday at 00:39 by janrzm

[CJ Ramson]

Thank you for all the feedback so far.

Unfortunately there were some unforseen knock ons to fixes before release which led to some issues which have now been addressed. 

As a Match Team, we are happy with the overall Match Engine. While we agree some areas could be improved, there are also numerous areas we believe work well and show the depth of the tactics.

18 hours ago, midtgaard10 said:

Still cannot score 1vs1 ..... misses 95% of the time,, also when 2 against the goalkeeper the striker shoots himself eventhough he is on a very tight angle, and dosnt even pass even eventough it would have a sure goal... Still boycutting the game, regards fmscout

If this is what you are seeing 95% of the time, please start a thread and upload PKM's showing this and we will review.

14 hours ago, JR2009 said:

As a loyal fan for the past decade, I'm never buying this game ever again. Patch took so long to come out and the issues still persist. I am paying money to play a finish product and not be your bloody beta testers to help you debug your game. You guys owe the community an apology.

We get stats from thousands of matches daily, while also playing countless matches daily and as a QA Team are aware of virtually every example that has been raised. However, we appreciate help and additional examples from the forums.

11 hours ago, janrzm said:

Whilst I would strongly disagree with the overall sentiment of the two posters above I think the frustrations are legit. I can't think of any other business where you'd sell a product while essentially still working on it. I will always support the game because it still represents huge value for money when the sale price is divided by the number of hours entertainment, but please release a game that's closer to finished. 

EDIT: I wasn't seeing too many missed one on ones, or through balls over the top, until after the patch......go figure.

Some people were seeing these issues before the patch, some after the patch. Some never at all, some claimed every single game. I think it is important to remember there are a wide amount variables in the Match Engine just like real life football itself.

I left this post unlocked to create discussion, unfortunately it has not been used constructively so I will be locking it from now.