• The managers and assistant managers were divided into 4 groups, with each group representing a partnering club.

• Pre-season was dedicated to get to know their squads, transfer windows and plan their strategies for the following season.

• The first quarter of Season 1 was played, and will follow and end tomorrow on 29 August.

The FIFAe World Cup featuring Football Manager has officially started today on 28 August 2024. The event started with the group draw, where all national representatives were assigned to their groups. Each group was assigned to a particular partner club which each pair of players get to manage throughout the three seasons. In total, 20 managers and 20 assistant managers were distributed into four groups: Group A assigned to manage Yokohama F. Marinos, Group B assigned to manage Brighton & Hove Albion, Group C assigned to manage Sporting CP, and Group D assigned to manage Dinamo Zagreb.

After the draw, players had Day 1 to get to know their assigned clubs and prepare their strategies for the upcoming seasons, in addition to playing the very first quarter of Season 1 and giving out their quarterly updates in which they answered tough questions from the crowd and the press. The press conferences proved one thing: a challenging road awaits to all of them among the skills of these managers and their assistants. Tackling the challenges of each of these clubs with the transfer and time limitations will be essential to get a spot at the knockout stage.

This is how the clubs were distributed

Group A managing Yokohama F. Marinos

• Norway

• Türkiye

• Saudi Arabia

• Germany

• Belgium

Group B managing Brighton & Hove Albion

• Korea Republic

• Portugal

• South Africa

• Netherlands

• Spain

Group C managing Sporting CP

• Poland

• France

• England

• India

• Indonesia

Group D managing Dinamo Zagreb

• Malaysia

• England

• Lithuania

• Peru

• Switzerland

Press conferences

Press conferences were held after each group ended the first quarter of their first season. Managers and assistant managers answered questions from the audience and the press. For now, Spain starts with a strong foot on their table while Saudi Arabia faces the challenge of finding the right squad. Meanwhile, Portugal struggles with their goalkeeper and both England representative pairs find themselves relatively comfortable within their groups.

South Africa and Indonesia are yet to answer the tough questions, but will see themselves answering questions tomorrow, as the competition continues.

What’s next?

Season 1 continues tomorrow, on 29 August, where the nations will face each other in their groups to earn points in their favor. Like in the pre-season and in the rest of the upcoming seasons, press conferences will be held after each group finishes their first season. In addition, you will be able to hear and read the quarterly updates of your favorite nations on FIFA.GG, in addition to watching every stream. Each season counts and is vital to victory. Who will be leading the tables after tomorrow?

Follow the competition here on FIFA.GG.