The youth academy

This version is about the youth. What used to be one home-grown player per season is now a whole academy, with its own league, its own training and its own decisions. Alongside that, eight countries have joined, each with the league format it really plays. Thank you for all the feedback and bug reports - a lot of it went into this patch.

• Youth academy: Three age groups (U15, U17, U19) with their own youth league. The club now runs three intakes instead of one talent a year. Group training by position, individual training for the most gifted, trial weeks and the first pro contract from 16. Anyone still unsigned at 19 leaves at the season change. The scout travels in three ranges, each with its own price and waiting time. Plus a board of players other clubs are releasing - and the option to poach talent from your neighbours.
• Eight new countries: Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Argentina. That makes fifteen countries to choose from.
• Real league formats: Netherlands, Portugal and Poland play 34 matchdays. Austria and Denmark split into two groups after 22, Austria halving the points, Denmark keeping them. Switzerland plays three rounds over 33 matchdays and then splits. Belgium plays 30 and then a championship round of the top six.
• 2026/27 season: All fifteen countries start from the real season - champions, promoted and relegated clubs, last season's placings, cup winners and European entrants are correct, qualifying rounds included. Plus stadium capacities, squad strengths and the share of foreign players in every league.
• Argentina: 30 clubs in two zones, two tournaments a season and therefore two champions a year. Relegation does not hang on this season but on a three-year points average.
• 37 countries from templates: You can build a country inside the game - with clubs, players, sponsors, referees and a calendar. No purchase, one tap is enough.
• European cups: When more clubs qualify than there are places, the surplus is no longer cut - it is played out, home and away, before the league phase.
• Match commentary: 523 translated lines sat in the game and were never drawn - now you hear them. Kick-off has twenty variants instead of five, injuries nine instead of one. New as follow-ups: saves, clearances and cards. Plus the solo run as the big chance, the direct free kick and the bicycle kick. And a player's name now sits in a whole sentence instead of being stuck on the end.
• New game: Country and the leagues running alongside it sit on one screen, with a bar showing what your choice costs in storage.
• Speed: A game week with nine countries runs twice as fast as before.
• Titles: A league title is now booked on the final matchday, not eleven weeks later at the season review.
• Premium shop: Prices and bundle contents are correct again, and the saving is calculated rather than claimed.
• Achievements: The underdog title is within reach again - it also counts for a squad that started the season in the bottom third, and for a promoted side that wins the league straight away.
• Tables: Every league table now sorts by the same rule. Two diverging copies used to decide TV money and promotion.
• Nationalities: On the English interface every player counted as a foreigner. Fixed.