Welcome,
I’m trying something a little bit different and out of my comfort zone this time. I have seen quite a few “Top 10 Teams to Manage in Football Manager 2019” and the like. So, I thought I would share my version. Here are my Top 5 Random Nations to manage in Football Manager 2019.
I have chosen 1 nation from each continent (Asia, Africa, South America, North America & Europe) which is playable on the default database on Football Manager 2019.
Please note that the Oceania continent has no playable nations on Football Manager 2019
FIVE - MEXICO
At number five in my top 5 random nations to manage in on Football Manager 2019 is Mexico! Mexico is at number for one reason. It is the most well known of the 5 nations I have chosen. Mexico as a national team are ranked 16th in the world. The domestic league system as 2 playable leagues within Football Manager; The First Division and the Promotion League. Something unique about the Mexican First Division is that it is the only league (to my knowledge) where you can win a possible 2 league titles in 1 season. This is because the Mexican league season is split into an “Opening Stage” and a “Closing Stage”. In my opinion, this makes me wanna manage in Mexico just for that alone. Club America and Chivas; the record holders of the Mexican First Division have both won the opening or the closing stage 12 times. Turning our attention to continental football; the Mexican teams compete in the North American Champions League. Clubs in Mexico are given 4 places into the first round of the NACL. Mexican club, Monterrey also hold the record number of title wins for the NACL which stands at 3.
FOUR - SOUTH AFRICA
At number 4 is South Africa. This was number 4 for me because it is in fact the only African team that is playable on Football Manager 2019. South Africa are ranked 69th in the world. That could make for a great challenge getting the national team up the rankings. Domestically, South Africa has 2 leagues; the Premier Soccer League and the National First Division. There are 3 well known teams in South Africa which are 1) Kaiser Chiefs 2) Orlando Pirates and 3) Mamelodi Sundowns. Kaiser Chiefs and Sundowns have both won the premier division 11 times with Orlando Pirates winning it only the 9. Continentally South African clubs compete in the African Champions League and the African Confederations Cup. South African clubs are given 2 places in the preliminary round of both continental competitions.
THREE - BELARUS
Half way through at number 3 is Russia’s cousin Belarus. I’ve placed Belarus at number 3 because they are a bit different and out of the box to the usual mainstream European nations. Belarus are ranked 78th in the world and would be an excellent international save due to the journey to build them up. Belarus have 2 domestic leagues; The Highest League and the First League. The most successful team in Belarus is BATE Borisov. They have won the top division of Belarus a mere 14 times. The closest club to challenging them at the top is Dinamo Minsk, who subsequently have won the highest league title 7 times. Belarusian clubs are able to qualify for the UEFA Champions League which makes Belarus the perfect nation to manage in to build up the minnows. Clubs in Belarus have 1 place in the UEFA Champions league group stage and 1 place in the first qualifying round. In the Europa league, clubs from Belarus have 3 places in the first qualifying stage. This all makes Belarus the perfect club and country Football Manager save to do.
TWO - PERU
Not quite the most random nation to manage in, is Peru. I think this would be a great little save, it’s random enough to be very interesting but not too out there that you’ll be out of your depth. Peru are ranked amazingly 20th in the world. This is because of their recent World Cup 2018 performances. There is only the 1 league in the domestic league of Peru. The Pervuian First Division. There are 3 clubs that outperform on a regular basis each year. These teams are: Club Universitario de Deportes, Club Alianza Lima and Club Sporting Cristal. In terms of titles won, Universitario have won 26 titles. Followed by Alianza on 21 titles and Cristal have won 18 titles. A good save could be to take a different team to a newly found dominance of Peruvian football or even get one of these Peruvian masterclasses to win and dominate the Copa Libertadores. This brings me onto continental football in South America. The Peruvian clubs have 3 clubs entering the Copa Libertadores in the group stage and 1 entering in the second qualifying round as well as the first qualifying round. In addition to that competition, there is the Copa Sudamericana. Peruvian clubs enter at the preliminary round where there is 4 spaces. In my opinion, this nation would make a great save on Football Manager 2019. My main reason for this is you can build up Peru to challenge the giants of South America in Argentina and Brazil both domestically and continentally.
ONE - SINGAPORE
The most random nation to manage in on Football Manager 2019 has to be the one and only Singapore! I personally have never managed in any of the countries on this list let alone Singapore. I believe this to be the most random, out-there, outside the box nation you could possibly manage in. One of the most challenging facets of managing in this nation would be continental honours. Even if you chose the best rated club in Singapore; I believe you would still struggle to compete against the Australian, Japanese and South Korean clubs. Anyway, the national side of Singapore are currently ranked 182nd in the world. What a challenge that would be to get Singapore up that world ranking table. Incredible! Like Peru, Singapore only have the 1 playable league in Football Manager. The Singaporean Premier League. The only team worth noting are called “Warriors FC” who have won the Singaporean Premier League a total of 9 times. But they haven’t won the league within the last 4 years. So, that could potentially be a great save. Singaporean clubs have 1 space to enter clubs into the first preliminary round of the Asian Champions league. They also have 1 place to enter clubs into the group stage and playoff of the Asian Confederations Cup. One final thought, I think this would be a massive to try and build up both the nation and a club to compete on the continental stage as well as the world stage.
Thank you for reading this Football Manager 2019 guide. It was something very different from me and I plan on doing stuff like this a lot more. Please do let me know either in the comments, on Twitter or via email whether you liked this type of content and how I can improve on it. You cna read more content like this on my website at https://thecookiefmblog.wordpress.com/.
Thank you once again. See you next time.