World Cup in Football Manager: Germany reaches milestone

‘Svonn’ and Whenett celebrate winning the AFC Champions League.
FIFA via Getty Images

The first barbs were already flying at the final press conference. “We will close the gap to Germany,” announced Cafer Arslan, Turkey’s head coach. When asked about this, Germany’s assistant coach Tery Whenett countered quite clearly: “We won’t give them a chance.”

Germany has also backed up this statement in sporting terms. With 555 goals scored, just 94 goals conceded, and all national and international titles, the DFB team made it through the second day of the FIFAe World Cup of Football Manager perfectly after the perfect start on Thursday. It really was hardly exciting. Only in the final of the AFC Champions League did a few beads of sweat appear on the forehead. The DFB duo led 1-0 for a long time with Yokohama F. Marinos, the team drawn into Group A – but then conceded the equalizer in the 90th+4 minute. It was not Cristiano Ronaldo who took the free kick for Al-Nassr – the superstar handed the ball to Marcelo Brozovic in-game. He thundered the ball into the net.

Folding chair cheers enhance the stage finish

“Unfortunate,” as head coach Sven Goly summed it up to kicker eSport: “We were the superior team for 90 minutes, but Al-Nassr scored with the first chance they had.” The Japanese club then made things clear in the return match and won comfortably 5-0. No trophy on site, ‘Svonn’ briefly held up a white chair in the air – inspired by Antonio Rüdiger’s iconic celebration.

Winning the AFC Champions League was an important milestone, with the tournament being considered a possible deciding factor in advancing due to the strong opponents. At least it made things a little clearer in the group, as Norway failed to win the trophy. As a result, one of the top favorites slipped down the table – at times even to last place.

Group A

Both the Scandinavians and Saudi Arabia, who dropped points in the national cups, now have only outsider chances of progressing. Belgium is twelve points behind Germany – it would certainly need a small surprise, but could be the laughing third in the duel.

Ultimately, as described, a neck-and-neck race with Turkey is expected – they are five points behind. The DFB duo cannot afford to make any mistakes, but are quite positive: “We have been able to further strengthen the squad in terms of quality and we also see ourselves as well prepared for the Club World Cup.”

Test matches give hope for a successful Club World Cup

Since, with a few exceptions, the participants in the national cups have not shown any weaknesses, the Club World Cup will probably decide the outcome. What is most important for Goly there? “Lucky draw!” Regardless of that, Whenett and ‘Svonn’ still see themselves as well prepared to face European teams like Real Madrid. After all, they were able to beat Manchester City – albeit without Haaland – and Valencia in friendly matches with Yokohama F. Marinos.

Turkey will exert pressure primarily through high-profile transfers. With Arda Güler, Savio and Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitiké, Arslan is also going on the offensive in sporting terms. “However, the way Arda Güler presents himself in FM, for example. That is not so easy to compare with real life,” says Goly. With all the focus on the Club World Cup, the other tasks must not be neglected, remembers Whenett. These include two wins in the local derby, which will give five points and are the reason why the Turks are just behind Germany – and could be eliminated if the result is the same on the third day.

The games will be played again on Saturday from 10 a.m. All streams can be found on fifa.gg; the DFB selection teams can also be seen on Twitch.