Here are 5 national teams you should seriously consider of managing in FM20. Being a national manager on Football Manager 2020 is a great challenge to change how the way you play FM 2020.
Being a football manager is not only about managing clubs, but also managing at the national level as well. Managing a national might be a bit more boring than managing a club due to a smaller amount of fixtures, but its a challenge for itself, challenge that is way more different than what you've used to experiencing at the club level of management.And let's face it, winning the Champions League is a great achievement, but winning the World Cup is the crown jewel that all of the managers in history dream of achieving in their career.
Can you do it? Can you win the WC with San Marino? Probably not, but here's a list of top 5 national teams you should seriously consider of managing in FM20.
Netherlands
The Dutch national team finished 2nd place in World Cup 2010 and 3rd place in World Cup 2014. However, Netherlands shocked the world for not qualifying in Euro 2016, finished 4th position in its qualifying group below Czech Republic, Iceland and Turkey. They continued their poor form and failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. Key players like Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie announced their retirement after the team’s unsuccessful qualifying campaign. Therefore, the Oranje have started to improve themselves after the failure. Young talents like Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek and Steven Bergwijn performed well in the Eredivisie last season and become the future stars of the Netherlands national football team. Big players like Virgil van Dijk, Georginio Wijnaldum and Memphis Depay stepped up in the national team as well. Are you able to bring them back to the World Cup and win their first ever World Cup?
Italy
Italy was another big team that missed out the 2018 World Cup, losing 1-0 to Sweden in the play-offs. Key players Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Barzagli and Daniele De Rossi have retired after the failure and they are now in the rebuilding phase. The Azzurri are now qualified for Euro Cup 2020, leading the qualifying group with 24 points after winning all 8 games. Current players like Leonardo Bonucci, Marco Verratti, Jorginho, Andrea Belotti, Lorenzo Insigne and Ciro Immobile have been performing superbly in the national team. Can you continue their excellent form and perform well in the 2020 Euro Cup? Can you bring them back to the World Cup and win the competition?
Nigeria
Nigeria will be a fun team to manage in the international football. The Super Eagles finished 3rd in 2019 Africa Cup of Nations after beating Tunisia 1-0. They have a handful of experienced players such as, William Troost-Ekong, Ahmed Musa and John Obi Mikel. Some of them might be too old for the 2022 World Cup, however, you can still build the team with some of their younger players like Ola Aina, Alex Iwobi, Wilfred Ndidi, Oghenekaro Etebo, and Kenneth Omeruo. They have the potential to be a great team over the next four years. Can you create a memorable experience for the Super Eagles in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar?
Mexico
The Mexico national team has been constantly performing well in the World Cup since 1994, making into the Round of 16 for 7 consecutive year. They are also qualified for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup. El Tri have a bunch of great players who are ready to step up in the next few years, such as Hirving Lozano, Raul Jimenez, Jesus Gallardo, Carlos Salcedo and Orbelin Pineda. The team has a mixture of youngsters and veteran players, which are useful for you to slowly build up a team for the upcoming 2022 World Cup. Can you break their World Cup record and bring them further from the quarter-final?
Ukraine
Andrii Shevchenko, the Ukraine legend, is having a good time right now in managing the Ukraine national team. They have qualified for the 2020 Euro with 19 points after 7 games, 8 points away from the Euro Cup defending champion Portugal. Ukraine is a strong football playing nation and they have boasted some superstars over the years. Some of the players like Andriy Lunin, Ruslan Malinovskyi, Roman Yaremchuk and Oleksandr Zinchenko are surely going to be more experienced and hungrier for success after a few years. Are you able to take over Ukraine and do a better job than the Ballon d’Or winner Shevchenko?
