Four FM26 national team tactics — Ancelotti's strikerless Brazil box, Ouahbi's zonal Morocco, Migne's high-pressing Haiti and Clarke's McTominay-led Scotland.
Welcome to the third part of FM Blog's twelve-part series, 'Football Heritage — FM Blog's Road to the World Cup'. In this article, I will be going through all four nations in Group C, their respective World Cup histories, their respective football cultures, and their respective, current tactics. I hope you enjoy!
Brazil
A Seleção have competed in every single World Cup tournament to-date, and this trend continues in North America in 2026. Brazil have won the World Cup a record five times (1958, 1962, 1970, 1994, 2002), displaying a historical dominance on the international stage that they will be hoping to continue this summer.
Brazil possesses an incredibly rich football culture, with the country completely obsessed with the sport. Known as 'o País do Futebol' (the country of football), the sport is the dominant, sporting talking point, with fans turning up en masse to support their nation. Brazil is, and was, the breeding ground of the now-famous football philosophy coined as 'Jogo Bonito', which prioritises creativity, flair, and skill on the pitch over rigid, defensive systems — as such, Brazilian football (and its fans) have never taken to the ideas of structured, positional play nor the typically Italian 'catenaccio'.
A lot of these concepts of creative ingenuity in attacking actually stem from the country's exciting, street-football culture. In Brazil, most young players will play football in small cages, particularly in the famous Favelas — these are tight conditions that requires elite technique and close ball control to thrive within.
Interestingly enough, there has always been a few, key features of every successful A Seleção side in history that have remained a constant: One of which is the famous, Brazilian attacking box, where a combination of midfielders, attacking midfielders, and forwards make up a fluid 'box' shape in the centre of the pitch. Another key feature is actually a type of player: the 'Ponta de Lança' — an attacking player that spearheads his team's attacks through elegance, skill, and a tricky knack for goalscoring. Pele, Zico, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Neymar, etc, all fit within this bracket and have played this role for the national team before.
Carlo Ancelotti largely focuses his tactics on trying to maximise the very best players at his disposal, even if it means he has to settle for tactical concessions. As such, his teams usually sit off in a compact mid-block, waiting to win the ball back before launching rapid counter-attacks. So far, during his Brazil reign, there has been an emphasis on getting the ball to the likes of Vinicius Jr. and Matheus Cunha, who will both work in sync to create and attack space — as such, Brazil's attacks tend to lean more to the left.
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
Here, I've tried to blend most of everything I previously alluded to: the effect of the nation's street-football culture ('Much Shorter' passing directness, 'Narrower' attacking width, etc), Jogo Bonito ('More Expressive' creative freedom, 'Dribble More', etc), and Ancelotti's own ideologies ('Pass Into Space', 'Counter-Attack', etc). Because this Brazil side fields a strikerless central box, our guide to using the False 9 is a useful primer on how strikerless and dropping-forward systems carve open packed defences.
Out of Possession
Here, I've mainly recreated what we've seen from Ancelotti's Brazil side thus far, along with his general, out-of-possession ideologies.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper
No additional instructions.
Full-Back | Full-Back
Traditionally, in Brazil's successful national team sides, both full-backs have tended to stay wider to create space centrally for the aforementioned, central box to have more space to emphasise its control and elegance. In this system, the right-back usually stays deeper than the left-back, of whom will venture forward on the left side.
(DCR) Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back
No additional instructions.
(DCL) Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back
I added the 'Stay Wider' instruction to accentuate the team's left-side emphasis and dominance.
Wing-Back | Full-Back
As I previously stated, the left-back, in this system, usually ventures forward and moves wider too, often looking to reach the byline to allow for Vinicius Jr. to enter the penalty area unmarked.
Box-To-Box Playmaker | Screening Defensive Midfielder
I opted for this role in a homage to the famous 'Segundo Volante' — a role that was named after a Brazilian midfielder called Volante, of whom was a technically gifted defensive midfielder who could move higher at times. I applied the 'Shorter Passing' instruction to all four 'midfielders' in this strikerless formation to enhance the sheer dominance of this central box.
Defensive Midfielder | Wide Covering Defensive Midfielder
Here, I've given Casemiro a very 'simple' role of simply distributing the ball short, keeping the game ticking with precise, risk-free passes. When we don't have the ball, he is instructed to drift wider to support our left-back to make up for Vinicius Jr's lack of tracking back, as we look to maximise the very best player in the team.
Shadow Striker | Tracking Centre Forward
Here is my replication of the famous 'Ponta de Lança' role, with a few added instructions ('Shoot More Often', for example) to maximise Matheus Cunha who predominantly featured in this position. When we don't have the ball, he is asked to track back to make up for Vinicius Jr's lack of tracking back, further maximising the team's best player.
Free Role | Attacking Midfielder
Here, I've specially devised a role for Neymar, who has miraculously made the World Cup squad for A Seleção this summer. Additionally, I added the 'Stay Wider' instruction as a nod to the famous 'false winger' role that has been a pillar of successful Brazil sides down the years — a player who starts wide before drifting inside and vice versa.
Wide Forward | Tracking Wide Midfielder
Here, I've largely tried to maximise Raphinha — one of the team's best players. Raphinha is a masterful, tricky winger who works best when he has space to run into, as he's shown for Barcelona under Hansi Flick in the past two seasons. Therefore, I've tried to enhance these elite qualities to maximise his contribution whilst ensuring that his role suits those around him — I settled on this.
Inside Forward | Wide Outlet Winger
This is how I saw best fit to maximise Vinicius Jr: a role where he is the wide outlet both in and out of possession, with the licence to roam from his position and drift inside whenever he please.
Results
FIFA World Cup 2026: Winners
Morocco
This summer, Morocco will compete at their third World Cup in a row, and their seventh in total. Last time out, on the global stage, Morocco shocked the globe by overthrowing some of the world's best teams to reach the Semi-Finals — no African team had ever reached the World Cup Semi-Finals before. This summer, Morocco will be hoping to go one further...
A big factor of Morocco's 2022 success was their incredible, zonal-marking defensive strategy, that consistently stifled some of the most possession-dominant sides out there. Walid Regragui set his side up in a compact 4-1-4-1 formation out of possession, with an emphasis on forcing play wide and trapping the opposition in central areas by aggressively closing down their midfielders and attackers, forcing the ball backwards. Upon winning back the ball, Regragui's side would counter immediately to great effect. This defensive-minded approach was hardly resemblant of their 1976 AFCON-winning side, however, who famously played creative, attacking football.
Following the crazy AFCON Final earlier this year, of which (at the time) Morocco controversially lost 1-0 to Senegal, Walid Regragui left his post as Morocco's Manager. To replace him, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) decided to promote from within and appoint their youth team Manager, Mohamed Ouahbi, as the man to guide them through the World Cup.
Due to Ouahbi's relatively recent arrival, there's not a whole lot of tactical patterns to point out — however, we have seen a slight consistency of wide triangles being created, particularly on the right side. Additionally, his Morocco U20s side played bold, intelligent football that emphasised controlling the midfield both in and out of possession. Intriguing to note that João Sacramento — José Mourinho's former Assistant Manager — will be Ouahbi's right-hand man in the dugout this summer; Could we potentially see a José-inspired influence on Morocco's system this summer as a result...?!
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
Here, I've primarily recreated Morocco's in-possession system from the World Cup in 2022, with a few facets of Mohamed Ouahbi's system at Morocco so far ('Much Narrower' attacking width, 'Short' goal-kicks, etc) — along with his U20s side — and a minor nod to Morocco's 1976 AFCON-winning side ('Be More Expressive', 'Dribble More', etc).
Furthermore, I applied the 'Play For Set-Pieces', 'Time Wasting — More Often', and 'Slow Pace Down' instructions to sprinkle in some José Mourinho-inspired dark arts, of which may be influenced by João Sacramento's arrival as Assistant Manager.
Out of Possession
Morocco's defensive strategy at the previous World Cup was so successful that I decided to recreate it in Football Manager for this tactic. The forthcoming Opposition Instructions and Player Roles are crucial to replicating this stern, defensive proficiency. If you want to understand the wider principles behind a press and block like this, our FM26 pressing principles guide breaks down how to trap opponents and force play exactly where you want it.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper
No additional instructions.
Advanced Wing-Back | Full-Back
So far in Mohamed Ouahbi's reign, Achraf Hakimi has predominantly played exceptionally high and wide on the right side, allowing the right winger to invert into the right half-space. Upon receiving the ball, Hakimi has showcased a fierce willingness to relentlessly carry the ball forward and often try to reach the byline. I added the 'Cross Aim: Target Forward' instruction to encourage him to feed our striker with optimal crosses.
(DCR & DCL) Centre-Back | Centre-Back
No additional instructions.
Full-Back | Full-Back
The left-back, in this system, will mainly stay wider to stretch the opposition's pressing frontline. I applied the 'Dribble More' and 'Make More Runs' instructions to add more attacking thrust to his role, whilst also adding a layer of spontaneity to our wide triangle on the left side, where the 'Cross From: Deep' will add another potential option for the left-back when within this wide triangle.
Defensive Midfielder | Screening Defensive Midfielder
I added the 'More Direct Passing' instruction to Amrabat's role to accommodate his player trait 'Likes to Switch Ball to Wide Areas'. All three midfielders in our 4-1-4-1 out-of-possession shape have been given the same OOP instructions, 'Mark Tighter' and 'Tackle Harder', whilst each of them have been assigned a particular zone/position on the pitch to mark — this recreates Morocco's elite zonal marking system from the 2022 World Cup.
Wide Central Midfielder | Screening Central Midfielder
I chose this role to amplify the effectiveness of our right-sided wide triangle, whilst providing wide defensive cover should Hakimi be caught upfield.
Free Role | Screening Central Midfielder
For this role, I've mainly tried to maximise Ismael Saibari — for Peter Bosz' PSV side (of which you can read my tactical analysis and use my tactical recreation of here) Ismael Saibari is given complete licence to roam from his position in a very similar free role.
Inside Winger | Tracking Wide Midfielder
In Ouahbi's system thus far, the right winger has tended to invert into the right half-space to vacate the right flank for Hakimi to penetrate with darting, overlapping runs. From here, I have (again) tried to maximise one of the team's best players, Brahim Diaz, by allowing him to roam from his position and utilise his fantastic creativity. Both wingers are instructed to track back valiantly to further solidify our rearguard.
Inside Forward | Tracking Wide Midfielder
Another consistency of Ouahbi's Morocco, thus far, has been the idea to overload one side of the pitch to isolate a winger on the other side. As such, the left winger is asked to stay wider to create ideal separation from the opposition's right back — upon receiving the ball, I want this left winger to take on his man aggressively before either cutting inside or hitting the byline. I chose the 'Inside Forward' role over the 'Wide Forward' as I favoured guaranteed depth in-behind over sure, strict, wide positioning, for this tactic.
Target Forward | Tracking Centre Forward
I chose this role as a nod to Youssef En-Nesyri's contribution in Morocco's 2022 World Cup success.
No additional instructions.
Results
FIFA World Cup 2026: Runners-Up
Haiti
Haiti have qualified for only their second-ever World Cup campaign, and will be on the world stage for the first time since 1974 this summer. On that occasion, Haiti were knocked out in the Group Stages, but they'll be looking to venture into the knockout rounds this summer, with players like Wilson Isidor and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde aiming to define the future of a nation's football.
Due to their previous lack of consistent showings at World Cups, at the time of collating my research for this twelve-part series, I was unfortunately unable to find any noteworthy points of football culture in the nation. However, I was enamoured by the country's affinity and connection to Brazil and its national team, with a lot of Haitians actively rooting for Brazil in previous, international competitions: this is a loving, cultural connection between the two nations forged off the back of shared ancestry and humanitarian ties. Could there be sprinklings of Jogo Bonito in their play this summer?
Sebastien Migne is the man to lead Haiti through their first World Cup in 52 years, as he'll be looking to upgrade his icon status to legendary status this summer. Migne is a massive fan of English football, and also a massive fan of former-Liverpool Manager, Jürgen Klopp, and you can see a lot of resemblance in the way his Haiti side plays and the early days of Klopp at Liverpool. His Haiti side loves to press high and aggressively, constantly forcing turnovers high in the opposition's half and disrupting their rhythm with regular pressure — at the most recent Gold Cup, no team won possession in the final third more than Haiti, showcasing his commitment to pressing high, the influence of Jürgen Klopp on his tactical ideologies, and his team's proficiency in pressing high.
With the ball at their feet, Migne's side are interesting — they are a very direct team, usually going long and attacking with real pace and vigour. However, in build-up, Migne's side will usually look to play through the opposition. In this sense, they somewhat resemble Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth side.
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
Here, I've almost entirely replicated Sebastien Migne's Haiti side — however, I added the 'Be More Expressive' and 'Dribble More' instructions as a homage to Haiti's cultural connection with Brazil. I also added the 'Narrower' instruction to create ideal conditions for when the team goes long towards the target man, who can facilitate play with simple, short passes to team-mates in close proximity.
Out of Possession
Once again, I've mainly tried to recreate what Sebastien Migne's side does in real life: pressing high and showing intense aggression. I did, however, add 'Drop Off More' to allow the team to drop off into more of a high-block if needed. Additionally, I applied the 'Stop Crosses' instruction as, in-real-life, Haiti have a tendency to concede from crosses into the box.
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Sweeper Keeper
No additional instructions.
Full-Back | Full-Back
Of the two full-backs, the right-back is usually the more conservative in his positioning, staying deeper than his counterpart. Both full-backs will move wider, in general. I added the 'Make More Runs' and 'Cross From: Deep' instructions to add a layer of spontaneity to our right-flank, however.
Centre-Back | Centre-Back
Ricardo Adé will tend to aggressively challenge and hassle opposing attackers, posing a formidable figure at the heart of Haiti's defence.
Ball-Playing Centre-Back | Centre-Back
I chose this role for the left-sided centre-back as it suited Delcroix well.
No additional instructions.
Wing-Back | Full-Back
As aforesaid, both full-backs, in this system, will stay wider. However, the left-back is consistently the more advanced of the two.
Box-To-Box Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder
Both midfielders, in this system, are typically 'box-to-box' profiles. However, there is a slight discrepancy between the pair as Bellegarde is the more technically gifted of the two and will also make more penetrative runs. Additionally, he will tend to drive the ball forward using carries.
Box-To-Box Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder
Next to Bellegarde, Jean-Jacques is the more reserved of the double-pivot, yet will often push higher up the pitch. Additionally, he is also proficient at carrying the ball forward.
Winger | Wide Midfielder
Louicius Deedson could be one to watch for Haiti at the World Cup this summer! In this system, he is platformed well: he is instructed to hold the width on the frontline and, upon receiving the ball, he will constantly take on his man and cut inside with the ball.
Inside Winger | Tracking Winger
Ruben Providence is just as talented and excellent in taking on his man before cutting inside, as his player instructions will showcase. I chose the 'Tracking Winger' OOP role to retain a solid 4-4-2 shape off-the-ball.
Target Forward | Centre Forward
Frantzdy Pierrot epitomises the 'Target Forward' role, as he will happily back into the opposition's centre-backs to create a platform from which he can reliably facilitate play from.
Poacher | Centre Forward
Next to the target man, Haiti typically use a shorter, quicker player who will willingly run in-behind the opposition's defence often. This player will also usually lead the press.
Results
FIFA World Cup 2026: Runners-Up
Scotland
Scotland are back on the world's stage following a long, 28-year hiatus, and they are looking to show the world what it was missing. A group led by European superstars — the likes of Ballon d'Or nominee, Scott McTominay, John McGinn, and Andrew Robertson — are looking to finally exit the Group Stages at the ninth time of asking.
Scotland have always been great football innovators. In the 1880s, Scottish teams saw the rough, dribbling-focused English game and raised — and quickly pioneered — a more together, collective passing game; this was one of the sport's earliest innovations, and it paved the way for many a great team decades later. Their impressive track record of innovating doesn't stop there: Jock Stein's Celtic side used attacking full-backs and a ferocious high-press, of which both were incredibly unique to his team at the time. The culmination of that? A famous 1966/67 season for Celtic, who would go on to win five trophies... including the UEFA Champions League, as Jock Stein led the Lisbon Lions to unprecedented European success.
Steve Clarke's Scotland side, however, lack the tactical ingenuity of Jock Stein's Celtic and Scottish National Team sides. Instead, Steve Clarke is famously cautious in his approach, leading to tangible discontentment among fans. However, for all the dislike of this approach, it's seemingly working... to an extent. Steve Clarke's system largely revolves around creating the best conditions for his best players, like Scott McTominay, to thrive in.
Scotland are a fairly direct outfit, but they can keep the ball on the ground more often at times to build up play. When they do build up play, they tend to play in wide areas — often, the centre of the pitch will be completely vacated in order to get players wide and create an overload on the frontline (usually a 5v4). Scotland are, to some extent, reliant on set-pieces, however.
Steve Clarke has shown a lot of tactical flexibility formation-wise, with variants of a 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1, 3-5-2, and even a 3-4-3 formation being utilised in recent years. Despite his reputation for being defensive, Steve Clarke's side will actually press high at times in man-to-man fashion; however, they are quick to drop off into a deep low-block if their press is broken.
Let's Break Down the Tactic
In Possession
Here, I've tried to blend elements of Steve Clarke's tactical ideologies, Jock Stein's Scotland and Celtic sides ('Shorter Passing', for example), and Scotland's previous, tactical innovations ('Dribble Less' to urge a passing-based game, for example) into a collective, coherent system. I opted for a 'Much Higher' tempo as a nod to the famous quote about the Lisbon Lions, of whom were described as: "Like the Dutch but speeded up."
Out of Possession
Once more, I've tried to blend Scotland's current OOP approach with Jock Stein's revolutionary approach with the Lisbon Lions. The 'Low Block' ensures defensive solidity, whilst the 'Prevent Short Goalkeeper Distribution' instruction urges the team to move higher into a man-to-man high press from opposition goal-kicks — 'Step Up More' further encourages this.
Opposition Instructions
Player Roles
Goalkeeper | Goalkeeper
No additional instructions.
(DCR) Centre-Back | Centre-Back
I added 'Stay Wider' to supplement our wing play.
(DC) Centre-Back | Centre-Back
No additional instructions.
Overlapping Centre-Back | Centre-Back
From this position, Tierney will provide consistent overlapping and underlapping runs for those ahead of him, adding an extra layer of penetration from deep for the team on the left, and formulating a fruitful partnership with Andrew Robertson. I added the 'Dribble More' and 'Cross From: Byline' instructions to add more attacking thrust to the role, whilst the 'Shoot Less Often' instruction ensures possession is kept often. Furthermore, I added the 'Take More Risks' instruction to urge him to find runs in-behind from Robertson and/or McGinn.
Wing-Back | Wing-Back
On the right side, the right wing-back will hold the width and can carry the ball forward aggressively as he progresses up the pitch. I added the 'Take More Risks' instruction to encourage the wing-back to find McTominay's runs in-behind ahead of him more frequently. Both wing-backs, in this system, will aggressively close down their respective opponents.
Advanced Wing-Back | Wing-Back
On the left side, Andy Robertson is consistently more advanced than his wing-back counterpart, usually driving forward to supply whipped crosses into the box. Additionally, he'll tend to try and reach the byline to optimise the quality of the ball into the box.
Deep-Lying Playmaker | Defensive Midfielder
The deepest midfielder, in this system, usually drops deeper to get on the ball constantly, wherefrom he can dictate the tempo and regularly switch the play. This role would've been perfect for Billy Gilmour, had he not suffered a tournament-ending injury in recent days. As a Manchester United fan, however, I am excited to see young Tyler Fletcher — son of icon, Darren Fletcher — get the nod as his understudy!
No additional instructions.
Central Midfielder | Defensive Midfielder
From this position, John McGinn loves making darting, underlapping runs into the left half-space — however, he isn't tied to doing this, as he is given licence to drift from his position to supplement the play across the pitch. Finally, I added the 'Take More Risks' instruction to accommodate his player trait, 'Tries Killer Balls Often'.
Shadow Striker | Tracking Attacking Midfielder
Scott McTominay epitomises the 'Shadow Striker' role, as he will constantly ghost in and around the box to score chances. Additionally, he has a great tendency to crash the box late to score headers. In real life, McTominay will regularly make these marauding, ball-carrying runs with the ball that are very difficult to thwart for the opposition, hence the 'Dribble More' instruction. I also added the 'Move Into Channels' instruction to ensure that he's penetrating the right half-space enough, providing our attacks with ideal coverage across the pitch.
Finally, when Scotland don't have the ball in their back-three formation, they will initially defend in a 5-2-3 formation that morphs into a deep, tight 5-4-1 formation as the opposition progress higher up the pitch — as such, both '10s' are 'Tracking Attacking Midfielders' to replicate this.
Target Forward | Centre Forward
I felt this role best complemented the roles around it.
No additional instructions.
Channel Forward | Tracking Attacking Midfielder
This role suited Che Adams' player profile best on FM26, whilst the 'Dribble More' instruction enriches his 'Runs with Ball Often' player trait.
Results
FIFA World Cup 2026: Winners
Conclusion
Thank you very much for reading the third part of this twelve-part series: Football Heritage — FM Blog's Road to the World Cup. I hope you have enjoyed this style of writing and content, and keep your eyes peeled for the other eleven parts of this series through DAILY tactic releases from the 31st, May until the 11th, June.
If you want a taste of these symbolic tactics, make sure to download the tactics using the link attached to this article and make sure to follow FM Blog (@fmbIog) and myself (@AshtonGgmu) on our respective socials. For more FM26 tactical recreations from across the globe, browse the full FM Blog tactics library. I hope you have enjoyed this article, and I wish you much success with these tactics on your saves! Thanks for reading!
