Smalller Countries to the World Cup...

[scooterSB]

recently started with Jamaica with a hope of reaching the World Cup

Pretty sure I can get them there, Mexico and USA are the only real competition in qualifying and they are both beatable.

Just wondering what stories people have had of taking small countries to the World Cup. What can I expect when I get there? Do I have any chance of Quarter-Finals or beyond????

Especially small North American countries, and particularly in 2014, so only using current players.

[jujigatame]

In FM12 I got USA to a WC quarterfinal by clogging the hell out of the midfield and playing a narrow, counter-attacking style.

With Jamaica you could qualify in that 3rd spot behind USA and Mexico, but you'll face tough competition against Costa Rica and Honduras. Making the WC knockout rounds will be a real challenge.

[jonnyrubs]

I'm managing Canada at the minute and so I have come up against Jamaica a few times. They've got quite a few players who have second nationality of Jamaica, like Adrian Mariappa and Ebanks-Blake. You might stand a good chance of making progress. It's not like playing in a league, you can get through with a bit of luck.

I am hoping to qualify having reached the fourth place playoff and face a game vs Qatar. I got beat into third place by Jamaica so you stand every chance!

[johnhughthom]

I got Wales to a World Cup quarter final once, don't get much smaller and suckier than that.

[QWERTYOP]

I wasn't managing them, but on my save, Bosnia got to the world cup final in Brazil (the next one) where they were beaten by another small nation with limited global footballing success... England.

[Unknown Hacker]

I took the Netherlands Antilles to the Semis of the WC on FM12 with a counterattacking style, however take that with a pinch of salt as I added the league to the game and there were some decent regens -- we were probably the second best team in North America after Mexico by about 2018...

[scooterSB]

I Have been shocked that younger players who are english but have Jamaican as second nationality reject the international call up, even though, realistically they have little to no chance of getting an Englsnd call. I am hoping raising the nations FIFA ranking will help with this.

Pretty confident I can get the 3rd world cup spot

In my first game incharge I cleared the entire team and started again, giving 8 players a first cap. Ebanks-Blake scored on his debut. I dropped Marlon King as I have a 'no-rapists' selection policy

[Ochaye]

I dropped Marlon King as I have a 'no-rapists' selection policy

For some reason I read this in the voice of Sir Alex Ferguson. I lol'd so hard.

[gillsminnow]

Got there with Brazil once on my current save. Finished 3rd in the group I think behind Austria and Israel. Israel had one more point than me ffs

[eplkewell]

I made the WC once with Jamaica on an earlier FM. Actually finished second in qualifying ahead of Mexico but behind the US. Only managed one point at the WC though.

I had a few guys on my team who were former MLS guys who couldn't find a club and had a difficult time maintaining match fitness. Several of those guys also retired right before the WC, which was disappointing. I also had a difficult time convincing Jamaican dual-nationals toiling away in the lower leagues of England and France to come play for me. Overall, Jamaica is definitely an interesting and fun challenge. So go for it and have fun!

[psk87]

I've won it with Wales and Finland before, and now I'm trying with Jamaica too! Wales was pretty easy as I did it later on (2018) and I has some regens who were amazing and Sanchez Watt somehow fitted into my formation perfectly - he has Wales as a 2nd nationality.

Finland was more difficult, won in 2014 but it involved very defensive tactics and a hell of a lot of luck, think Greece in Euro 2004. With Jamaica and hoping to make the most out of Ebainks-Blake, who someone mentioned earlier. Probably the hardest one I've tried (bar a specactular fail at Afghanistan) is Jamaica, as you don't really have the star guy ala Bale (and Ramsey tbf) in the squad.

[backpackant]

England beat USA in the 2014 world cup final in one of my saves. Wasn't managing either one, though. From memory USA beat a big team in the semis 1-0. Might have been Brazil.

[wardog]

On FM08 i played as Kuwait. Got them to the world cup playing a 4-4-2 based on the counter. 2 solid defenders and a very solid striker got me to the world cup.

We never scored a goal, never mind a point. I got sacked.

[scooterSB]

just as an FYI to anyone who's interested. I hot Jamaica to the 2014 world cup quarters, losing to England (who eventually wont the world cup) which I think is pretty good going. Even managed to get a 1-1 group stage draw with Spain which shocked even me.

Also won 2 Gold Cups

However as time went on older players retired or just got too old, and there was a real lack of young talent. Young players who are English but also also eligible for Jamaica would always reject the call, annoying, even players that would never stand a change of playing for England.

So I quit.

Then took Brighten into the prem then finished 5th, now on course to win the title with Liverpool.

[soccer.joel]

Well done for getting them to the quarters

[rimm!]

FM2010 i lost the world cup final as Algeria against france, it was 2014 i think and i had no regens, i seem to remember calling up quite a few prospects from french youth teams when i first took over (in fact, i think i took over after they had lost the first game of the ACN and the previous guy got sacked, i managed to get to the semis of that!)

[RenG]

I have currently a youth only save with Vaduz, and I've also taken charge of Liechtenstein.

In the 2022 WC, I've found a way to qualify for the semis, unfortunately Brazil was too strong for us.

We are now 7th in the World Ranking.. Maybe my biggest achievement so far in FM.

[scooterSB]

I have currently a youth only save with Vaduz, and I've also taken charge of Liechtenstein.

In the 2022 WC, I've found a way to qualify for the semis, unfortunately Brazil was too strong for us.

We are now 7th in the World Ranking.. Maybe my biggest achievement so far in FM.

nice well done

[Jean-Luc]

How do you do that?

As a manager of a club, you can nurture young guys via training, tutoring, youth intake, and so on.

How should that be possible with Liechtenstein?

Or is it simply tactical glory that helps a weaker team win against a much stronger opposition?

[nyandoro]

I have currently a youth only save with Vaduz, and I've also taken charge of Liechtenstein.

In the 2022 WC, I've found a way to qualify for the semis, unfortunately Brazil was too strong for us.

We are now 7th in the World Ranking.. Maybe my biggest achievement so far in FM.

I find this very very hard to believe. Taking Liechtenstein to the top in 10 years is really unlikely.

I've managed to get to the 2018 WC with Benin some time ago (FM 2011 or 2012). We failed miserably in the Group Stage (0 points, 0 goals). I found Benin an interesting challenge, with plenty of French-born players who were in their late 20s accepting the call-up (Tinhan from Montpellier, a French/Senegalese/Beninian whose name I can't remember, plus some other French-born regens).

Also, another country that has a lot of potential is Albania. A lot of good regens in Italy, Germany, Switzerland. If you're lucky enough, they won't be called up (the Swiss ones, cause Italian and Germans don't stand a chance) and after a while they'll accept playing for you.

[hashassin]

I have currently a youth only save with Vaduz, and I've also taken charge of Liechtenstein.

In the 2022 WC, I've found a way to qualify for the semis, unfortunately Brazil was too strong for us.

We are now 7th in the World Ranking.. Maybe my biggest achievement so far in FM.

wow... only way i can think of to get Liechtenstein to the WC semis is reloading...

[RenG]

@Jean-Luc

It's all possible by taking charge of Vaduz, a liechtensteiner club playing in the 2nd division of the swiss pyramid. IRL this club is one of the strongest team in the 2nd division, so it shouldn't be hard to gain promotion during the first season (It actually took me three season). Also, you have an automatic place for the Europa League every season so it helps financially. I've taken charge of Liechtenstein only in 2020 (after the retirement of the manager that took them to the 2nd round of the EC 2020) so I had almost 8 seasons to prepare my players to become able to perform in the nation stage.

Training, Tutoring, PPM learning (maybe the most important in my eyes), making sure that your facilities are updated at least once every 3 years (after 4-5 years, they get downgraded, so you'll lose more money updating them again to their ex-level and, of course, time) and having the perfect staff, not only in attributes, but also in personnality. For example, if you have a HOYD who is lowly ambitious, it will directly have an effect to your youth players coming through the youth intake, and with that kind of ambition, don't expect them to progress.

After that, there's two things that are of the upmost importance: giving your players a lot of playing time with the first team as soon as possible, and keeping their morale high (by winning games and by talking often to them). They will better progress if they're happy and if they have a lot of opportunities to show what they are capable of.

I'm the first one to be surprised by what I've achieved with Liechtenstein. But there's a few things to consider:

- For the same position and the same role, a player with PPMs and with lower CA but better attributes in the attributes needed for the role will perform better than a player with higher CA but no PPMs. That's why training correctly players is very important. All my players in the first XI (except the GK) have PPMs that are in perfect harmony with their position and role.

- There's the tactic, also. It has to take advantage of the strengths of your players and take in consideration their weaknesses. For instance, for all positions, my players are not the greatest in the league for work rate, teamwork and aggressivity. That's why I choose to stand off when it comes to pressing, because they won't be able to do that properly. The comparison panel in the report page of your squad is where you have to go to check these.

- And there's also luck. Luck of having talented players coming through your youth intake, luck of not having to much injuries hitting your most talented ones, and most importantly luck of the draw. In the 2022 WC, I had to play against Congo, Costa Rica and Belgium in the Group Stage. Honestly, it was easy to progress to the 2nd round. In that round, I played against Serbia (3-1 after extra time) and then France for the quarters (1-0 extra time too).

Talking about luck of the draw, in 2021 I've reached the final of the Europa League. But it wasn't a surprise since it was a highway until the semis: Rubin Razan (they are not that good anymore), Young Boys (we dispose of them on a regular basis in league games) and Heereveen (again, not impressive). In the semis, we got Basel, a club that's huge in the league, so that was the only challenge.. After that, it was Arsenal, so just out of our league. (lost on penalty shoot-out, 1-1 after having been hugely dominated for 120 minutes)

If you want to know more about how all of this works, I suggest you to read the following topics that have been useful for me for this save:

- Planning Ahead : The Deep-Lying Playmaker

- Ajax Youth Development: When The Real World Meets Football Manager

- FM 2013 A Simple Guide

There's also a lot more of these kind of helpful topics in the Training&Tactic Discussion topic.

Oh, one last thing: Someone else did almost the same with Liechtenstein and posted it on the career forum. It took him 10 more years to achieve something with this nation, but we have to take into account that he didn't started with Vaduz but with Ruggell, playing on the 5th (or 7th?) tier of the swiss pyramid. He reached the quarters of the 2032 EC and Liechtenstein was 25th on the World Ranking in 2031, without any participations in EC or WC before 2032. Here's the link.

@nyandoro Well, technically I still haven't taken Liechtenstein to the top, still a long way to go. And I believe it's more difficult with an african or an oceanian country, because of the lesser qualifying spots available. If, of course, you don't depend on double-nationals.

@hashassin I don't see the point of doing that. If I was doing that, I would have won it, not "only reached the semis".

[scooterSB]

I take my hat off to you RenG

[Super Bladesman]

@Jean-Luc

It's all possible by taking charge of Vaduz, a liechtensteiner club playing in the 2nd division of the swiss pyramid. IRL this club is one of the strongest team in the 2nd division, so it shouldn't be hard to gain promotion during the first season (It actually took me three season). Also, you have an automatic place for the Europa League every season so it helps financially. I've taken charge of Liechtenstein only in 2020 (after the retirement of the manager that took them to the 2nd round of the EC 2020) so I had almost 8 seasons to prepare my players to become able to perform in the nation stage.

Training, Tutoring, PPM learning (maybe the most important in my eyes), making sure that your facilities are updated at least once every 3 years (after 4-5 years, they get downgraded, so you'll lose more money updating them again to their ex-level and, of course, time) and having the perfect staff, not only in attributes, but also in personnality. For example, if you have a HOYD who is lowly ambitious, it will directly have an effect to your youth players coming through the youth intake, and with that kind of ambition, don't expect them to progress.

After that, there's two things that are of the upmost importance: giving your players a lot of playing time with the first team as soon as possible, and keeping their morale high (by winning games and by talking often to them). They will better progress if they're happy and if they have a lot of opportunities to show what they are capable of.

I'm the first one to be surprised by what I've achieved with Liechtenstein. But there's a few things to consider:

- For the same position and the same role, a player with PPMs and with lower CA but better attributes in the attributes needed for the role will perform better than a player with higher CA but no PPMs. That's why training correctly players is very important. All my players in the first XI (except the GK) have PPMs that are in perfect harmony with their position and role.

- There's the tactic, also. It has to take advantage of the strengths of your players and take in consideration their weaknesses. For instance, for all positions, my players are not the greatest in the league for work rate, teamwork and aggressivity. That's why I choose to stand off when it comes to pressing, because they won't be able to do that properly. The comparison panel in the report page of your squad is where you have to go to check these.

- And there's also luck. Luck of having talented players coming through your youth intake, luck of not having to much injuries hitting your most talented ones, and most importantly luck of the draw. In the 2022 WC, I had to play against Congo, Costa Rica and Belgium in the Group Stage. Honestly, it was easy to progress to the 2nd round. In that round, I played against Serbia (3-1 after extra time) and then France for the quarters (1-0 extra time too).

Talking about luck of the draw, in 2021 I've reached the final of the Europa League. But it wasn't a surprise since it was a highway until the semis: Rubin Razan (they are not that good anymore), Young Boys (we dispose of them on a regular basis in league games) and Heereveen (again, not impressive). In the semis, we got Basel, a club that's huge in the league, so that was the only challenge.. After that, it was Arsenal, so just out of our league. (lost on penalty shoot-out, 1-1 after having been hugely dominated for 120 minutes)

If you want to know more about how all of this works, I suggest you to read the following topics that have been useful for me for this save:

- Planning Ahead : The Deep-Lying Playmaker

- Ajax Youth Development: When The Real World Meets Football Manager

- FM 2013 A Simple Guide

There's also a lot more of these kind of helpful topics in the Training&Tactic Discussion topic.

Oh, one last thing: Someone else did almost the same with Liechtenstein and posted it on the career forum. It took him 10 more years to achieve something with this nation, but we have to take into account that he didn't started with Vaduz but with Ruggell, playing on the 5th (or 7th?) tier of the swiss pyramid. He reached the quarters of the 2032 EC and Liechtenstein was 25th on the World Ranking in 2031, without any participations in EC or WC before 2032. Here's the link.

@nyandoro Well, technically I still haven't taken Liechtenstein to the top, still a long way to go. And I believe it's more difficult with an african or an oceanian country, because of the lesser qualifying spots available. If, of course, you don't depend on double-nationals.

@hashassin I don't see the point of doing that. If I was doing that, I would have won it, not "only reached the semis".

Great work, and a cracking post too