Help and common questions

Start with the screen and the role

Many apparent problems come from being in a different role, game mode or competition than expected. Before changing settings, check the current edition, career or Quick Game session, active human profile, selected team and input device.

A connected pad is not automatically assigned. A manager is not automatically a playable footballer. A player's potential is not his current ability. A saved career is not updated by editing a team database. These distinctions explain many early surprises.

The match plays itself or the wrong person moves

Open the team's Squad and tactics or the relevant person's control settings. Assign the intended keyboard or controller and read the control summary when you return. If you are controlling one footballer, he must actually be on the pitch for his movement input to affect play.

Check whether the same device is assigned to a whole team and an individual. Resolve the assignment conflict. A participant on the bench, substituted or sent off is not another outfield player you can move by pressing a button.

If a controller is recognised but the actions are unexpected, inspect the game's remapping and any Steam Input layout. Read the prompts rather than using a Classic one-button guide. See Controls and assignment.

My footballer is not starting

In a career, the manager chooses the team. Ability, positional suitability, fitness, form, competition eligibility and the squad around you all matter. Potential describes development possibilities, not a guaranteed place. Check the line-up, injury and suspension information, then use the offered watch or substitution-entry choice.

In Quick Game, check CPU managers always select human footballers. It prioritises eligible people, but does not remove an existing injury or suspension and does not overrule a human manager. More than eleven people cannot start for the same side. See Quick Game player rules.

A place in a club's starting eleven does not automatically give you a place in the national team. Those selections and competitions have their own requirements.

Passes, shots or substitutions do something unexpected

Read the action and modifier tables. The action you press, how long you hold it, whether the ball is at your feet and whether you control a team or one footballer all affect the result. Stick direction and aiming mode also matter. Learn a short pass and an ordinary shot before adding loft, aftertouch and special actions.

A substitution request waits for a suitable stoppage. Pressing the request again can cancel it. You also need management authority for that side. Being a plain player with a controller does not grant the right to select substitutes. The bench, used changes, dismissed players and a shoot-out can limit the available choices.

For a replay, use the replay controls rather than live-match assumptions. The camera's backward-looking view can also make screen directions feel unfamiliar. Open the camera settings and choose a comfortable preset.

An offer, youth promotion or club move will not complete

Read the whole offer and inspect its role, wage, duration and other terms. A transfer involves both clubs and the player. A player's value is not necessarily the fee the seller accepts, and sufficient money for a fee does not mean every contract is affordable.

Check transfer windows and the player's availability or loan situation. A youth player needs a first professional contract to join the senior squad. A player-manager offer may cover a playing role, a coaching role or both. Do not assume that accepting a playing contract also appoints you manager.

For a detailed walkthrough, use Transfers and contracts, Training and youth or Manager careers.

A team, player or custom world is missing

Check the current country, division, name and position filters. For Quick Tournaments, only participating teams are offered. National teams and clubs are different lists. A player may be on loan, in the youth squad or outside the selected football world.

For a custom database, confirm that the package appears under Select database, that the relevant league files were selected, and that import warnings were accepted when appropriate. A folder full of team files still needs usable league and competition definitions.

When editing data, save the package and start a new game from it to see changes that define the starting world. Your existing career keeps its own football history. See Team Editor and Custom football worlds.

If importing stops, read the stated cause and the report location when one is supplied. Keep the original package. Correct the described issue or return to a known working world. Do not remove unrelated graphics, language or audio folders to repair a league package.

The game pauses while calculating, or the match is slow

Career calculations, loading and saving can take longer as the world and its history grow. The database screen's speed estimate concerns the selected world per matchday. A large save and a full physical match are additional work. Wait for the current operation and watch its progress display.

For a new career, select fewer leagues to reduce world processing. For rendering problems, lower graphics detail, antialiasing or display resolution in Options. These choices change different demands on the computer.

Close unnecessary applications if a memory warning appears. Free disk space and check drive availability if saving becomes unreliable. If a failure message says an operation did not finish, return to a usable menu and preserve the current career with a successful manual save before exiting.

A very high frame rate setting does not make the football world smaller. Avoid changing advanced ball or gameplay settings as a remedy for slow rendering.

A save, replay or exported video seems to be missing

Check the location displayed in Options → Storage folder and the Previous folders choices. Changing storage affects new files. It does not move the files already written elsewhere.

Career saves, quick tournaments, replay files and videos serve different purposes. Use Load game for saves and View replays for replay files. An exported WebM is a video to open or share outside the game. It is not loaded as a career or replay.

After a launcher or Steam shortcut change, verify which installation and user environment now runs. A new environment can use another personal folder. See Saving and storage and Replays and video.

Capture a screenshot or report a problem

Use your operating system's screenshot tool to capture the normal 2026 match or menu. For example, Windows offers the Snipping Tool. The Classic manual's F12 snapshot instruction should not be relied on for the current live 3D match.

For a football incident, save the recent action as a replay while it is still available. A replay lets another person inspect the moment more usefully than a description alone. For an off-pitch issue, keep a copy of the career or custom database that shows it.

Include the game version, platform, the menu or action you used, what you expected, what happened, and whether it repeats. Attach the displayed error or support reference and the logs specifically requested by the game's message. State your role, team and competition where they matter. Use the product's support channel for files and keep product keys and passwords out of public reports.

Which instructions still belong to Classic?

The 2026 edition retains many familiar football concepts, but has dedicated pass, through-ball, cross and shot actions, freely directed movement, a different camera, expanded career departments, modern storage choices, a graphical Team Editor and a separate Quick Tournament flow.

Use this manual's chapters as a complete guide to the current edition. Classic's one-button shooting rules, fixed control layout and older menu or folder descriptions do not override the current controls and prompts. Competition names, squads and starting years may also differ between databases and saved careers.