The Football Manager Pentagon Challenge is one of the most well-known but hardest challenges to complete on the Football Manager game. As such, we have picked a selection of teams to try out to complete the challenge in FM25 ahead of the new 2024/25 season.
With travel banned for lots of countries and many people working from home or on furlough, an in-depth, truly challenging, and time-consuming save is just what the doctor ordered for fans of FM24. During this save you will travel to all of the five playable continents in FM25 and get to manage clubs you have perhaps never heard of and players you have never managed before.
You might think this challenge sounds simple enough, but there are a strict set of rules you must adhere to and they make this challenge was of the toughest in FM history.
Aim
To win the top five continental trophies in the five playable continents available in Football Manager 2024, Asia, Africa, Europe, South America and North America. These trophies we are alluding to are:
- Asian Champions League (AFC)
- African Champions League (CAF)
- European Champions League (UCL)
- South American Champions League (CL)
- North American Champions League (CONCACAF)
Rules
There are a number of rules that make this challenge what it is, challenging!
- All trophies must be won during one single save
- You have to start unemployed
- You have to start without any coaching badges
- You have to start with the lowest previous experience (Sunday League rep)
- You cannot manage national teams
You must also disable the in-game editor to avoid the temptation to help yourself out during the early stages of this challenge, which can be a bit of a grind.
You should click attribute masking on in order to make it harder to sign players without scouting them to reveal their actual stats. This makes things time consuming and for me personally, you do not have to do this as the challenge is hard enough even without hiding the player's attributes, but if you are a purist then you be prepared to scout all your potential signings.
Database
In order to complete the Pentagon Challenge, you will need to manage in all five playable continents in FM25 but do not have to load up al, of the necessary leagues initially. Most players start out in Asia or Africa, so try loading up all of the available Asian leagues and the one and only African league, which is South Africa. Loading up a large database makes the most sense as you will want as many players available as possible when you are starting out in one of the lower leagues.
Starting unemployed, you will want to go on holiday with the instruction to apply for all available club jobs and wait to see who offers you an interview. Once you get your first offer the challenge starts, but you will probably have to work your way to a top division job before you can attempt to win your first Champions League trophy. Once you win your first Champions League you need to try to move to another continent and do the same again. Keep adding and removing leagues when you have secured one of the Champions Leagues and want to move to another continent.
Tips
This challenge is extremely tough, even for the most hardcore of FM players, so we are bringing you a few tips to help you out along the way. These are just tips and not cheats, the idea of this challenge is to get your skills as an FM player and there is no point in trying this challenge if you intend to cheat.
- Assign all of your initial manager stats to the ‘Adaptability' skill as this will increase your chances of being offered a job in a foreign country.
- Check out the league rules before you sign foreign players. Many leagues are limited to the number of foreign players you can register or included in your matchday squad. It is always a good idea to use youth players to ensure you fill all of your quotas and don't get caught out when it comes to registration day.
- Fix the names and colours of the Brazilian clubs. This one is more about keeping the game immersive as there is nothing worse than taking over a well-known club only to see the colours are not right and neither is their actual name. You can download a real name fix online and it is easy to apply.
- Research Sugar Daddy clubs. Make a list of all the sugar daddy clubs and try to manage one of them if the opportunity arises. There are three types of sugar daddy owners/chairman in FM24, Front End/Foreground, Backend/Background and Underwriter/Expects Returns. A front end/foreground sugar daddy will throw lots of money into all areas, these are the best to have. A backend/background sugar daddy often puts money into training facilities and helps your club grow. The underwriter/expects return sugar daddy is the most common. They wipe out debts and will improve the financial stability of the club but they will want to see results in the future.
- Starting in your home nation will aid with your development via coaching badges and will be easier to manage as you will have some prior knowledge of the clubs. You could try making yourself Chinese or South African to help to get a job in a pacific continent that you want to start in, but this is will only provide a short-term benefit and it will all be about your coaching badges and the trophies you win from then on.
FM 25 Pentagon Challenge – Teams to try
Europe – Girona or Aston Villa
It is tempting to manage the prestigious defending UCL holders Real Madrid or the formidable Manchester City in Europe, but we would recommend picking Girona or Aston Villa instead. Indeed, they are both making their debuts in the new UCL format, and boast some exciting young players that can be nurtured in your FM save, and with enough financial backing to eventually help win them the UCL.
South America – Penarol or Nacional
Both Penarol and Nacional from Uruguay are amongst the top five most trophy-winning teams in the world, but there has been no Uruguayan Copa Libertadores winner since 1988! Try to restore one of these teams to their former glories, including winning the coveted Copa Libertadores.
North America – Inter Miami
Picking Inter Miami would give the great Lionel Messi one final opportunity to win the Champions League on two different continents. Players will also have the chance to manage the club's new signings in the FM25 game, including Messi's former FC Barcelona teammate Luis Suarez.
Asia – Al Nassr
Similar to Messi, picking Al Nassr in Asia would also give the opportunity for Cristiano Ronaldo to win the Champions League on two different continents. The Portuguese striker is 39 years of age now, so you would have to be quick before he announces his potential retirement in the game.
Africa – Kaizer Chiefs
South African team Kaizer Chiefs got to their first-ever CAF Champions League final in 2021, but unfortunately lost 3-0 to Al Ahly. FM25 would provide you with the perfect chance to get revenge, although it should be noted that you may need a patch from the internet to get African leagues and the CAF CL in the game.
