🌎 Season 20: The Summer of Football

2026 has been a really solid year for Footium so far, and Season 20 caps off the first half of it. We're heading into our 20th competitive season in a really great place. Transfer market volume keeps climbing, rewards in the FFL have grown steadily season on season and we've had 1,000+ F2P users try Footium for three seasons running.

A lot of that has come from the focus we've put into onboarding and growth this year, and we're really starting to see it pay off. The new caretaker sign-up flow, milestones and a smoother path into the game have all helped bring more managers in and keep them around, with active club owners up over 20% since the start of the year.

It hasn't all been onboarding either. FC and stadium progression were huge additions to the core game this year, the kind of thing everyone got stuck into no matter how long they've been playing, and alongside the first full UI overhaul since launch, we’ve laid the groundwork for a lot of what's coming next.

With Season 20, there's a new permanent player border to mark the occasion, being able to purchase Academy Players/Free agents with card/applepay, the rollout of Live Match V2, a rework of rewards claiming, and another round of Milestone and onboarding improvements to keep bringing new managers in.

It also lands at the perfect time, right as the World Cup takes over football this summer, so expect plenty of community competitions, themed content and hype running alongside the season too.

Let's get into it.

📅 Season 20 Dates

Pre-Season Begins: 10th June, 2026

First Matches Kick Off: 16th June, 2026

⚡ TL;DR – Season 20

• 🎨 Season 20 Player Borders: A permanent commemorative border on every player generated this season, with colours pulled from the flags of every nation to have won the World Cup.
• 💳 Card & Apple Pay Payments: Buy academy talent and free agents directly with a card or Apple Pay.
• ⚽️ Live Match V2: The first step towards the future of live matches, featuring a cleaner layout, improved readability and a more polished matchday experience.
• 💰 FC Reward Claiming: FC rewards now come through a proper in-game claim flow, so you can see exactly what you're getting and why, with a cleaner UI.
• 🏆 Expanded Milestones & Objectives: More onboarding milestones, which double as mid-term objectives, giving new managers more to learn and chase through the season.
• 💸 Season-Long Discount: The full Club + 20 Player Bundle at $64.99 all season, a Footium first to celebrate the summer of international football!
• ☀️ The Summer of Football: A huge celebration, with a season long discount, a Fantasy World Cup league, daily prediction games, 3M+ FC in giveaways & more.
• 🔍 SquadScoutPro Update: The community scouting tool adds Estimated Market Value, making it far easier to price players on the market.
• 🌎 New Nation:Bosnia and Herzegovina joins us for Season 20!
• 🔥 Auctions Return: Top-potential Legends plus Bronze, Silver and Gold reward players, following the expanded Season 19 format.
• 🔧 General Polish & Stability: A big round of bug fixes and quality-of-life improvements across the game.

☀️ The Summer of Football

Season 20 is our 20th season, and it lands right in the middle of a World Cup summer. So we're bringing the two together for our biggest community celebration yet: the Summer of Football.

To mark the 20th, every player generated this season carries a permanent commemorative border, with colours pulled from the flags of every nation to have lifted the World Cup, all eight of them. The last time we did a border like this was the holo outline back in Season 10, so it felt right to bring it back for another landmark season. It's a one-off for the milestone, and any player scouted this season wears it for life across the game and the market. A badge of honour, and a sign you were here for the 20th live season!

Around that, we've built a full summer of cheaper access for new users, boosted referrals and a month of World Cup games and giveaways. Here's everything running:

💸 Season-Long Discount

For the first time ever, we're running the discount all season long, not just a short window. The full Club + 20 Player Bundle is $64.99 for the entire season, with even more bonuses if you come in through a referral. There's never been a cheaper or better time to get a full club and get stuck in.

🎁 Boosted Referrals

Referrals get a boost for the Summer of Football. Refer 2 or more genuine new managers this season and you'll earn an experienced Gold player, on top of all the usual referral rewards.

Here's how it stacks up:

• Per referral you get: 20% USDC cashback on their purchase, 200,000 FC, and progress along the milestone ladder
• 2+ referrals this season: an experienced Gold player
• Your mate gets: 5 Common Players, 2 Bronze Players, 100,000 FC and 5 Coaching Sessions

With the football on and bundles cheaper than ever, there's no better time to get your mates into Footium.

🌍 Footium Fantasy World Cup League

Our Fantasy World Cup league is live. If the Footium FPL community league is anything to go by, the standard is going to be ridiculously high. Prizes on the line:

• 1st: Any World Cup Kit + Rare Player
• 2nd: Silver Player + 1,000,000 FC
• 3rd: 20 Coaching Sessions + 500,000 FC

Join here: https://play.fifa.com/fantasy/join-league/B24C1N9T

🔮 Daily World Cup Prediction Games

We're giving away 3 million+ FC across the tournament with a prediction game every day in Discord. Each day, predict the full-time score and the minute of the first goal for that day's match. The closest prediction wins 100,000 FC.

If a match finishes 0-0, no prize is awarded and the rewards roll over to the next day's prediction game, meaning even bigger prizes can be up for grabs. A new prediction game will be posted every day throughout the tournament. All you need to do is jump into Discord and drop your prediction.

💳 Sign Players With Card or Apple Pay

We've integrated card payments further into the game, so you can now buy academy talent and free agents directly with a card or Apple Pay.

It's another major step in making Footium easier to pick up for the millions of football fans who want to jump straight into building and managing their own club. Previously, card payments were only available when purchasing your first club. For Season 20, we're expanding that experience, giving managers a faster and more convenient way to strengthen their squads.

Whether you're searching for your next academy prospect or adding depth through the free agent market, building your team is now easier than ever.

⚽️ Live Match V2

Live Match V2 continues its rollout in Season 20. This is the next generation of the live match experience, rebuilt to be cleaner, faster and more reliable as more managers pile into matchdays.

What's changed:

• A reordered tab layout so the flow during a match makes more sense
• Smoother, more accurate live event timings
• Formation and substitution changes now display properly in-match
• A more responsive tactics view across screen sizes

Most of the heavy lifting here is under the bonnet, but you'll feel it on matchday.

A lot of this work is being driven by the growth we're seeing across Footium. As more managers join the game and matchdays continue to get busier, we've been a lot of time & effort in the systems that power live matches behind the scenes.

While many of the improvements in Live Match V2 are focused on delivering a cleaner and more reliable experience today, the rebuild also gives us significantly more room to scale in the future. Features such as home game time selection, cup competitions and other matchday improvements are no longer held back by live match capacity constraints in the same way they were before.

This is an important step not just for Season 20, but for where we want to take the game over the coming seasons. As always, we're keen to hear your feedback as we continue to improve the matchday experience.

💰 FC Reward Claiming

Up to now we've been manually dropping FC rewards to managers during the season rollover. For Season 20, that moves into a proper claim flow alongside your cash rewards in the game. You'll now see exactly how much FC you're claiming, and we've tidied up the UI around it so the whole thing is cleaner and easier to follow.

🏆 Expanded Milestones & Objectives

Milestones launched as a more interactive way for new managers to learn Footium, dropping them into real scenarios instead of asking them to read a guide. They've been a big part of our onboarding push, and for Season 20 we're expanding them again.

There are more Milestones this season, guiding managers through more of the core systems earlier and building confidence faster. They also double up as your mid-term objectives, so there's more to aim for through the middle of the season rather than just the start and the run-in.

The long-term goal stays the same:

• Reduce onboarding friction
• Help new managers understand Footium faster
• Build confidence early
• Smooth the path from caretaker to full club owner

🔍 SquadScoutPro: Estimated Market Value

SquadScoutPro, the community-built scouting tool from OG community member Joe, has shipped a really useful update for anyone buying and selling on the market: Estimated Market Value (MV).

What's new:

• MV card on every player page: An estimated value based on comparable sales from the last 30 days, matched on exact position, age, rating and max rating. It shows a price range, the number of comps and a confidence level (high, low or insufficient).
• See the comps: Expand the card to view the actual comparable sales from the last 30 days, plus similar players currently listed on OpenSea.
• Sortable Est. MV column on /players: Ballpark scouting at a glance. It only shows where a value can be given, with a minimum of three similar sales in the last 30 days.
• Daily updates: MV refreshes every day on the overnight player sync.
• Display currency picker in /settings: Choose ETH, GBP, USD or AUD. League prizes, listings and MV all follow your choice, with rates refreshing hourly.

If you've ever stared at a player with no idea how to price them, this makes it a lot easier.

One thing to keep in mind: MV is an estimate, not a fixed price, so always use your own judgement, especially when comp counts are low. It's not financial advice.

👉 Check it out: https://www.squadscout.pro

👉 Follow on X: https://x.com/squadscoutpro

🌎 New Nation Joins Footium

The votes are in and Bosnia and Herzegovina has been chosen as the latest nation to join Footium as part of our World Cup 2026 themed nation expansion.

Throughout Season 20, you'll start seeing new Bosnian players emerging from academies and appearing on the transfer market, giving managers even more talent to discover and develop.

🔥 Extended Player Auctions Return

As always, Legendary Auctions return during pre-season. These are the highest-potential players in Footium, with 95-99 potential, and they don't enter the game anywhere else. One of these can shape your club for seasons to come.

Season 20 auctions follow the expanded format we introduced in Season 19, so alongside the Legends each batch also includes Bronze, Silver and Gold reward players. That keeps the top-end Legends as special as ever while giving more managers a way to get involved across different budget levels.

Auction Format:

• 24-hour auctions with full-day bidding windows
• 5-minute extensions on last-minute bids
• No bid removals, what you bid is what you pay
• Earn rewards when outbid, even if you don't win you still earn

Season 20 Auction Schedule

🔥 Batch 1 – Thursday 11 June (12pm BST) – Friday 12 June (12pm BST)

🔥 Batch 2 – Friday 12 June (5pm BST) – Saturday 13 June (5pm BST)

🔥 Batch 3 – Saturday 13 June (3pm BST) – Sunday 14 June (3pm BST)

🔧 Bug Fixes & Improvements

We've shipped a lot over recent seasons, so Season 20 also includes a big round of fixes and polish. A few of the highlights:

• Fixed several issues on the new user demo match page
• Fixed the wallet balance display
• Added a loading indicator and connection throttle so the game loads more reliably on first connection
• Fixed inconsistent values showing on the reward claim modal
• Fixed tactics page sizing and responsiveness
• Improved marketplace pagination
• Caretaker social league syncing
• Club coin reward distribution fixes
• Fixed issues with the tactics page pushing over the edge on mobile when players are suspended/injured

Massive thanks to everyone in Discord & elsewhere who's been reporting issues and sharing feedback!

🚀 Here we go

2026 has been a great year for Footium so far and we're nowhere near done. Alongside the scaling and onboarding work, there's a lot cooking behind the scenes that we're genuinely excited about, from bigger plans built on top of the FC system to match engine improvements, which we've now started scoping out as a team. More on all of that soon 👀

Thank you for playing, sharing feedback and shaping Footium alongside us. Here's to the 20th. We'll see you in pre-season.

Forza Footium ⚽️