FC Nantes on FM26 - Save the Beautiful Nantes Way
RELEGATED to Ligue 2 for 2026-27. 23 points in Ligue 1 2025-26. Halilhodžić (74) couldn't reverse the tide. 8 league titles, inventors of the 'jeu à la nantaise', 2022 Coupe de France — and yet les Canaris have hit rock bottom. La Beaujoire (38,128 seats) is weeping. You can CHANGE EVERYTHING.
Why choose Nantes?
Because beautiful football still lives somewhere in your collective memory, and its address is La Beaujoire. FC Nantes is above all THE JEU À LA NANTAISE — invented in the 1970s-80s by Jean-Claude Suaudeau and Raynald Denoueix: short passes, rapid triangulations, collective excellence above all else. A style that influenced ALL of French football philosophy and, indirectly, the Spanish tiki-taka via coaches trained in this school. 8 French league titles, 2022 Coupe de France (against Nice!), Marcel Desailly, Claude Makélélé, Didier Deschamps — ALL DEVELOPED at Nantes. And now? The fall: RELEGATED to Ligue 2 for 2026-27, only 23 points in 2025-26, Halilhodžić (74) powerless. The Stade de la Beaujoire-Louis Fonteneau (38,128 seats) experiences its 3rd relegation in history. In FM26, you take a club with ONE OF THE RICHEST TROPHY CABINETS IN FRANCE — with the obligation to come straight back up.
The academy: the Nantes secret weapon
Desailly, Makélélé, Deschamps — all from the youth ranks. La Jonelière remains one of the best academies in France. In FM26, this is your PRIORITY: develop the youngsters, bet on homegrown talent, rebuild the Nantes identity around collective work and short passing.
Tactics: resurrect the jeu à la nantaise
The 'jeu à la nantaise': 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 with short possession, constant triangulations, organized collective pressing. Against the more direct football of Ligue 2, this style can be DEVASTATING if well executed. In FM26, instill this passing game as your identity — victories will come with collective mastery.
Objectives: promotion first
Absolute priority season 1: RETURN TO LIGUE 1. Then: consolidation in the top flight. Long term: reconnect with European football and the legendary Nantes style of the 90s.
Nantes is A PHILOSOPHY OF FOOTBALL. Short passing, triangulations, the beauty of the collective. In FM26, resurrecting this tradition and proving that BEAUTIFUL FOOTBALL can still win — that's the mission. Allez les Canaris!