The best countries and teams for Build-a-Nation saves in Football Manager

One of the most enjoyable long-term saves you can do on Football Manager is a ‘Build-a-Nation’ save.

This isn’t just about taking a club to the top—it’s about dragging an entire nation up with you. In reality, the top five European leagues are pretty much locked in place. But in Football Manager, with enough dedication, you can boost a league’s reputation and change the very power dynamics of European football.

I’ll explain how you can build up a nation in a future article (there are loads of ways ito do it). But first, which countries are best suited for the challenge? And which teams should you take on this monumental task with?

For some additional FM reading, you can also check out our list of best obscure wonderkids to sign or read about how to do a Moneyball save in the game.

The Perfect Nation To Do This With – Finland

Team to do it with: HJK

When you think of elite European clubs, Finland probably isn’t the first country that comes to mind. Even compared to its Scandinavian neighbors, it lags behind. The Finnish Premier League is currently ranked 41st in Europe—below Sky Bet League One. That tells you all you need to know about the standard of football.

And when it comes to European competition, it’s not much better. The last (and only) time a Finnish club reached the Champions League group stage was 1998.

So yeah, this isn’t going to be easy. But there’s some good news—HJK absolutely dominate domestically, winning 12 of the last 16 league titles. That means you don’t need to worry about turning a mid-table side into champions first. You can jump straight into the real challenge—building Finland into a force in European football.

The Easier Option – Portugal

Team to do it with: Braga

Maybe taking a tiny league from obscurity to Champions League glory sounds a bit too much. We don’t all have hundreds of hours to pour into the game each month.

If you want a more manageable challenge, Portugal is the best choice. It’s always on the fringes of being considered a ‘top five’ league but has never quite broken through. The country constantly produces elite players, and its best clubs are highly competitive in Europe.

The problem? Sporting CP, Benfica, and Porto have had a stranglehold on the league forever. That’s why you need to pick someone from outside the big three.

Braga is the perfect option. They’ve always been competitive but have never quite reached the top level—winning their first and only league title back in 1965/66. Your mission? Break the Big Three’s dominance and turn the Portuguese league into the best in the world.

The hard option – Gibraltar

Team to do it with: Lincoln Red Imps

Now we’re getting into masochist territory. If you’re up for an insanely difficult challenge, Gibraltar is for you.

The difficulties here are obvious:

• Tiny population → Virtually no homegrown talent
• Low league reputation → European success is a distant dream
• Limited resources → You won’t be signing wonderkids anytime soon

Honestly, if I hadn’t seen WorkTheSpace complete this challenge, I’d say it was impossible. (By the way, he’s currently trying it again with a new team—go check out his YouTube or Twitch if you want to see someone suffer.)

Now, you could try to make this even harder by picking a smaller team, but I’d strongly recommend Lincoln Red Imps. They’ve won the league 15 times in the last 17 seasons. That means you won’t have to waste years trying to take over domestically before focusing on Europe.

The Youth Option – Turkey

Team to do it with: Fenerbahce

Turkey is one of the weirdest nations in Football Manager. On one hand, the country produces world-class regens at an absurd rate. Their youth rating is higher than Belgium, Mexico, Denmark, and Norway.

On the other hand… their clubs have terrible youth academies. Not a single Turkish club appears on lists of the world’s best youth academies. For context, Jamaica has two.

You can see the impact of this in real life. Turkey constantly produces top talents, but they almost always leave for Europe’s bigger leagues.

This is the perfect challenge if you love developing youth players. The goal is simple—take a Turkish club, upgrade their youth facilities, and actually keep their best young stars in Turkey.

I’d suggest Fenerbahce because they haven’t won the league since 2013/14, but honestly, you could pick any club and still have a great challenge.

The International Team Option – Croatia

Team to do it with: Dinamo

A Build-a-Nation save doesn’t just have to be about increasing the league’s reputation. It can also be about improving the country’s performance on the international stage.

Croatia is the perfect place to do both at the same time.

The national team has been incredibly competitive in recent years. But despite two deep World Cup runs, they still haven’t won a major international trophy. Your mission? Get the Croatian First League into the top 20 leagues in Europe and help Croatia win their first international trophy.

The best club for this? Dinamo. They’re already dominant domestically, so your focus will be building up the league and feeding talent to the national team.

Final Thoughts

So, there you have it—some of the best countries for a Build-a-Nation save in Football Manager. If none of these options sound appealing, don’t worry—there are plenty of alternatives. But these are my favourites.

Think I’ve missed an obvious one? Which country would you pick? Let me know in the comments!