Best Non-European Teams To Manage in Football Manager 2022 Groups

[David76]

One of the great things about Football Manager is the opportunity to manage teams from 52 different countries. Outside of Europe, there are plenty of clubs around the world that offer up an enticing challenge to tackle.

To aid you on your quest, you can also find how much of a transfer budget each team has, their wage budget, how difficult it will be to manage them and a bonus piece of information to help get the ball rolling.

Boca Juniors​

Transfer budget: £2.15 million
Wage budget: £27.59k a week
Difficulty rating: 1/5

Managing Football Manager favourite Cristian Pavon, trying to defend your league title and playing in the Copa Libertadores in your first season — those are three of Boca's main selling points. If you're looking for a relatively easy game save in a new league, the reigning Argentine champions are a strong place to start.

Top tip: Even though he's under contract until 2025, offer Cristian Medina a new contract to raise his wages. As the club's only five-star prospect, signing him to a new and improved deal will decrease the chance of him wanting to join a bigger club.

Guangzhou FC​

Transfer budget: £9.5 million
Wage budget: £7.97k a week
Difficulty rating: 1/5

Last year's Chinese Super League champions, Jiangsu, no longer exist, so no matter what, a new team will take the title in your first season in FM22. Guangzhou are best placed following a run of eight titles in nine years between 2010-2019 before Jiangsu ended their run.

Top tip: You can only use four foreign players in the starting XI, but Guangzhou only have one player on their books in Ricardo Goulart, giving room for manoeuvre in the transfer market.

Atlanta United​

Transfer budget: £13.3 million
Wage budget: £1.13m a week
Difficulty rating: 1/5

With an extraordinarily high wage budget of more than £1 million a week and a decent crop of players, Atlanta are well placed to win the MLS Cup in your first season. On top of that, you have a decent transfer kitty of over £13 million to sign reinforcements and a promising left-back in George Bello, who is rated as having five-star potential.

Top tip: Sign Josef Martinez and Esequiel Barco to new deals as a matter of priority, as they are two of your best players. They are often wanted by other clubs and are out of contract in 2022.

Palmeiras​

Transfer budget: £4.13 million
Wage budget: £20.68k a week
Difficulty rating: 1/5

Winners of the last Copa Libertadores, Palmeiras are one of the best teams in South America, but they haven't won a league title since 2018. Their squad has three players with five-star potential and three more with four-and-a-half-star potential, so they're well primed for a long period of dominance under the right manager.

Top tip: Play with three central midfielders to accommodate three of the club's best players in Gabriel Menino, Danilo and Patrick de Paula.

Melbourne City FC​

Transfer budget: £174,000
Wage budget: £19.3k a week
Difficulty rating: 2/5

Retaining the A-League title with Melbourne City appears to be a relatively straightforward task. You'll also get to play in the Asian Champions League, but hot on your heels are Sydney, the runners-up in 2020-21. City also has something of an ageing squad — the club's eight best players, according to FM22, are all aged 27 or older.

Top tip: To increase your transfer budget, look to sell Nathaniel Atkinson, whose contract expires in 2022 and begins most game saves already in demand from other A-League sides.

 

[David76]

Columbus Crew​

Transfer budget: £1.51 million
Wage budget: £55.16k a week
Difficulty rating: 2/5

The game considers Columbus Crew as the team most likely to reign supreme in the US during the 2021 season, but given that the last four MLS Cups have been won by four different teams, nothing is guaranteed. The squad has some decent young players to build around in Alexandru Matan, Milton Valenzuela and Aboubacar Keita, but you aren't given a lot of money to supplement their talent.

Top tip: Extend Darlington Nagbe's contract as soon as you can. His deal expires within a year but as one of the key cogs in last year's title-winning side and with a limited budget, he will be difficult to replace.

Beijing Guo'an​

Transfer budget: £8.19 million
Wage budget: £27.04k a week
Difficulty rating: 2/5

Beijing play in the Asian Champions League in your first season but don't have the best squad in the Chinese Super League. With a modest transfer budget, no five-star rated youth prospects and a top striker, Cedric Bakambu, out of contract soon, managing Beijing represents a chance to manage a solid side in need of some managerial magic.

Top tip: Former Tottenham midfielder Paulinho, Sebastian Giovinco and Maicon are three high-quality free transfers you can sign while staying within the quota of not having more than five foreign players registered in your squad.

Orlando Pirates​

Transfer budget: £747,000
Wage budget: £0
Difficulty rating: 2/5

Mamelodi Sundowns have won five of the last six titles in the top division in South Africa, with Orlando Pirates finishing third in the past two seasons. This is very much a case of can you turn a good team into a great one?

Top tip: Resist offers for Goodman Mosele, the club's best youngster but also a midfielder who can contribute to the first team straight away.

Velez​

Transfer budget: £0
Wage budget: £20.69k a week
Difficulty rating: 3/5

Velez begin the new season with entry into the Copa Libertadores and have one of the game's wonderkids in Thiago Almada. However, the squad needs a few additions to help contend with Boca Juniors and River Plate — a tough ask, considering you start with an empty transfer budget.

Top tip: Sign Almada to a new deal immediately. He is one of the best young players in FM22, but his contract expires in 2023. Sign him to a new one, keep him for a season then, if you need to, cash in on him in 2022 for a high fee.

Ulsan​

Transfer budget: £8.5 million
Wage budget: £9.38k a week
Difficulty rating: 3/5

Ulsan have finished runners-up in the K League more than any other side in the league's history. Jeonbuk have won the South Korean league title in six of the last seven seasons — they are the side you'll need to displace. But you'll need to build a squad capable of dethroning the reigning champions while trying to retain the Asian Champions League.

Top tip: It's harder to attract top names to South Korea, but the following players are available on free transfers and can make an immediate impact: Fernando (the 29-year-old former Brazil international), Kwadwo Asamoah and Ahmed Elmohamady.

 

[David76]

Tigres​

Transfer budget: £8.63 million
Wage budget: £0
Difficulty rating: 3/5

Mexican side Tigres side have World Cup winner Florian Thauvin on their books until 2026, as well former France international Andre-Pierre Gignac, who has scored more than 125 league goals for the club. The star quality is there, but they are a little too light elsewhere in the squad to make a genuine title challenge — that's where you come in.

Top tip: You may want to consider selling Carlos Gonzalez, a 28-year-old striker who will mostly occupy a back-up role behind Gignac, and look to sign a younger alternative with the extra funds he would generate.

Newell's Old Boys​

Transfer budget: £0
Wage budget: £0
Difficulty rating: 3/5

Lionel Messi is said to have expressed a desire to one day return to Newell's Old Boys, the Argentine side he played for as a teenager before moving to Barcelona. At the start of new saves in FM22, the club competes in the Copa Sudamericana, South America's equivalent of the Europa League, but aren't quite title contenders yet.

Top tip: If you don't like using a No 10, look to cash in on Juan Sforza, a highly-rated central attacking midfielder who could fetch you a healthy return.

Austin FC​

Transfer budget: £6.47 million
Wage budget: £218k a week
Difficulty rating: 4/5

Texas-based side Austin FC only joined MLS in 2021, which gives you something of a blank slate. There aren't many standout young players and they don't have any big names on their roster either. You do, however, have some money to work with.

Top tip: Here are some free agents that can improve your squad depth: Nigel de Jong, Fabio Coentrao and Henri Saivet. All three can be signed within your hefty wage budget while leaving you wiggle room to spend transfer fees on players from other clubs.

Union La Calera​

Transfer budget: £86.32k
Wage budget: £0
Difficulty rating: 4/5

Winning the Chilean First Division should be manageable for Union La Calera given they finished second last time around, even if Universidad Catolica have won the last three titles. The real challenge is building a squad capable of taking home arguably the most coveted prize in South American football, the Copa Libertadores.

Top tip: Some free agents worth targeting include Giovani dos Santos, Salomon Kalou and Emmanuel Adebayor. That said, you'll probably be only able to afford one of these players' wages without selling someone first.

Dorados de Sinaloa​

Transfer budget: £575k
Wage budget: £0
Difficulty rating: 4/5

Pep Guardiola finished his playing career with them and Diego Maradona was once their manager — but Dorados were only formed in 2003. They're among the favourites to get promoted to Mexico's top flight, Liga MX, a league that has seen six different winners in the past six seasons.

Top tip: Check out the following free agents if you want to boost your squad depth: Mitchel Oviedo, Jorge Ivan Estrada, Jose Fernando Cuadrado.

 

[David76]

Vasco da Gama​

Transfer budget: £0
Wage budget: £0
Difficulty rating: 4/5

Vasco are said to be the second-most supported club in Rio de Janeiro, even after relegation to Brazil's second tier — the club's fourth demotion in the past 13 years. Brazilian legend Romario scored more than 200 goals for the side and the club have a continental reputation in FM22, so the task is to restore a fallen giant back to glory.

Top tip: Resist the temptation to sell Bruno Gomes, the club's best young prospect who is often wanted by European sides at the start of most saves.

Barranquilla FC​

Transfer budget: £35.74k
Wage budget: £71 a week
Difficulty rating: 5/5

Barranquilla have never won promotion from Colombia's second division since forming in 2005. They are also the only club in the league to have a transfer policy that says you are only allowed to sign players aged 23 or under. Unearthing bargain young stars before bigger clubs swoop in will no doubt be a fun challenge to tackle.

Top tip: Colombia youth international Jaime Acosta offers better long-term potential than current starter Reynaldo Fontalvo, so look to sell Fontalvo to raise some extra funds.

Beijing Institute of Technology (BJ IT)​

Transfer budget: £0
Wage budget: £151 a week
Difficulty rating: 5/5

This team rose through the ranks in China, originally comprising entirely of students, but are no longer associated with the university. They are favourites for relegation, are the only semi-professional team in the Chinese First Division and have no transfer budget. If you get promoted to the Chinese Super League, you'll be up against sides with considerably more wealth and global status, making the journey to the top of the footballing pyramid in China a tough one.

Top tip: Here are some low-wage free transfers worth targeting who could compete for a first-team spot: Hou Shibo, Liu Xinlong, Hong Zhuchen.

Indian Arrows​

Transfer budget: £511k
Wage budget: £837 a week
Difficulty rating: 5/5

One of two semi-professional sides in India's I-League, the Arrows are favourites to finish bottom. The league itself doesn't feature a single player whose starting value is above £50,000 and you can often only attract players whose wages fall in the three-figure bracket.

Top tip: Every single first-team Arrows player is under the age of 21, so aim to sign some proven veterans to help bring in some experience.

RANS Cilegon​

Transfer budget: £0
Wage budget: £1.11k/week
Difficulty rating: 5/5

Residing in Group A of Indonesia's Liga 2 second tier, Cilegon have one of the league's smallest stadiums and poorly rated youth and training facilities in FM22. On top of that, your two best strikers have a combined age of 76 and you're not allowed to sign non-Indonesian players until you get promoted to the top flight.

Top tip: You should be able to get away with playing just two centre-backs rather than three — Cilegon's two best young prospects, Habel Boas Isir and Tegar Infantrie, are both central defenders.

 

[Mouth]

I always plan on doing a South American save but never follow through. This might get me to finally dive in. Great stuff!

 

[Legion]

I did an MLS one in FM21 and its incredibly tough with all the regulations regarding HGP and Salary Caps. Definitely rewarding if you get it right and would 100% recommend as a challenge away from the European leagues