Can you play Football Manager on iPhone? Yes, two ways for FM27

You can, and it’s the newest option. Apple says Football Manager 27 Touch is available on Apple Arcade starting November 10, and it arrives as an update to the existing Touch app rather than a brand new download, so anyone who already had last year’s Arcade version installed should see it appear through the App Store.

Apple lists three main changes for this year’s Touch edition:

• A reworked match engine that gives you more ways to influence what happens during a game.
• Fresh scouting and preparation tools, with new Recruitment and Match Preparation screens meant to make signing players and setting up game plans easier to learn.
• An iPhone layout built for one hand, redesigned so the main controls stay where your thumb can reach them.

Like everything on the service, the game has no ads and no in-app purchases. You pay the subscription and that’s it, with no extra charges for player packs or boosts.

Apple Arcade costs $6.99 a month in the US and comes with a one-month free trial. Apple hasn’t given UK or Canadian prices in its announcement, so check the App Store in your country before you sign up.

There are a few ways to pay less or nothing at all for a while:

• New device offer: buying a new iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple TV gets new subscribers three months of Arcade free. The offer has to be used within three months of setting up the device, and it renews automatically afterward unless you cancel.
• Apple One bundles: Arcade is included in Apple One Individual ($21.95), Family ($27.95) and Premier ($39.95) in the US, which also come with a one-month trial.
• Family Sharing: one Arcade subscription covers up to six people in a Family Sharing group, so a whole household can run separate careers for the price of one.

For context, the service now has more than 200 games, and Apple is pairing the Football Manager launch with a broader sports lineup that already includes Arcade editions of big basketball, American football and golf series.

The other way to play on iPhone is through Netflix. Football Manager 27 Mobile is exclusive to Netflix members on iOS and Android, and it launched on November 10 alongside the PC and console versions. It costs nothing on top of a Netflix plan, and like the Arcade game it has no ads or in-app purchases.

You still download it from the App Store, but you sign in with your Netflix account before you can start a career. This is the third Football Manager game on Netflix, after the 2024 edition (which arrived in November 2023) and Football Manager 2026, which joined the service in November 2025. A planned 2025 edition was delayed and then canceled, so the 2024 game stayed on Netflix much longer than intended.

Sports Interactive’s highlights for this year’s Mobile edition include:

• Expected Goals (xG) stats for the first time, plus deeper match-day numbers to help you decide whether to switch tactics.
• A faster 2D match engine.
• Better visibility of player morale and dressing-room relationships.
• Staff who suggest moves on injuries and tactics, while you keep the final say.
• A tracker for how supporters feel about you as your career goes on.
• New training options aimed at players’ traits and preferred moves.
• Vibration feedback and extra accessibility settings.

Sports Interactive has said careers from last year’s Mobile game could carry into later Mobile editions, though it isn’t yet clear how that works in practice. Whether FM26 Mobile stays on Netflix now that the new one is out also hasn’t been confirmed.

The simplest answer is to follow the subscription you already pay for. If your household has Netflix, FM27 Mobile costs you nothing extra and is the quicker way in. If you already have Apple Arcade or an Apple One plan, Touch is waiting for you.

If you’re paying for neither, think about how you play. The Netflix edition is described as the faster, more streamlined take on the series. For Touch, Apple’s pitch centers on control: the new scouting and preparation tools, plus more ways to shape a match while it’s being played.

There’s also the device question. Apple says its own Arcade Originals run on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV and Apple Vision Pro, while titles it labels App Store Greats work on iPhone, iPad and Vision Pro only. Apple’s announcement doesn’t say which group Football Manager 27 Touch belongs to, so check the game’s App Store page if you hope to continue a save on a Mac or your TV. The Netflix edition, by contrast, is phone and tablet only for now, because Netflix’s cloud gaming service doesn’t carry the full PC or console game.

Neither phone edition is the full Football Manager 27 experience. The PC and console versions get the bigger match-day upgrades, such as livelier crowds, changing weather, the sun moving across the sky during a game and pitches that change with the seasons. The Mobile edition doesn’t get those, and Apple’s Touch description focuses on tactics and menus rather than visuals.

If you want the complete game, it’s on Steam, the Epic Games Store and the Xbox PC app, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscribers get it at no extra cost. Console players can buy FM27 Console on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

Football Manager is only the start of Apple’s holiday push. On Thursday, December 3, four more games join the service: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown+, which includes all of its downloadable content; Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted, with new levels plus local co-op and head-to-head play on one device; solitaire(ish), a roguelike card game from Playstack, the publisher of Balatro; and LEGO DUPLO Playtime, a gentle building game for young children.