If you’re a long-time fan of single-player football sims, you’ve probably typed the exact question “does eFootball 2024 have career mode” into Google after downloading the game or picking up a physical copy. For years, career mode has been the backbone of most football games, letting players build squads from scratch, develop young talent, and lead their favorite clubs to glory over dozens of seasons. Konami’s rebrand of the Pro Evolution Soccer series to eFootball left a lot of fans confused about which core features made the cut, especially when it comes to single-player content. This guide breaks down exactly what you can expect, what official modes work as career alternatives, and how to build a custom playthrough that fits exactly what you’re looking for.
Does eFootball 2024 Have Career Mode as an Official Game Mode?
The short answer is no, there is no officially labeled “career mode” in eFootball 2024, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get the full career mode experience from the game. Konami has not labeled any official game mode as “career mode” in eFootball 2024, but their long-running Master League mode hits almost all the same core beats that casual and hardcore career mode fans look for. I’ve had dozens of friends message me asking this exact question after switching over from EA Sports FC, so I get why the naming confusion throws people off right out the gate.
The main difference here is that Konami has focused all their single-player career development on the managerial side of the experience, rather than splitting resources between a managerial career and a player career. If you’re used to playing as a single custom player and progressing through their career from youth prospect to retirement, you won’t find an official dedicated mode for that, but we’ll cover how to build that experience yourself later in this guide.
Key Features of eFootball 2024’s Master League (The Closest Official Career Option)
Master League has been a staple of Konami’s football sims for decades, and the 2024 version of eFootball includes the most polished iteration of the mode we’ve seen in years. If you’re looking for a traditional managerial career mode experience, this will check almost every box on your list. The core features of Master League include:
One of the biggest upgrades to Master League in this version is the improved youth academy system, where you can scout teen players as young as 16 years old and develop them into world-class stars over 10+ seasons. I’ve spent 12 seasons with a low-tier League Two side in my current Master League playthrough, and the sense of progression when you get promoted to the Premier League for the first time feels just as rewarding as any traditional career mode I’ve tried in other football sims.
You don’t need to pay for premium DLC to access the base version of Master League, unlike some previous eFootball releases that locked core single-player content behind paywalls. The only paid add-ons for Master League are extra cosmetic items and licensed commentary packs, which don’t impact the actual gameplay or progression of your career.
How to Build a Custom Career Mode Playthrough in eFootball 2024
If you’re looking for a player career mode rather than a managerial one, you’ll have to do a little bit of extra setup, but it’s absolutely possible to build a fully immersive custom playthrough that feels just as polished as an official mode. The process is simple, and thousands of eFootball players share their custom career rules and setups online for inspiration.
First, head to the edit mode and create a custom player, setting their position, base attributes, age, and even personal backstory if you want extra immersion. Next, add that player to the club of your choice, and adjust your match settings to only control that single player during games, rather than the entire squad. You can adjust difficulty sliders to make your player’s progression feel realistic, so you don’t go from a bench warmer to a Ballon d’Or winner in just one season.
To make the experience feel even more authentic, add custom rules that you stick to for the entire playthrough. For example, you can set a rule that you can only request a transfer once every two seasons, or that you have to stay at your first club for at least three seasons before you can move to a bigger team. Many players use simple spreadsheets to track their player’s stats, transfer requests, and award wins to add extra layers of immersion that the game doesn’t track automatically.
I did a custom player career with a 17-year-old winger I added to my local non-league side last year, and tracking his journey from playing in front of 2,000 fans to starting in a World Cup final was way more fun than any pre-built player career mode I’ve tried in other games. You have way more control over the story of your career when you set the rules yourself, which is a huge upside to the custom playthrough approach.
Common Drawbacks to Note Before Starting Your eFootball 2024 Career
While eFootball 2024’s career options are solid, they’re not perfect, and there are a few drawbacks you should be aware of before you sink 50+ hours into a playthrough. Being aware of these issues upfront will help you decide if the game’s career options are right for what you’re looking for.
The base version of Master League only includes licensed teams from a handful of top leagues, so if you want to play with fully licensed squads from lower divisions or leagues outside of Europe, you’ll need to install community-made option files. These files are free and easy to install, but it’s an extra step you won’t have to take with some competing football sims.
There’s also a hard limit of 20 seasons per Master League playthrough, which is a bummer if you like running 30+ season careers where you manage multiple clubs across different countries. The press conference and player morale system is also a lot simpler than what you’ll find in other sims, so if you love the roleplaying side of career mode, you might find it a bit shallow compared to what you’re used to.
Some players also report occasional bugs with transfer negotiations, especially when trying to sign players from continental leagues outside of Europe. These bugs are rare, but they can be frustrating if you’re trying to pull off a big transfer to push your team over the edge in a title race.
At the end of the day, the answer to does eFootball 2024 have career mode depends on what you’re looking for from the experience. If you want a traditional managerial career mode, Master League delivers almost everything you could ask for, with plenty of customization and progression to keep you engaged for dozens of hours. If you want a player career mode, you’ll have to put in a little extra work to set up a custom playthrough, but it’s absolutely possible to get the same level of immersion if you’re willing to add your own rules and tracking systems. Try starting with a low-tier club for your first playthrough, so you can get used to the mechanics before you jump into managing a big team with high fan expectations.