FIFAe World Cup

The FIFAe World Cup, formerly the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) and the FIFA eWorld Cup, is an esports tournament held by FIFA and formerly by its presenting partner EA Sports.[1] Each tournament has players competing in games of the latest incarnation of the FIFA association football video game series. The open qualifying format allows millions to compete in the initial online stages,[2] which has resulted in the FIWC being recognized as the largest online esports game by Guinness World Records.[3][4]

FIFAe World Cup
Tournament information
GameFIFA
Established2004
Number of
tournaments
17
AdministratorFIFA
FormatOnline
Websitewww.fifa.com/fifaeworldcup/
Current champion
Netherlands Manuel Bachoore (ManuBachoore)
Most recent tournament
2023 FIFAe World Cup

The most recent champion is Manuel Bachoore from the Netherlands.

History

The inaugural FIWC took place in 2004 in Switzerland, over the years the tournament has grown significantly. In 2010, the FIWC first appeared in the Guinness World Records[3] – but it was not until 2013 that the competition saw the current record of more than 2.5 million players signing up.

On 1 October 2015, the FIWC 16 kicked off, marking the 12th edition of the tournament. For the first time in the history of the competition Xbox One and PlayStation 4 players competed against each other. With the integration of the new consoles the number of participants increased significantly, compared to previous years when the FIWC was only available on PlayStation 3. 2.3 million players attempted to qualify for the Grand Final in New York City. On 22 March 2016, Mohamad Al-Bacha from Denmark won the FIWC title in the Apollo Theater, beating Sean Allen from England in the final match.

In 2018, the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) was renamed to the FIFA eWorld Cup (FeWC). The 2018 Grand Finals was held between 2 August 2018 through 4 August 2018 in the O2 Arena in London, England. 32 finalists (16 on PlayStation 4 and 16 on Xbox One) competed in the group stage and round of 16 on 2 August 2018, with the second leg of the round of 16 and the quarterfinals taking place on 3 August 2018. The semi-finals and final took place on 4 August 2018.

In October 2020, the FIFA eWorld Cup was rebranded as the FIFAe World Cup as part of FIFA's launch of its FIFAe esports tournament series.[5]

Due to EA and FIFA not renewing their licensing agreement after FIFA 23, the 2023 FIFAe World Cup was the last edition involving EA's football video game series.[6] EA themselves announced a replacement tournament circuit known as EA Sports FC Pro to coincide with the series rebranding to EA Sports FC starting with EAFC 24, with its world championship to be known as the EA Sports FC Pro World Championship.[7]

Results
Year[8]DatesHost[9]Winner (Gamer ID) [Console Bracket]Finalist (Gamer ID) [Console Bracket]Score
2004 19 December Switzerland Zurich Brazil Thiago Carrico de Azevedo United States Matija Biljeskovic 2–1
2005 19 December England London England Chris Bullard Hungary Gábor Mokos 5–2
2006 9 December Netherlands Amsterdam Netherlands Andries Smit Austria Wolfgang Meier 6–4
2008 24 May Germany Berlin Spain Alfonso Ramos United States Michael Ribeiro 3–1
2009 2 May Spain Barcelona France Bruce Grannec Mexico Ruben Morales Zerecero 3–1
2010 1 May Serbia Nenad Stojkovic Germany Ayhan Altundag 2–1
2011 7–9 June United States Los Angeles Portugal Francisco Cruz (Quinzas) Colombia Javier Munoz (Janoz) 4–1
2012 21–23 May United Arab Emirates Dubai Spain Alfonso Ramos France Bruce Grannec 0–0 (4–3. Penalty shoot-out)
2013 6–8 May Spain Madrid France Bruce Grannec Mexico Andrei Torres Vivero 1–0
2014 2–3 July Brazil Rio de Janeiro Denmark August Rosenmeier (Agge) England David Bytheway (Davebtw) 3–1
2015 17–19 May Germany Munich Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz Alshehri (Mr D0ne) [PS4] France Julien Dassonville [Xbox One] 3–0
2016 20–22 March United States New York City Denmark Mohamad Al-Bacha (Bacha) [PS4][10] England Sean Allen (Dragonn) [Xbox One] 2–2, 3–3 (5–5 agg. Al-Bacha won on away goals)
2017 16–18 August England London England Spencer Ealing (Gorilla) [Xbox One] Germany Kai Wollin (Deto) [PS4] 3–3, 4–0 (7–3 agg.)
2018 2–3 August Saudi Arabia Mosaad Al Dossary (MsDossary) [Xbox One] Belgium Stefano Pinna (StefanoPinna) [PS4] 2–0, 2–0 (4–0 agg.)
2019 2–4 August Germany Mohammed Harkous (MoAuba) [PS4] Saudi Arabia Mosaad Aldossary (Msdossary) [Xbox One] 1–1, 2–1 (3–2 agg.)
2020
Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021
2022 14–17 July Denmark Copenhagen Germany Umut Gültekin (Umut) Argentina Nicolas Villalba (nicolas99fc) 0–0, 0–0 (0–0 agg. Umut won 5–4 on Penalty shoot-out)
2023 16–19 July Saudi Arabia Riyadh Netherlands Manuel Bachoore (ManuBachoore) Australia Mark Zakhary (Mark11) 2–2, 1–1 (3–3 agg. ManuBachoore won 5–4 on Penalty shoot-out)

Format

Online qualification

The FeWC online qualification takes place on PlayStation and Xbox Networks, and can be accessed through the latest version of EA Sports FIFA on Xbox One and PS4. The players qualify via the console playoffs where the top 16 players make it through to the eWorld Cup finals. Players can also qualify for the FeWC by competing in one of the FIFA Global Series tournaments throughout the season, with the top 16 at the last event automatically qualifying for the FeWC.

In the 2022 edition, games are only played on PlayStation 5 console. 128 players are selected for the FIFA Global Series Playoffs including 74 qualified via Regional Global Series Ranking and 54 qualified via Partner Leagues.

Grand Finals

32 players compete at the Grand Finals of the FeWC. The participants are divided into four groups (two for each console) with the top 16 players moving on to the knockout stage. While Group stage, Round of 16, Quarter-finals and Semi-finals are played on one console (Xbox One or PS4), the Final is a two-leg match with one game on each console. The Grand Final is a multi-day event with draw and competition being broken up into three days. The winner is crowned in a live show at the end of the event.

In the 2022 edition, games are only played on PlayStation 5 console. Before the 2022 edition, matches in Group Stage are two-leg match in a single round robin format; it was changed into single game double round robin from 2022 on.

World ranking

In 2016, the FIFA Interactive World Cup World Ranking was introduced to help seed the players in the tournament according to their previous results. The ranking takes into account both the qualification phase for the current edition and previous FeWC Grand Finals.

Prize fund
FIWC 15 winner Abdulaziz "Mr D0ne" al-Shehri

The FeWC 2018 champion received $250,000 in prize money and a ticket to the Best FIFA Awards where he has the chance to meet the greatest of the real football world. FIWC 2015 Champion Abdulaziz Alshehri from Saudi Arabia was able to meet Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi among many others, while 2016 champion Mohammad Al-Bacha talked to Marcelo Vieira and Manuel Neuer.

The runner-up of the 2018 FeWC Grand Final receives $50,000 in prize money.

The Champions of FIFAe World Cup 2023 receives $300,000 in prize money.

Broadcast

The FeWC Grand Finals is streamed live on YouTube and Twitch. For the first time, the Final Showdown of the FIWC16 was also broadcast on TV. The broadcast was shown in more than 100 countries around the world. Fox Sports 1 showed the Final live in the United States. The show was moderated by host Kay Murray. Former US footballer Alexi Lalas and Spencer Carmichael-Brown (Spencer FC) analyzed the matches, Leigh Smith and John Strong commentated the games. The trophy was handed over by former Spanish International David Villa.

See also

References
  1. FIFA.com
  2. "Fifae World Cup: Mosaad 'Msdossary' Aldossary wins 'dream' Grand Final". BBC Sport. 6 August 2018. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  3. Guinness World Records (3 July 2014). "Watch live: Gamers battle out to win at record-breaking FIFA Interactive World Cup". Guinnessworldrecords.com. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  4. "FIFAe | Your legacy awaits". Archived from the original on 17 October 2020.
  5. "FIFAe tournament season kicks off with new structure". FIFA. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  6. Arts, Electronic (8 May 2013). "EA & FIFA - Licensing Agreement Extended Until 2022". Electronic Arts Inc. Archived from the original on 6 September 2022. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
  7. "EA SPORTS FC™ 24 | Pitch Notes - Introducing EA SPORTS FC Pro". Electronic Arts. 4 August 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2023.
  8. "FIFA Interactive World Cup". FIFA. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  9. "FIFA Interactive World Cup 2015 - Destination". FIFA. Archived from the original on 28 August 2007. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  10. "FIFA Interactive World Cup: Mohamad Al-Bacha beats Sean Allen in final". Skysports.com.
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