On Thursday 2nd August 32 pro FIFA 18 players will march into a three day battle at the FIFA eWorld Cup Finals to be crowned the best in the world.The winner of the tournament, which takes place at the O2 Arena in London, will also bring home $250,000 in prize money and tickets to The Best FIFA Football Awards.But it’s not just the big arena and the stack of cash that looks set to make this the biggest FIFA esports tournament yet. There will also be a host of FIFA YouTubers and streamers in attendance, a celebrity 2v2 match and Arsenal star Mesut Ozil as brand ambassador.But how did the 32 make it here, what’s the schedule and what should you expect to see from the planet’s top FIFA esports stars?GiveMeSport have you covered. Here’s your guide with everything you need to know ahead of the FIFA eWorld Cup 2018.
WHEN IS THE eWORLD CUP FINALS?
The competition kicks off on Thursday 2nd August when the first batch of group games will be played.
The group stage reaches its conclusion on Friday. They are then followed by the round of 16 and the quarterfinals matches for both Xbox and PlayStation consoles.
Saturday begins with the semifinals at around 1pm, where we will find out the top player on each console. The semis are followed by a celebrity 2v2 tournament at 3pm. There is then a host of FIFA 19 Ultimate Team news and some entertainment before the “Final Showdown” begins at 6pm where one player will be crowned champion.
HOW CAN I WATCH THE eWORLD CUP FINALS?
The final day of the FeWC18 (Saturday 4th August) is available to go and watch live at the O2, and you can get tickets for the event here.
All three days of competition will also be live-streamed on the FIFA World Cup Twitch channel as well as on their Twitter and Facebook pages. The official FIFA TV YouTube channel will also show the live stream.
The competitive action kicks off at 10am on Thursday 2nd, 12pm on Friday 3rd and 1pm on Saturday the 4th.
HOW DID THE 32 PLAYERS QUALIFY?
The players featuring at the FeWC18 all qualified via the Global Series Playoffs- a tournament that was held in Amsterdam at the end of May- where the top 16 players on each console booked their place in London.
It comprised of 64 Xbox and 64 Playstation players, who were all awarded spots at the tournament by finishing highly in either the FUT Champions Cups, the FIFA eClub World Cup or other associated FIFA 18 tournaments throughout the competitive season.
WHAT IS THE FORMAT?
The competition begins with 4 groups (A, B, C, and D), each containing 8 players.
Groups A and B contain the Xbox players and groups C and D the PlayStation competitors.
Each player plays against every other player in their group over two legs. The winner will be decided based on the aggregate scoreline of the two games, with no away goals rule. A win gives you 3 points, a draw 1 point and no points for a defeat.
The top four from each group advance to the round of 16, then to the quarters and then onwards to the semi-finals, where the two best Xbox players and two best Playstation players will battle it out to be king of their respective console.
That then leaves the “Final Showdown”, where the Xbox winner and the Playstation winner compete in a cross-console final (first leg on PlayStation, second leg on Xbox) to decide who is the ultimate FIFA 18 champion and who will be $250,000 better off.
WHICH IN-GAME PLAYERS CAN THE COMPETITORS USE?
The tournament runs off of a specially designed build of FIFA 18 Ultimate Team where the gameplay is slightly altered and all FIFA 18 Ultimate Team cards (up to a specific cut off date, which is yet to be confirmed) are unlocked and available to use.
That means basic cards, Icons, Team of the Seasons (TOTS), Team of the Years (TOTY), In-Forms, Man of the Matches (MOTM) and many more card types are all at the competitors' disposal.
Although formations and player preferences vary between the pros, there are always some cards that are guaranteed to be in the majority of squads, such as the 97 rated David De Gea card (TOTY or TOTS), the 99 TOTY Cristiano Ronaldo or the Ruud Gullit Icon card.
WHO ARE THE PLAYERS TO WATCH?
Two previous FeWC (previously called the FIFA Interactive World Cup) winners will be competing in London: Last year’s winner and defending champion Spencer “FaZe Gorilla” Ealing from England and 2014 champion August “Hashtag Agge” Rosenmeier of Denmark.
Ealing’s opponent in last year’s final, Germany’s Kai “Deto” Wollin, who plays for Manchester City’s esports division, also features this year.
To see who else you should put your money on, read GiveMeSport’s FeWC18 predictions piece.Although not a firm favourite for the title, keep an eye on Maltese player Kurt “Kurt0411” Fenech. A somewhat rebellious character who has voiced strong opinions on FIFA’s developers EA, Kurt has a tendency to make headlines both at and away from tournaments. Almost guaranteed to spark some drama… especially if he goes all the way.