August 3 – Football per se may not have come home but the FIFA eWorld Cup, a virtual version of the real thing, kicked off in London on Thursday with players from all around battling to be crowned the world’s best FIFA 18 player on a digital stage.
The three-day finals feature 32 elite players from a global pool of 20 million who took part in qualifying worldwide and will use just their fingers and thumbs to try and lay their hands on the trophy and $250,000 in prize money.
The Grand Final is on Saturday and those without tickets can watch on any of FIFA’s live streams.
The competition began with four groups of eight players – groups A and B comprising Xbox players and groups C and D PlayStation competitors.
Each player faces everyone in their group once in two-legged matches and the winner on aggregate picking up three points, with one point for a draw.
England’s 21-year-old Spencer Ealing, the reigning champion who plays under the nickname ‘Gorilla’, is back to defend his crown while Germany boasts eight finalists.
The tournament echoes the real World Cup played in Russia in many ways, including anti-doping urine tests and the monitoring of suspicious betting patterns.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1734933410labto1734933410ofdlr1734933410owedi1734933410sni@w1734933410ahsra1734933410w.wer1734933410dna1734933410