FIFA has unveiled the FIFAe World Cup for the next discipline: Football Manager 2024. The world governing body appears to be planning eSports World Cups for various soccer titles – just not for EA SPORTS FC 24?
The world champion in virtual tactics will be crowned from August 29 to September 1: FIFA announced a FIFAe World Cup in Football Manager 2024 on Thursday – made possible by a new partnership with developer Sports Interactive. Digital and traditional soccer are to be brought together “like never before”. The ambassador for the World Cup in FM24 fits in with this: former coach Arsène Wenger.
The former Arsenal coach can also be seen in the trailer, in which he arranges glasses and sticky notes as a classic soccer formation – “4-4-2 Forever” is the corresponding slogan. At FIFA, Wenger is employed as Chief of Global Football Development, and for the FM tournament he takes on the second role.
“I’m looking forward to taking part in this exciting new journey,” says the former coach. “This competition requires participants to have a deep understanding of soccer strategy and tactics. To be successful in this format, you not only need to master the mechanics of the game, but also have in-depth soccer knowledge – a fascinating mix.”
Participant field by invitation and qualification
FIFA will “invite selected member associations to be represented at the final event”. The selection will be “based on eligibility and the number of players per nation to ensure a fair and representative competition around the world”. The World Cup participants are to be determined in advance via regional qualifiers.
The total prize money is estimated at 100,000 US dollars, but little else is known about the organization. Venue, tournament format, in-game settings – FIFA intends to announce all this information at a later date. This also applies to “further spin-off videos” with Wenger.
More FIFAe World Cups in soccer matches?
Just a few days ago, FIFA had already confirmed its own World Cup in Rocket League. According to soccer’s world governing body, this “highlights our commitment to the development of our soccer eSport system”. In light of this and the FM news, it could well be that further FIFAe World Cups will be announced in football-related titles in the coming weeks.
One candidate would be eFootball 2024, whose development and events have been followed and shared on FIFAe social media channels from time to time in recent months. Publisher Konami had virtually discontinued the eSport of its simulation series in the latest offshoot, a small comeback in cooperation with FIFA would at least be conceivable
A World Cup organized by the world governing body in the predominant soccer title EA SPORTS FC 24 is again unlikely. FIFA only parted ways with the video game giant in the fall of 2023, which is also hosting its own World Cup with the FC Pro World Championship. The announced new FIFA game, on the other hand, has not yet been released – and it is unlikely to be this year.
