The European FIFA 22 crown will be awarded at the eChampions League final in Stockholm on Friday. Half of the field of participants consists of German professionals.
1025 eligible players had started their journey towards the big eChampions League final in December. Only for eight of them the way actually leads a second time to Stockholm, where on Friday in the Space Arena the winner of the virtual royal league in FIFA 22 will be crowned.
Once again, four of the eight finalists are German professionals: Umut ‘Umut’ Gültekin of RB Leipzig, Ali ‘PredatorFIFA’ Oskoui Rad of SV Werder Bremen, Deniel ‘Denii_10’ Mutic of 1. FC Heidenheim and the big surprise Noah-Laurin ‘Snakez’ Bartsch of VfL Bochum are going for the eChampions League title.
‘Snakez’ from elimination to the grand final
The story of ‘Snakez’ is a special one: The young player from Bochum had only made it to the knockout stage in the first place via a backlog procedure due to the exclusion of Russian players from the FIFA 22 Global Series (FGS). Now he’s in the final, where he’s once again considered a big underdog.
In the final round, the 19-year-old initially suffered an emphatic 1:4 defeat to Argentina’s Nicolas ‘Nicolas99FC’ Villalba, before four wins in the lower bracket meant a place in the final after all. A triumph would see ‘Snakez’ succeed Oliver ‘OliverPN’ Provstgaard Nielsen.
Participant field with handsome title collection
The until now largely unknown Dane had last year completely unexpectedly secured the eChampions League title in FIFA 21, Bartsch’s win would be a sensation of similar proportions. The final hurdle is high, however, because the competition among the countrymen is not the only one that is gigantic.
With the aforementioned ‘Nicolas99FC’, Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt, Matias ‘matiasbonanno99’ Bonanno and Roee ‘Feldman’ Feldman, the second half of the field of participants is top-class. German champions, FIFAe Club World Cup winners, FGS Masters Cup winners and TOTS Cup winners unite the final.
‘Tekkz’: «Must be in absolute top form «
The conclusion of the eChampions League should be the first really big highlight of the FIFA 22 season. At the same time, it serves as an appetizer for the Champions League final on the real turf between Liverpool FC and Real Madrid one day later.
«It’s one of the most important tournaments on the FIFA Global Series calendar, so I can’t wait for kick-off. We’ve come a long way, the first qualifier was back in December. If I want to win the title, I have to be at my absolute best,» said Tekkz ahead of the tournament.
280,000 US dollars will be paid out
In addition to the glory of the eChampions League title, the eight finalists will also compete for a total of 280,000 US dollars in prize money – with the winner taking home 75,000 US dollars alone. In addition, the top three players will be rewarded with a place in the play-offs for the 2022 FIFAe World Cup.
During the supporting program, a series of show matches will provide entertainment. Featuring former world-class footballers, Ashley Cole, Kaka, Henrik Larsson and Fernando Morientes will venture to the controllers. The final of this mini-tournament will be broadcast directly before the kick-off of the eChampions League Grand Final.
Speaking of broadcasting: The first games of the double-elimination bracket will begin at 1:15 p.m. on Friday, and the final round can be watched live on the EA SPORTS FIFA Twitch channel and UEFA’s YouTube channel. Bonuses will be made available to viewers with linked EA and Twitch accounts.
