Everything is set for the biggest international tournament Rocket League has ever seen. FIFA has announced the program for the FIFAe World Cup, including the first German tasks.
Just under a month after the DFB sighting tournament, the German eNational team for the FIFAe World Cup in Rocket League has been determined. Between December 5 and 8, Damian ‘Tox’ Schäfer, David ‘Rezears’ Wünsch and Riccardo ‘Rizex45’ Mazzotta will compete for their share of the $300,000 prize money in Riyadh. The fourth player would be Leonardo ‘Catalysm’ Christ Ramos. The eSports players won’t have it easy – the world’s crème de la crème is present.
Football format for eSports tournament
The 16 participating nations were divided into two groups of eight teams. The draw took place on Thursday in Zurich: Germany will face England, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the Netherlands, among others, in Group A.
A lucky draw. Of the top favorites, they only got Saudi Arabia. This way, they will avoid the other Rocket League heavyweights – USA, France, Brazil and Morocco – in the group stage.
The game format is where it gets interesting: in the preliminary round, there are first and second legs between nations – a total of 14 group games per team. To manage this number of matches, they will be played in a best-of-two format. This means that a game can also end in a draw.
This is completely unfamiliar to Rocket League players and viewers – not least because of the short duration of the series. It lasts just ten minutes. As in football, three points are awarded for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss. At the end of the group stage, the top four in each group reach the play-offs.
All nations have a chance
When the FIFAe World Cup was announced, the community was initially skeptical. There was little information and even less transparency. Nobody knew how the players or nations would be selected. Nobody knew who was ultimately responsible. The fear that the football associations would not send the best e-athletes to the tournament turned out to be unfounded. Not only the DFB, but also all other countries are sending their luminaries to the desert.
Almost: The USA have to do without Landon ‘BeastMode’ Konerman, who, as at the Esports World Cup, will not be there. His two US G2 teammates Daniel ‘Daniel’ Piecenski and Massimo ‘Atomic’ Franceschi, with whom he worked fantastically well together in the last RLCS season, have been nominated. Konerman himself cites building his own house as the reason for his cancellation. He will be replaced by Jason ‘Firstkiller’ Corral at the FIFAe World Cup.
