The more talent, the better? Not necessarily. In the FIFA scene, the huge number of aspiring players with professional dreams creates a dilemma – with danger for the talent itself.
When 2262 Europeans rush in for a qualifying tournament, that’s too many. This is a complaint not only of many professionals, but also of the Swiss national coach Thomas ‘Janthana’ Temperli.
“EA should reduce the number of participants. […] Those who don’t belong to the absolute top have no place in the qualifiers,” says Temperli. He welcomes the tightened qualification conditions for FIFA 22.
Instead of qualifying tickets being awarded by a good result in the Weekend League, this season a set points threshold must be broken in Division Rivals. Previously, many players had secured their place more through diligence than skill.
This is also reflected in the numbers: In FIFA 19, around 300 ambitious gamers took part in the EU Qualifiers. In FIFA 20, the number rose to over 1300, and in FIFA 21 it even shot up to 2262 in one tournament.
The changes have eased the situation somewhat. At the Qualifier at the beginning of February, however, over 600 players competed in Europe. According to Temperli, the limit is still too low, but “it is the right idea to sort out more players before the Qualifiers.
Waiting for nothing
The FIFA coach sees two problems with low qualifying requirements: “It means the qualifiers are crammed with players and take quite a few hours.” And, “With so many players, you lose track.”
FIFA players have been complaining about the hour-long qualifiers for years. With his second point, Temperli refers to the development of the scene in the media. Because when there are countless new faces at the tournaments and a different professional wins every time, EA finds it difficult to focus on individual talents and stars.
Probably one reason why the developer always falls back on the same prominent names like Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt. Often, however, these are dropped early on and suddenly a player is in the final that the viewer has never heard of and is correspondingly uninterested – with poor viewing figures as a result.
False Hopes
As evidence of the low qualifying standards, Temperli brings up his own qualifications: “I honestly don’t see myself as a top player.” Diligent players, however, would still make it by grinding – only to be kicked out after a few rounds.
Successful qualification thus also entails dangers. Because those who play at the highest level, in the Global Series, quickly dream of a professional career. Mostly, however, nothing comes of it, after all, thousands of other players feel the same way and the money in the scene is limited.
When asked whether a career in eFootball is currently worthwhile, Temperli also says: “I wouldn’t advise anyone to try to become an eFootballer. Not because I don’t think it has potential, but because I don’t think most players are aware of everything that’s involved.”
It is not enough to just play well, he said. Professionals nowadays also have to build their own brands by streaming and maintaining their social media presence. All this takes time. Those who do not have the time to follow their passion should not get their hopes up too high. After all, the qualifying tournaments alone cost countless hours.
