The eight finalists of the virtual FC-24 European Championship in July have been determined. In some dramatic decisions, seven players followed the seeded “host” Umut Gültekin into the final round
Over 50 nations competed in the qualifiers for eEuro 2024 and seven countries made it through: Denmark, Italy, Israel, Norway, Serbia, Ukraine and Turkey will take part in the final event of the virtual European Championship in FC 24 in July. Together with Germany, who, as hosts, were already guaranteed a place in the final round, as in real soccer, the qualifiers will play for the European crown and a prize pool of 100,000 US dollars.
‘RBLZ_Vejrgang’ and de Weerd conquerors remain flawless
DFB representative Umut Gültekin could be facing an opponent he knows very well: RBLZ colleague Anders Vejrgang. The Danish international came through Group A with an unblemished record. The exceptional talent won all six games and secured the best goal difference of all groups with seven teams – just ahead of Mert Altintop from Turkey, who was slightly less goal-hungry in Group B with an identical points haul, but eliminated more prominent competition with Levi de Weerd.
The winner of Group C, Francesco Pio Tagliafierro, also remained point-free. Like Vejrgang, the Italian, known in the scene as ‘Obrun2002’, has been a member of the international FIFA and EAFC elite for years and is likely to be remembered especially by the Dane in the service of the RBLZ. After all, Vejrgang was defeated by the Exeed professional at the FIFAe World Cup in circumstances unworthy of a World Cup
‘Tekkz’ and Dortmund’s Destoop miss out on the finals
Meanwhile, things were much closer in groups D to F, where a direct comparison was needed to determine a qualifier. This ended in elimination for Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt. The ManCity eSportsman, who had fallen short of expectations at the FC Pro Open after outstanding qualification despite a dramatic comeback, was knocked out of Group D by Israeli Yuval Blizovsky, who had won the head-to-head match.
Another VBL representative had a very similar experience: Bradley Destoop, who had narrowly missed out on the play-offs in the Virtual Bundesliga Club Championship with the newly created Dortmund EAFC team, had to drop out of Group G. Andrey Shakalov had the better end on his side against the Belgian. As a result, ‘ST92’ did the same to Norway’s Andreas Aarstad, who won the tie-break in Group E.
Spain jubilant after three-legged tiebreak
Group F took it to the extreme, however. Three teams – Spain, Serbia and France – were tied at the top. Therefore, deciding matches were played, in which Spain’s Adrian Cifuentes ultimately came out on top. A bitter outcome, especially for Serbia. Milos ‘KrunaLex’ Krunic would have come out on top if the three-way comparison of first and second legs had been used. However, objections by the Eastern Europeans to the decision to decide the three-way tie by replaying the matches were unsuccessful. As a result, Cifuentes and Krunic met again, with the former winning by golden goal.
This meant that the qualifying round was already set to provide some spectacular sequences and dramatic decisions. The final round will then take place in July. There, the eight remaining nations will compete against each other in a classic knockout phase, starting with the quarter-finals, to crown the 2024 eEuropean champions.
