After months of competing across regional qualifiers and domestic league competitions, the top FIFA 23 competitors from all corners of the world will come together for the first time this year at the Global Series Playoffs. 64 gamers will compete for 24 spots to the FIFAe World Cup, which will be played in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia next month.
Atlanta United duo Paulo Neto and Young will be representing the 5-Stripes among the best FIFA gamers in the world. The Brazilians trained in the past week with Team Gullit in their Alkmaar, Netherlands headquarters, and will be looking to qualify again to the FIFAe World Cup, just like they both did last year; if he were to do so Paulo will have qualified to his third FIFAe World Cup in a row.
What is the tournament format?
The 64 gamers are distributed in four groups of 16 players each, in a bracket-style format with double elimination. The prize pool for the tournament is US$420,000 with the top 24 receiving $10,000 each, including their spot in the FIFAe World Cup. The best four from each group make it to the FIFAe World Cup, while two more qualify via the Losers Bracket.
To secure their World Cup spot directly, each gamer will need to win two match ups in a row in their respective group.Â
Who are Paulo and Young competing against?
The competition begins this Saturday, June 24 at 10 am (Atlanta time) with Paulo Neto seeded into Group A. He will play his first match up against Jonny from Saudi Arabia who represents German club SC Paderborn 07. If he beats Jonny, Paulo would then play against SR7 (Korea/Quest eSports) or levyfinn (Germany/Hansa Rostock) in the second round.
Young will compete in Group D against DFernandes (Portugal/DIOGO JOTA eSports). If he wins, Young would then play against either Vejrgang (Denmark/RBLZ Gaming) or the reigning eMLS Cup champion NRaseck (Germany/St. Louis City SC).
Last year, both of our current gamers qualified to the FIFAe World Cup. Paulo was among the top 16 gamers and Young (who represented SPQR Brasil at the time) within the 17-32 group.
How did they qualified?
Paulo Neto earned qualification to the FGS Playoffs after making the eMLS Cup final, while Young made it after earning second place in the South America FIFA 23 rankings.
