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“I’m 18-years-old, so there a few more years to come and I just want to make my country proud”More from #FIFAeWorldCup winner @Msdossary7
? https://t.co/J2WbjRahXr pic.twitter.com/cDwoOHdQyt— #FIFAeWorldCup (@FIFAeWorldCup) August 6, 2018
After a gruelling ten-month season, the FIFA eWorld Cup finally reached its conclusion as Saudi Arabian contestant Mossad Aldossary was crowned champion at London’s prestigious O2 Arena on August 4.
The finals were held over a three-day period, with the winner competing in ten games and losing just once before cruising to a 4-0 win in the final match broadcast on Sky TV.
The Team Rogue player capped off an incredible season with the world crown, having already won the Manchester Spring Cup, part of the eWorld Cup Global Series, earlier in the year. Standing in his way was Belgian Stefano Pinna, a member of the ECV Esports team and a recent recruit of PSV Eindhoven.
The 18-year-old champion and Xbox One player controlled the first leg from the start on his opponent’s favoured console, the PlayStation 4. He scored twice with Brazilian striker Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima to take a two-goal advantage into the second leg, which was played on his favoured Xbox.
Two goals, scored with Thierry Henry and Ruud Gullit, were enough to seal the win and lay claim to the $250,000 (£192,000) prize fund. MSdossary celebrated victory with family and friends who had made the trip from his home country to witness the event.
The sheer size of the FIFA tournament highlights how far eSports have come. Online sports have become spectator events which can fill arenas in their own right.
Online gaming continues to grow in popularity
It’s not just online sports games that continue to grow. Some online casinos such as 888 have become so large (more than 20 million players worldwide) they have been listed on the London Stock Exchange. And thousands of more are signing up to take advantage of the range of games and bonuses on offer. The top casino websites now offer more than 280 games including a diverse range of themed video slots.
Just like eSports, online casinos have been forced to adapt to the demands of the marketplace as customers seek a more authentic experience. Live dealers and virtual reality are the latest features to appear, with customers now able to interact with a real person as if they were in a real casino or explore a fully-customisable virtual casino via a headset. This fusion of online gaming with real-world experience is a theme that is set to continue.
Online poker games can attract tens of thousands of entrants who compete for places at top events. Overall winners can pocket in excess of £150,000 for winning a weekly event.
FIFA set to get bigger and better
The final in London marked the end of a long season for the top FIFA players. With the calendar now complete, the top competitors can now take a break and prepare themselves for the coming season, which gets underway on September 28 with the launch of FIFA 19.
This year’s event was the biggest yet and also featured a celebrity tournament which was won by eSports commentators Richard Buckley and Brandon Smith. There was a new trophy, an increased prize pot and of the course a top class venue to showcase the action. And with more entrants expected next year, the scale of the challenge is set to increase.
An Olympic future?
Next on the agenda for organisers is to begin talks with the Olympic committee to try and get eSports accepted into the elite sporting fold. This would be a remarkable achievement for a game that was once confined to the bedrooms of teenage gamers.
The team behind the 2024 Los Angeles Olympic bid have already stated their desire to include eSports such as League of Legends in the competition should they be successful. This could mean access to games via augmented and virtual reality technology, a move that would bring the Olympics to the attention of a much younger audience.
The inclusion of eSports in the 2022 Asian games after a successful demonstration in 2018 suggests that Olympic acceptance may not be far away. In 2024, we could see the first gold medals handed out to the world’s best video game players.
I'm a published author and proud US Army veteran who happens to be a gamer, so I decided to combine the two and love every minute of it! Feel free to contact me with any questions or comments and I'll be sure to get back to you.
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