Update: The group pools and broadcast schedule have been announced for the FIFA Team of the Season Cup. The group stage will run from April 29th from 2pm to 9pm BST, with the knockout rounds on April 30th from 2pm to 10pm BST, and the rest of the tournament including finals will get underway on May 1st from 2pm to 10pm BST.
The group pools are as follows:
Original article: UK-based esports organisations Excel, Fnatic, Futwiz and Guild are among the elite 16 FIFA Global Series (FGS) Masters teams.
FGS Masters teams are billed as the elite of FIFA esports, and were chosen by application, with tournament performance, major wins and consistency being the three most important criteria EA considered.
These teams of two players are a part of the FIFA 22 Global Series, a selection of tournaments including the upcoming Team of the Season Cup, taking place from April 29th to May 1st 2022.
There are 32 teams overall in the Team of the Season Cup, which has a $500,000 prize pool (and first place taking home $100,000). The 16 Masters teams automatically qualified for this, while another 16 made it through open qualifiers in the FGS Open from December 10th to 12th 2021.
One of the teams that made it through the qualifiers – Levante – has UK player Paps on the team.
In terms of UK players on Masters teams, Excel have Tom and Gorilla (who joined the organisation in September, with Tom the biggest FIFA esports transfer signing in history), while Fnatic have Tekkz.
Other FIFA FGS Masters teams include Ajax, Atlanta, Blue United, Complexity, Dux, Inter, Mkers, Neo, SPQR, Team Falcons, Heretics and NiP.
“It’s an honour to be named an FGS Master team for this year. The 2022 season is shaping up to be quite the competition and I can’t wait to take Excel’s fans along on the journey.”
Gorilla, Excel Esports
Elsewhere, EA recently cancelled the Team of the Year Cup, which was set to take place from January 21st to 23rd 2022, “due to Covid and the rising transmission rates of the Delta and Omicron variants, country-by-country travel restrictions, guidance from health officials, and recommendations from health organisations”.
The teams that qualified for this through the FGS Open will have their qualification transferred to the Team of the Season Cup instead.
FIFA Masters teams like Excel will also receive in-game cosmetics including a kit and badge for fans to support the team.
“It’s great to be one of the first-ever FIFA’s Global Series Master teams,” Tom Leese of Excel Esports said. “I have big ambitions for the year and look forward to showcasing them on the pitch, not just in my solo games, but with Gorilla by my side in 2v2s.”
Gorilla added: “I can’t wait to rock an Excel jersey in-game while I am competing, the colours and design are super cool. It’s also an honour to also be named an FGS Master team for this year.
“The 2022 season is shaping up to be quite the competition and I can’t wait to take Excel’s fans along on the journey.”
FUT Icons shirts hit the UK high street
In other UK FIFA news, Sports Direct has become the only high street retailer to stock real life versions of the FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) Icons home and away shirts.
There more more than 100 FUT Icons in the game, including the likes of Thierry Henry, David Beckham, Pele and more.
Sports Direct will also connect virtual and real footballing worlds by giving fans the ability to personalise the Icons shirts with their console gamertag for the first time, which is available at Sports Direct’s Oxford Street flagship store.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
