The eChampions League took place in Salford, narrowing 36 players to eight for the finals in Munich, with one player representing an English club set to make the trip to Germany.
Esports players from across Europe competed at dock10 Studios in MediaCity, Salford, aiming to qualify for the finals on Wednesday, May 28th, 2025.
Players representing Premier League clubs Manchester City and Brighton took part as well as others from well-known European sides including Bayern Munich, Ajax and Roma.
The eChampions League finals in Munich take place just three days before the UEFA Champions League final – between Paris Saint-Germain and Inter Milan – in the same city.
The tournament adopted UEFA’s updated Champions League structure. This featured a league-style phase, followed by a knockout round, which whittled 36 of Europe’s top EA Sports FC 25 players down to eight.
Both Manchester City players, Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt and Matias ‘Bonanno’ Bonanno, were eliminated. 2020 champion Tekkz exited during the league phase, while Bonanno lost 8-7 match against ‘ChrisdeBoer’ in the knockout stage.
Brighton’s Jayden ‘Jayden’ Groden placed in the top five of the league phase but was knocked out in the round of 16. His teammate Marc ‘Marley’ Marley, however, advanced to the Munich finals after a 4-3 victory in the round of 16.
Defending champion Jonas ‘Jonny’ Wirth progressed into the quarterfinals and remains a contender for the title.
Nicolas ‘nicholas99FC’ Villalba who won the FIFA eChampions League in 2022, and Emre ‘EmreYilmaz’ Yilmaz, who won the title in 2023, also made the last-eight.
The event, produced in collaboration with Whisper, utilised MediaCity’s facilities to deliver the start of the competition.
Andy Waters, head of studios at dock10, said: “Our goal has been to not only continue growing MediaCity as a destination for the best TV and broadcast productions but also partner with the broad variety of organisations across today’s media landscape like esports organisers or streaming producers.
“Working with the Whisper team on this eCL tournament has been an absolute pleasure.”
When are the eChampions League finals?
Eight players have reached the finals of the eChampions League which will take place in front of a studio audience in Munich, Germany, at Eisbach Studios.
On Wednesday, May 28th, the remaining players will meet in the quarterfinals semifinals and final to crown the 2025 eChampions League winner.
The action will commence at 5:30pm BST. Fans can watch the games via EA Sports FC’s YouTube or Twitch channels.
List of eChampions League quarter-finalists
Here is a list of the eight players who have made the quarterfinals of the eChampions League:
- Emre ‘EmreYilmaz’ Yilmaz (Real Sociedad)
- Alihan ‘Alihan’ Hadzhi (PFC Ludogorets Razgrad)
- Nicolas ‘nicholas99FC’ Villalba (Sevilla)
- Ilian ‘Ilian’ Bouchi (LOSC Lille)
- Samuele ‘samugamer’ Prestigiacomo (Torino FC)
- Anders ‘Vejrgang’ Vejrgang (RB Leipzig)
- Jonas ‘Jonny’ Wirth (VfL Bochum 1848)
- Marc ‘Marley’ Marley (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Past winners
- 2024 – Jonas (Jonny) Wirth
- 2023 – Emre (EmreYilmaz) Yilmaz
- 2022 – Nicolas ‘nicolas99FC’ Villalba
- 2021 – Oliver ‘OliverPN’ Nelson
- 2020 – Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt
- 2019 – Christopher ‘Chris’ Holly
