- Five of six zones now under way in the race for FIFAe Club World Cup spots
- Favourites beginning to emerge
- Overview of the second round of FIFAe Club World Cup qualifying
The first week of qualifying of the new year saw more zones begin their path to the FIFAe Club World Cup 2021, to be held from 24 to 28 February 2021. With the exception of Zone 1, which will be kicking off next Thursday, all of the other zones are now battling it out for the limited number of spots at what will be the biggest EA SPORTS FIFA club event of the year. The complete set of results is available on FIFA.gg.
These six zones are divided up into various conferences, which are then split into divisions 1–3. The top two teams in each conference after the final week will qualify for the FIFAe Club World Cup 2021, along with the two best teams in the Consistency Rankings at that time. Zone 4 also has a significant number of teams taking part and will therefore be organising additional play-offs.
Review of the second week of qualifying
Top performers
Only five clubs have been able to garner the maximum 600 points in the Consistency Ranking thus far. These include NEO, who took part in last year’s FIFAe Club World Cup, big guns Inter eSports and Team Gullit, and then a pair of outsiders in Burnley FC and Hexon esports, who duly delivered in the first two weeks of action.
Highlights from around the zones
Zone 2
In the first week of qualifying, two-time FIFAe Club World Cup qualifiers Blue United eFC once again proved that they are among the top clubs in the world, losing just one game and securing first place.
Zone 3
Despite losing in the final of week two qualifying to 25eSports, Tuwaiq eSports Club continued their good run of form and took first place in the Consistency Ranking.
Zone 4
Last year’s second-placed team Ellevens and two-time qualifiers Bochum are neck and neck in the Consistency Ranking in Conference 1. In Conference 2, red-hot favourites Fnatic (with ‘Tekkz’ in their squad) lead the way, while Borussia Dortmund have secured promotion to the first division for the first time.
Former FIFAe Club World Cup qualifiers Team Vitality put in a strong showing and now sit atop the Consistency Ranking in Conference 4, while surprise package North have won promotion to Division 2 in that conference.
Meanwhile, their club rivals and record tournament-winners Brondby IF are doing even better and are still very much on track for the play-offs in Conference 5.
Three more clubs with FIFAe Club World Cup experience are currently looking good for another appearance, namely Futbolist (Conference 7) and Hashtag United and Olympique Lyonnais (Conference 8).
In Conference 12, Schalke 04 laid down a marker with a win in the all-German final over Fokus Clan (including former FIFA eWorld Cup champion ‘MoAuba’).
Cesar Azpilicueta’s Falcons enjoyed a strong second week and took over first place in the Consistency Ranking in Conference 13.
DUX Gaming bounced back from a defeat in their first match and enjoyed better fortunes in the loser bracket in Conference 14, meaning they now have a good chance of qualifying for the second year in a row.
Zone 5
Two-time qualifiers Basel had an up-and-down week but are still in first place in the Consistency Ranking in Conference 1. Ronaldinho’s R10 team were back on form after a poor first week and won Conference 2, while Inter eSports were unstoppable once again in Conference 3.
Zone 6
Reigning Club World Cup champions Complexity Gaming won the conference to take over top spot in the Consistency Rankings, increasing their chances of a success title defence.
What happens next?
The race for FIFAe Club World Cup tickets is getting tighter, with the margin for error shrinking as each week goes by. Two more weeks of qualifying remain – one this week, one the next, plus the additional play-offs in Zone 4 – before the teams are locked in for the FIFAe Club World Cup 2021 and can fight it out for the title in the various zones.