The start of the competitive FIFA season is just a week away – we’ll be back to Bucharest for the FUT Champions Cup Stage 1 the site of not one, but two of last year’s FUT Champions Cups. It was also the city where Donovan ‘Hunt’ Tekkz, FIFA 19’s breakout star, would make his name. He started his fairytale year with a victory here which acted as a springboard to a dominating season, the likes of which FIFA esports had never seen. He’ll be here, looking to make it 3 for 3 in the first major of the season.
64 players, 32 from Xbox and 32 from PlayStation, will be heading to Bucharest and will look at the FUT Champions Cup Stage 1 as an opportunity to get their name out there, take home up to $50,000 and 2000 Global Series Points – crucial for securing a place in the end-of-season FIFA Global Series Playoffs and eWorld Cup.
Players have earned their place at this month’s tournament through a series of online qualifiers that have come under fire with issues ranging from laggy servers to an overly long qualifying schedule. All that will be forgotten though when then players step up to the stage – November 8 is when it all kicks off, and we can’t wait.
The Format + Prize Pool
The 32 Xbox and 32 PlayStation players are split into four groups of eight.
Players play each other once, with the top four players from each group advancing into the knockout stages. All knockout stage matches are two-legged with the winner advancing to the next round.
The winner of the semi-final will be deemed the PlayStation or Xbox winner. The Grand Final is player cross-platform with one leg played on the PlayStation and one on Xbox. The winner of this takes home the FUT Champions Cup trophy, $50,000 and 2000 Global Series Points.
| Placement | Prize money | Global Series Points |
| 1st | $50,000 | 2000 |
| 2nd | $30,000 | 1400 |
| 3rd – 4th | $15,000 | 800 |
| 5th – 8th | $7,500 | 500 |
| 9th – 16th | $3,500 | 300 |
| 17th – 32nd | $1,000 | 150 |
| 33rd – 64th | $500 | N/A |
The Participants / Ones To Watch
A new addition to the FIFA 20 Global Series is the introduction of the Global Series Masters – the four best performing players on Xbox and PlayStation from the last FUT Champions Cup gain automatic qualification for the following major, because this is the first major of the season, the best eight players from last seasons FIFA eWorld Cup have been grandfathered in.
Global Series Masters – PS4
Mohammed ‘MoAuba’ Harkous – eWorld Cup Winner
Nicolas ‘Nicolas99FC’ Villalba
Corentin ‘Maestro’ Thuillier
Fatih ‘Ustun’ Üstün
Global Series Masters – Xbox
Mosaad ‘Msdossary’ Aldossary
Fouad ‘Rafsou’ Fares
Niklas ‘NRaseck’ Raseck
Nawid ‘Goalmachine’ Zoorzai
The best of the rest
The other players have earned their place through the online qualifiers and there are a few familiar faces in there.
On the PlayStation side, there is Diogo “Tuga810” Pombo, the Portuguese Air Force reservist was a fixture throughout the FIFA 19 season and with qualification for FUT Champions Cup Stage 2 already in the bag, he looks to be building on that success.
Kai “Deto” Wollin is a familiar name for anyone who follows the sport but as one of the game’s oldest active players and after a poor FIFA 19 season, it would have been no surprise to see him slip slowly into retirement. But here he is! And with FIFA 20’s slower more tactical meta suiting his playstyle we might just be set for a Deto swansong.
On the Xbox side, we have Lucas “PSG Daxe” Cuillerier. After winning the FIFA eNations Cup with France and runner up in the e-Ligue with PSG, he will look at FIFA 20 as a chance to cement his burgeoning reputation. Harry “Hashtag” Hesketh is one of the game’s biggest personalities but his conditionals as a pro player have taken a hit after a lackluster FIFA 19 season. He’s desperate to re-establish himself as a top-level pro – so much so, that he moved to Canada for the qualifiers feeling that would give him the best chance. He made the right choice because he’s already qualified for FUT Champions Cup 1 & 2. Expect him to play like a man possessed.
Check out Brandon Smith and Richard Buckley’s video below for the full 64 players expected in Bucharest.
FIFA 20 FUT Champions Cup Stage 1: Bucharest – How To Watch
All the action takes place in Bucharest, Romania over three days starting on November 8th.
Friday 8 – Group Stages
Saturday 9 – Remainder of Group Stage Matches + Start of Knockout
Sunday 10 – Console final then the Cross-Console Grand Finals.
It can be watched live on Twitch, YouTube and Twitter.
The action will kick off each day from 12:00 PM GMT.
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