Today, there are multiple big-money eFootball tournaments taking place around the world, motivating more and more people to pursue it as a career. Representing India proudly on the world stage is eFootball player Danial Shakeel Patel (game name DaNiAL ), who is currently dominating the competition.
Perhaps it’s non-conventional, even by sports’ standards, especially in a country like India, which struggles to break into the top 100 of the FIFA rankings. E-sports, however, is a completely different ball game altogether.
š„Domination on Day 1ā£ by Danial Patel
ā Outclassed š“ó §ó ¢ó „ó ®ó §ó æ
ā Outshined šÆšµ
ā Edged š®š©
ā Stunned šŖšøOur FIFAe Tiger šÆ marches onāunstoppable! š®š³ā”#IndianFootball #FIFAe #FeWCeFootball pic.twitter.com/0UaG8bhSKh
ā Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) December 9, 2024
On 9th December, in the 2024 FIFA eWorld Cup taking place in Riaydh, Danial, a member of eTigers, won four games in a row in the mobile category. He defeated England 7-0, Japan 1-4, Indonesia 2-3, and Spain 5-0.
He has been documenting his journey in this tournament, which started on 9th December and will end on the 12th, on his Instagram account.
Danial’s second round of Group A fixtures took place on December 10. He faced Korea Republic, Costa Rica, and Brazilāan undoubtedly tough lineup. However, he the momentum from his matchday one results ensured that the went on to comfortably secure a place in the quarter-finals where he set a date with Turkey.
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On December 11th, Danial faced Turkey in the quarterfinals, which turned out to be his toughest challenge at the 2024 FIFAe World Cup. However, his brilliance and composure ensured a 2-1 victory.
The matches were played in a best-of-three format, with Danial’s Turkish counterpart taking the first game. However, Shakeel scraped through in the second, winning 1-0 in extra time, before comfortably securing the win in the third game.
Sadly, Danial was defeated by Malaysia’s MINBAPPE, the only unbeaten player of the tournament up to that point. Despite Danial taking an early lead, MINBAPPE came back to score three goals, winning the first game 3-1.
The second game proved to be a nail-biter, remaining tied until the end of extra time, with each player scoring once. Danial won in the penalty shootout, forcing a decider, which MINBAPPE ultimately claimed. The final score was 2-1 in favor of the Malaysian.
MINBAPPE played in the final against Morocco but ended up losing the match. There’s no shame in losing to a world champion, and Danial surely paved the way for more people in India to take up the sport.The 2024 FIFAe World Cup didnāt take place on the EA FC game, formerly known as ‘FIFA’. In 2023, football’s governing body’s partnership with parent company Electronic Arts ended, prompting the world’s most popular football game to change its name to FC.
While FC’s popularity remained strong, FIFA didnāt wait long to find a new game to host their tournament. Konami’s free-to-play ‘eFootball’ became the choice, and the best players from India (and around the world) spent months preparing to qualify. The total prize pool for this edition was reported to be $100,000.
In the 2024 FIFAe World Cup, it wasnāt just football that was played. Tactical minds were also at work, with Football Manager being a category, as well as Rocket Leagueāa game where cars play football with a giant ball.
Unfortunately, India didnāt have any representatives in Rocket League or Football Manager.
