The halfway point of the 2022 FIFAe season

• An update on the FIFAe Club Series’™ progress at the halfway stage

• The FIFAe Nations Online Qualifiers™ Play-Ins throw up some potential surprises

• The standouts from the Road to the FIFAe World Cup™ 

This season of FIFAe has been more tightly contested than ever, with new talent from different corners of the world competing for their shot at immortalising their name in FIFAe folklore and faming their game. 

We have reached the halfway point of the season - two weeks of qualification have been completed in the FIFAe Club Series and FIFAe Nations Series, as well as two Global Series Qualifiers around the world in all the different regions. The full picture is slowly coming together for those that are gaining momentum going into the most important and nerve-racking moments of their year.

There have been some surprises of players, clubs and nations rising to the top from the unknown, but also there are some veterans that still remain hungry to add more titles to their names. Let’s take a look at some of the top stories so far among the narratives:

Ever-closer to the FIFAe Club Playoffs™

The FIFAe Club Series Online Qualifiers™ are into their third week of competition, which as before mentioned is just over the halfway point of the four-week-long process. Clubs will start to fall out of contention in this current week three & upcoming week four of the Online Qualifiers, as the lowest division in each conference will be eliminated.

The two highest-ranked clubs left standing in week four qualify for the Playoffs, as well as the two best clubs from the consistency ranking. 

Let’s take a look at some of the best storylines and performers so far:

Team FUTWIZ United Kingdom has looked impressive so far, scoring 65 goals in just 22 matchups played, totalling their goal difference at a massive +35. However, it is the Oceania-based club ORDER who has the highest goal difference so far, as they have gone unbeaten through two weeks (15-1-0), scoring 50 goals and only conceding 10 to have a GD of +40.

Former FIFAe Club World Cup™ Champions and last year’s Zone Winners Complexity Gaming overcame a shaky week one performance to win in week two, claiming the top place of the consistency rankings. It is tight at the top, however, as just 100 points separate the top six clubs. 

Asia-based club Kawasaki Frontale started week one in the third division but has finished with back-to-back first-places over the first two weeks. EXCEL, with Tom Leese and Gorilla competing for them, have also achieved the same feat. The clubs will start week three in the top division, looking to speed their way up the rankings and secure a Playoffs spot in their region.

 The FIFAe Nations Series is heating up

The FIFAe Nations Online Qualifiers™ Play-Ins have been taking place concurrently, and at the halfway point of the also four-week-long process, many countries are starting to mark themselves as the favourite of their zones and divisions.

The Play-Ins determine some of the other nations to join the Online Qualifiers Main Stage that are not automatically progressed, due to their original standing. This was split into two stages to accommodate onboarding countries for the first time in the process. However, every eligible nation is allowed to compete to get up-to-scratch on their 2v2 chemistry.

Let’s take a look at some of the most impressive countries through two weeks of the Play-Ins:

After two weeks of competition, there are only a small handful of teams that remain undefeated in their respective regions: Argentina, currently 10-2-0 with a GD of +22, only conceding five goals; England, who also sit 10-2-0, but with a higher goal difference of +29, conceding only four goals in a total of twelve matchups; and the United States also sit unbeaten, but have played considerably fewer matches in a smaller region.

Denmark has been an impressive and consistent team, as they look to be chased down and closely followed by current FIFAe Nations Cup Champions France. There is no doubt that the Danish squad has been improved by young talent such as 16-year-old Anders Vejrgang and 19-year-old Alen ‘Arrow’ Barakovic.

Elsewhere, typical candidates Australia and Saudi Arabia have looked strong, led by top players in their own respective regions Dylan Campbell and Musaad 'Msdossary' Aldossary.

The Road to the FIFAe World Cup

The second qualifier on the Road to the FIFAe World Cup™ took place last month, with players from all around the world looking to gain Global Series Ranking Points to secure a Playoff berth later on in the season.

In Europe, Tekkz announced his return to the top level by making it to the final, losing out to dominant newcomer Rodrigo Marques. Last season’s eSerie A TIM winner Danilo ‘Danipitbull’ Pinto also claimed a victory in the other European second qualifier, with both of them taking home $10,000 in prize money.

In Oceania, Melbourne City’s Ryan Naylor narrowly beat Dylan Campbell. Mohamed ‘KingCJ0’ Diop claimed the title in North America, whereas it was Netshoes Miners’ Klinger Correa who notched the title in LatAm South.

With those results, the standings are still very close in all the different regions across the world, but the standouts have been:

As before mentioned, Dylan Campbell has by far looked like a very dominant player coming out of Oceania. With a first-place and a second-place to his name so far through two qualifiers, he’s looking like the favourite in that region. He is also a part of the previously mentioned dominant ORDER club and Australia national squad - being a key player across all three of the narratives so far this season.

Paulo Henrique Chaves, known as PHzin, has also been quite dominant. Recently winning the first Global Qualifier in South America and now a CONMEBOL eLibertadores title to his name, he sits comfortably at the top of the Latin America South Global Series Rankings. He is also a part of the squad for Brazil that currently sits just 20 points behind Argentina in the Consistency Rankings in South America, as well as sitting top of the FIFAe Club Series Consistency Rankings with ELS Gaming.

Ehsan ‘Lamps’ Zakeri has looked impressive in North America, winning the first global qualifier and then going on to secure an eMLS 2022 title last month as well, taking his total prize money for the season already to almost 25,000 USD. These victories place him above the likes of NYCChris and KingCJ0 at the top of the North American Global Series Rankings.

Umut Gültekin has tasted success across several narratives this season, competing with RBLZ Gaming in the FIFAe Club Series chasing a top spot, sitting undefeated (12-0-0) with Germany in the FIFAe Nations Play-Ins in the second division in week three, as well as a top-four finish in the latest Global Series Qualifiers in Europe East.

Ariel ‘arielmc92’ Moreno is just 17-years-old and has been competing in all three narratives towards the top end of the competitions, having secured a top-four finish in the first LATAM North Global Series Qualifier, as well as sitting in the top two places in the FIFAe Club Series Online Qualifiers in North America with Essentials Gaming. Recently, he competed for Mexico in the FIFAe Nations Online Qualifiers Play-Ins, as they go head-to-head with the United States for the top place in their region.

With plenty of action to come in the second half of the season - the business end of the competitions - make sure you stay tuned into FIFA.GG to keep updated on all the live ongoing action from every narrative leading up to the pinnacle tournaments this summer.