Hong Kong’s FIFAe Nations Cup 2021 team confirmed after HKFA eFootball Open grand final
- Cheung, Ho, Leung, Lai and Li qualify for the Road to the FIFAe Nations Cup and earn prize money and training ahead of Denmark event
- ‘We hope [they] can represent Hong Kong well and compete with other regional competitors,’ says HKFA esports committee chairman Fok
Hong Kong confirmed its inaugural team for the FIFAe Nations Cup 2021 series entry after a tense Hong Kong Football Association eFootball Open grand final at CyberArena, Cyberport on Saturday.
Ho defeated Lai in the final minutes of their PS4 FIFA 21 video game Fifa Ultimate Team (FUT) grand final, while Cheung beat Leung in extra-time in the respective X-Box One category. All four were included in the quintet, with Li taking the final place.
Erik Fok Kai-shan, vice-chairman of the HKFA and chairman of its eSports committee said he was very impressed with the in-game football displayed and hoped it would translate when taking on international competition.
“As you saw, the players’ level is extremely high and the games were very exciting and tight. We hope [they] can represent Hong Kong well and compete with other regional competitors to get good results. This is the first Fifa-approved event, meaning eFootball is a regular feature. Under the Covid-19 pandemic, football fans and competitors will continue to use their technological skills to make the transition from real-life football to eFootball,” Fok said.
The grand final champions Cheung and Ho received HK$15,000 in prize money each, while first runners-up Leung and Lai secured HK$8,000, and Li and Cheng Tsz-yeung (chaichai715) received HK$7,000. The final two of the eight in contention, Wong Ming-tak (DaniW220) and Leung Kin-chung (KC923741) earned HK$2,000 for finishing third runner-up.
Hong Kong’s most notable competitor is 26-year-old Li, who reached the top 32 of the FIFA 17 FUT Championship Series Sydney Regional Final, the top 16 of the 2018 PlayStation Continental Cup in Paris, and the top 64 of the FUT 20 Champions Cup first stage in Bucharest. Though he did not win the grand final, he is the two-time reigning champion of a local bracket.
Meanwhile, in-form 27-year-old Cheung had the highest FUT Weekend League record (30 wins from 30 games), has won local FIFA 18 and FIFA 19 tournaments, and the third-runner up at the 2018 PlayStation League Asia.
The now-teammates had played several qualifiers last month to reach the final on Saturday. Those who qualified will be given further training ahead of their Denmark debut.
Hong Kong is considered a worthy competitor in the region but China, Japan and South Korea have long dominated the football video gaming scene in Asia. Reigning champions France won a Fifa-sanctioned 2019 event, the first of its kind, in London.
The FIFAe Nations Cup pits nations against each other in a two-on-two format for both PS4 and X-Box consoles. The winners of the regional online qualification – part of the Road to the FIFAe Nations Cup – move on to the final for a chance to be named FIFAe Nations Champions.
