May 16 – The 2025 edition of the EA Sports eChampions League gets underway this weekend in Manchester, bringing together 36 of Europe’s top EA Sports FC players in a Champions League-style tournament to determine who will be crowned the continent’s best.
This year’s competition begins with the League Phase at Dock10 Studios in Manchester on May 16-17, followed by the Knockout Phase on Sunday, May 18.
Following a revamped qualification structure that mirrored UEFA’s continental competitions, this year’s eChampions League has attracted a stellar field. Among the headline names returning is defending champion Jonny, who qualified via Germany’s WOW Virtual Bundesliga, joined by fellow VBL standouts KKoray, levyfinn, and 2024 FC Pro World Champion Anders Vejrgang.
England is well represented by Manchester City’s Tekkz and Bonanno, the reigning back-to-back ePremier League champions, alongside Brighton’s Marley and Jayden Groden, who all reached last year’s edition as well.
LaLiga FC Pro champion nicolas99fc headlines the Spanish contingent, joined by Resende, Emre Yilmaz, and DFernandes. From France, five-time eLigue 1 champion Fouma and his FC Lorient teammate LJR Peixoto are back in the mix, alongside Lille’s Brice and Ilian.
Italy’s eSerie A champion Samugamer, just 17 years old, leads the Italian qualifiers, including runners-up Danipitbull, Luconegua, and Karimisbak.
Other returning heavyweights include Levi de Weerd (Ajax), Giobundyy (Almere City), JP Sleator (Shelbourne FC), and brandsha (Ħamrun Spartans FC).
The League Phase begins Friday and runs across two days. All 36 players will compete in a round-robin format over 12 rounds. The top 24 will advance to Sunday’s Knockout Phase, with the bottom 12 eliminated.
In the Knockout Phase, the top eight performers from the League Phase automatically progress to the Round of 16. Players ranked 9-24 enter a single-elimination playoff to fill the remaining spots. From there, the field will be whittled down to eight finalists.
The eChampions League Finals take place in Munich on May 28, where the final eight players will face off live at Eisbach Studios in a bid to lift one of EA Sports’ most prestigious trophies.
Insideworldfootball will deliver live coverage on facebook and X (formerly Twitter) from Manchester this weekend.
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at moc.l1747434625labto1747434625ofdlr1747434625owedi1747434625sni@g1747434625niwe.1747434625yrrah1747434625