The FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) is the world's largest football gaming tournament. Players from all around the world compete, hoping to qualify for the Grand Final and ultimately be crowned the new FIFA Interactive World Champion.

Last year FIFA, along with its Presenting Partners Electronic Arts (EA) and PlayStation, witnessed over 10,000 players compete at 19 Live Qualifier Events held across the globe, whilst a staggering 515,000 players picked up their PlayStation®3 controllers and went head-to-head on the EA SPORTS™ FIFA09 pitch as they tried to claim one of the 13 available Online Qualification spots.

After the qualification season that ran from October 2008-May 2009 ended, 32 virtual players were left holding a ticket to Barcelona's Grand Final. These 32 gamers had proved themselves as some of the world's best virtual football players by qualifying for the FIWC09 Grand Final via either the online or Live Qualification modes. In Barcelona, it was 22 year old Frenchman Bruce Grannec who was eventually crowned the FIFA Interactive World Champion 2009.

The highly anticipated FIWC10 season kicks off on 2nd October 2009 with a few changes to the qualification format from last year. As a result of the huge online numbers recorded in FIWC09, 21 Grand Final spots have now been allocated to the Online Qualification, resulting in a reduction of Live Qualifier Events. A total of 10 Live Qualifier Events will be held across the globe between October 2009 and May 2010.

The Online Qualification for FIWC10 will also be structured slightly differently from previous years, with the introduction of two seasons. The first season will run from 2 October through to 18th December, whilst the second season will run from 4 January 2010 through to 31 March 2010. This exciting new structure to the online mode is set to add greater intensity to the games over a shorter period of time, whilst providing players with a greater chance of qualifying for the Grand Final!