Forty players were narrowed down to two. Twenty countries were narrowed down to one. French duo ‘Maestro’ and ‘DaXe’ were crowned FIFA eNations Cup™ 2019 champions after beating Argentina’s ‘Nicolas99fc’ and 'Yagocai' in the inaugural final in London.

The French were worthy winners, having navigated their way through a formidable Group A consisting of other pre-tournament favourites England and Saudi Arabia, before seeing off titans sides such as Brazil and Portugal in the knockouts.

A mammoth final was teed-up between France and Argentina and with so much already at stake, the tension was mounted even further when ‘Nicolas99fc’ and ‘Masestro’ played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg.

It set up a winner-takes-all second leg with the weight of expectation lying on the shoulders of 'Yagocai' and 'DaXe'. The former was in electric form going into the final having pulled off several impressive results, including a 1v1 victory against Xbox top seed ‘F2Tekkz’ in the quarter-finals.

'DaXe' kept his nerve in the deciding game, however, defeating 'Yagocai' 2-1 on Xbox to secure global glory for France.

“I’m very happy we’ve given France the first ever FIFA eNations Cup - it’s an amazing moment to win it,” 'DaXe' smiled after the dust had settled. “Yago is so good – he beat Tekkz earlier in the tournament. We never play a final – we win a final. We did the job. Allez Les Bleus!”

DaXe’s team-mate ‘Maestro’, known for his Kylian Mbappe-style celebration after scoring important goals and recording important victories, was equally ecstatic after helping France to the title.

“It feels great to win the first ever FIFA eNations Cup with my brother, it’s crazy!,” ‘Maestro’ exclaimed. “I want to thank the French Football Federation. Everybody worked hard for us to be in good condition and we’re very grateful for that.

“I want to thank my girlfriend and my family. I also want to thank my brother,” he said, before giving team-mate 'DaXe' a peck on the cheek. “I kiss him because it’s crazy what he did. Allez Les Bleus!”

Though France are now the best national team competing on EA Sports FIFA 19, they did not have it all their own way in a ultra-competitive Group A. Having played all their group games on Saturday, ‘Daxe’ and ‘Maestro’ were reliant on other results going their way in order for France to seal passage.

Fortune was on their side, however. Finland pulled off two unlikely draws against Saudi Arabia in the 1v1 games – eliminating giants ‘MsDossary7' and ‘The Royal’, and sending the French through.

“The group stage was very, very hard for us," said 'Maestro. "We finished second in the group thanks to Finland’s big win – they saved us in this tournament."

After the group stage, France did not look back as they powered their way through formidable opponents Brazil and Portugal before their victory against Argentina. In doing so they each bagged 1,500 EA SPORTS FIFA 19 Global Series, presenting an ideal opportunity for the duo to move up the FIFA 19 Global Series Rankings and take a significant step forward on the Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup™ 2019.

On top of that, France were awarded USD 40,000 as well as being able to call themselves the best national team on EA Sports FIFA 19. DaXe hopes to say the same for EA SPORTS FIFA 20.

“It was a very big thing for us to win this tournament. We are world champions again and we hope to win back-to-back titles next year.”