Eight more players have qualified for the EA SPORTS Global Series Play-offs after an exciting weekend of action in Manchester, which saw Saudi Arabian Mosaad 'Falcon MSDossary' Aldossary lift the FUT Champions Cup. In one of world football’s heartlands, and in the shadow of Manchester United’s storied Old Trafford, Victoria Warehouse played host to the tournament over three days before concluding on Sunday (15 April).

A massive 128-strong field of the world’s best converged on Manchester after finishing at the top of the Global Weekend League Leaderboard in February.

The Global Series playoffs will be held later this year where bragging rights, and enticing cash rewards, will be up for grabs.

As was the case in Barcelona in January, the tournament lined up with 64 players in each group separated by console (PlayStation 4 and Xbox One), before a two-game round featuring the winners of each division.

Familiar names exit, new names arise The opening two days of competition proved not only highly entertaining, but brought with them a host of upsets. Known names such as Kurt 'kurt0411' Fenech, Tassal 'FaZe Tass' Rushan, Spencer 'Unilad Gorilla' Ealing, Donovan 'F2Tekkz' Hunt, and the previously undefeated Javier 'ARES Janoz' Munoz all exited on either Friday or Saturday.

Nicolas 'Nicolas99fc' Villalba seemed set for redemption following his defeat in the Barcelona Grand Final, having progressed undefeated through the group stage and the first three knockout rounds. However, there was to be more heartbreak for the Argentine in the semi-finals, where he narrowly lost 5-4 to German player Philipp 'Eisvogel' Schermer.

On the PS4 side of the draw, Canadian 'GoalMachine21' was another notable name to push through to the last-four, becoming something of a fan favourite along the way. However, his progress was finally halted by Saudi Arabian 'Falcon MSDossary' who completed a stunning 8-2 win.

The respective finals proved to be tight and nailbiting contests. The PS4 finale between 'Eisvogel' and Henrique 'Zezinho23' Silva concluded with the former triumphing with a 5-3 victory.

The Xbox decider was even more dramatic with the lead changing several times. It took extra time for 'Falcon MSDossary' to finally edge Niklas 'NRaseck' Raseck out of a place in the Grand Final.

A new champion 'Eisvogel' opened the scoring in the opening leg of the decider, before being forced to settle for a well-matched 2-2 scoreline. The second leg was a different story, however, with 'Falcon MSDossary' gaining the upper hand within minutes of the kick-off. It was a lead he never relinquished, making it 4-2 going into half-time, eventually settling for a 6-4 aggregate victory.

“It's been a year-and-a-half, and I'm thirsty,” said an excited 'Falcon MSDossary' after being presented with the trophy. The Saudi said he has added self-belief heading into the Global Series Playoffs in the middle of the year. “It also gave me a lot of trust in myself, and that my play is tight.”