Monday 29 October 2018, 21:12

American wins first tournament on the road to FIFA eWorld Cup 2019

  • American 'Joksan-' wins the first title of the year

  • German players dominate large parts of the tournament

  • Looking back at the Continental Cup 2018

The road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2019 began with the Sony Continental Cup in Paris. We look back at the first tournament of the year:

Group stage While many of the favourites successfully qualified for the last 16, big names such as 'Lucasrep98', 'VFB DrErhano', 'Hashtag Harry' and 2014 champion August Rosenmeier were forced to wave goodbye to their hopes of winning the first title of the season after the group stage.

Round of 16 Several familiar faces successfully navigated the group stage only to be eliminated in the last 16. 2018 Grand Finalists 'MaestroSquad' and 'AndoniiPM' were both unable to get the better of their opponents, while reigning FIFA eWorld Cup champion 'Msdossary' suffered a 2-0 defeat at the hands of 'DPeixoto7'.

Quarter-finals In a close match, two-time Grand Finalist and FC Basel player 'TheStrxngeR' edged out 'NBD2699' 5-4. Meanwhile, 2017 Grand Finalist 'TimoX' reached the semi-finals with a resounding 7-0 victory over ‘Msdossary’s vanquisher 'DPeixoto7'.

Another two-time Grand Finalist 'MoAuba' became the third German to book his place in the last four, while American 'Joksan--' beat Japan’s 'Web Nasri' in the battle of the non-European quarter-finalists.

Semi-finals The Continental Cup 2018 finalists were determined in a best-of-three format.

'TheStrxngeR' vs. 'TimoX' In an all-German encounter, FC Basel’s 'TheStrxngeR' got the better of Wolfsburg player 'TimoX' after three games. 'MoAuba' vs. 'Joksan-' The second semi-final tie resulted in a surprise win for the underdog as American 'Joksan-' beat the experienced 'MoAuba' to prevent an all-German final.

Final 'TheStrxngeR' vs. 'Joksan-' As a two-time Grand Finalist, the German was the clear favourite heading into the tournament decider. After an extremely close second game, 'Joksan-' won the crucial third match to clinch the first title of the season.

Finals bracket Continental Cup 2018

The stats

  • Spain, Germany and France had the most representatives in the knockout stages with three players each

  • The top 16 featured seven FIFA eWorld Cup 2018 Grand Finalists

  • Six of the eight quarter-finalists hailed from Europe

  • Three of the four semi-finalists were German

The reactions "It’s absolutely incredible. The support I got from all sides was amazing. I wanted to play my way; every match was tough and I’m delighted to have won the title." - 'Joksan-'

"Unfortunately I had to admit defeat today. Joksan is a very good player and I want to thank everyone for their support." - 'TheStrxngeR'

The prizes

1st place: €20,000 and 850 Global Series points 2nd place: €10,000 and 450 Global Series points 3rd and 4th place: €4,000 and 315 Global Series points 5th-8th place: €2,000 and 150 Global Series points 9th-16th place: €500 and 110 Global Series points 17th-32nd place: 80 Global Series points

Head here to find out more about the events coming up.