No country boasts as many participants in this year’s Grand Final as Germany. A total of eight Germans will battle it out for the title of FIFA eWorld Cup Champion 2018. To put things in perspective, the nation with the next highest number of Grand Finalists is France – with three representatives.

Despite their prevalence at this year’s Grand Final, the top spot has never gone to a player from Germany. Kai ‘deto’ Wollin is one of two Germans in this year’s contest to have been narrowly beaten in previous Grand Finals, having lost to England’s Spencer ‘Gorilla’ Ealing in last year’s Final Showdown. Ayhan Altundag also missed out on first place in 2010 when he was defeated by Nenad Stojkovic in Barcelona.

Will a German player come out on top this year?

The eight German competitors at a glance:

PlayStation players:

Philipp 'Eisvogel' Schermer One of the most promising newcomers in this year’s FIFA 18 Global Series. After some impressive performances in qualification, at the FIFA eClub World Cup, where he finished second with his team, and in the play-offs, ‘Eisvogel’ qualified for his first-ever FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final.

Tim 'TheStrxngeR' Katnawatos The FC Basel player is appearing at his second successive Grand Final after making his debut last year. He scored one of the tournament's most stunning goals during the play-offs in Amsterdam and will be looking to cause a stir in London too.

Mohammed 'MoAubameyang' Harkous Experience at numerous national and international tournaments enabled 'MoAubameyang' to qualify for his second Grand Final in as many years as he prepares to battle it out for the title in London.

Kai 'deto' Wollin Last year’s runner-up is again among the favourites for this year’s title. His high-quality defensive displays repeatedly impressed during qualifying in Amsterdam.

Marvin 'M4RV' Hintz 'M4RV' has enjoyed many years of prominence on the German scene. The Bayer Leverkusen man has played competitively since FIFA 12 and qualified for the Grand Final as the PlayStation second seed.

Xbox players:

Niklas 'NRaseck' Raseck 'NRaseck' is one of the dark horses at the FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final. His defensive strength helped him to frustrate one opponent after another at the play-offs in Amsterdam.

Michael 'MegaBit' Bittner In 2016 'MegaBit' reached the knockout stages of the Grand Final in New York and is considered Germany’s strongest player together with 'deto'. He qualified for the 2018 Grand Final as top seed in Amsterdam and has set his sights on the title this year.

Lukas 'Sakul' Vonderheide Rookie 'Sakul' can look back on an extremely successful debut season on the competitive FIFA scene and will be full of confidence heading into his first Grand Final.

The talent and experience of Germany’s players make this as good a year as any for the country to bring home its first ever title.

Can a German win the competition this year? Let us know what you think by using the #FIFAeWorldCup hashtag or by tagging @FIFAeWorldCup in your post!