Six competitors earned their tickets to Berlin, Germany for the FIFA Ultimate Team Championship Finals in May by finishing in the top three of their respective gaming platform during the Stage 1 Americas Regional Finals in Miami, Florida on Sunday.
Fans witnessed an all Brazilian Grand Final when Xbox One division winner Rafael "Rafifa13" Fortes knocked off Playstation 4 division winner, friend, and hotel roommate, Lucas "LucasRep98" Gonçalves, to claim first place and a cool $30,000. Here's how the action unfolded on Sunday.
South America reigns supreme
Rafifa13 and LucasRep98, both from Brazil, made the biggest waves throughout the Americas Regional, each claiming first place in their respective console. However, they weren't the only competitors from South America to make their presence known. Camilo "Olimaclan" Lara, from Chile, fell just short of the PS4 crown, losing to LucasRep98 in the finals, and Javier "Janoz CFI" Muñoz, from Columbia, managed to make his way to the Xbox One finals before losing to Rafifa13 in rather spectacular fashion. Those four competitors alone put together a 22-4-4 record throughout the group stage and knockout bracket, signaling Europe might not be the only region to produce some of the best players in FIFA.
Uneven in the USA
There can only be one winner, but the lack of USA representation in most of knockout bracket was a bit of surprise given that the event was held in Miami, Florida. That's partially due to many of the USA competitors making their first "live" competitive debuts, including supposed favorites Alexander "Alekzandur" Betancourt, who finished first in the Xbox One Top 100 FUT Champions leaderboard in November, and Christopher "didychrislito" Holly, who put together similar success on the PS4.
While both players managed to advance to the knockout stage of the bracket, both had to navigate the lower bracket of the double elimination tournament early, with only Alekzandur winning a match in the upper bracket. Good fortune is always a factor in tournaments of this scale, but neither player necessarily played well enough in their respective knockout matches to coast on such luck, as Alekzandur finished with a negative three goal differential in four matches, while didychrislito finished with a paltry plus two goal differential in his four matches.
Competition breeds drama
It may not have been a strong finish for the USA at the Miami Regional, but fans who attended the event were treated to plenty of closely contested matches. In total, five matches in the knockout stage went to penalty kicks, with a whopping 10 other matches finishing with a one goal difference. Matheus "Mazuco786" Mazuco may not have any nails on his fingers after Sunday, as the PS4 player was involved in three of those respective matches, winning each of them before eventually falling to Olimaclan in the losers bracket finals 2-0. While the loss had to be frustrating, Mazuco786 can at least take solace in the fact he earned a ticket to Berlin with the exhilarating run. We'll see if he can translate that clutch play into a run at the FIFA World Championship in May.