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With the football season coming to an end, the FIFA esports tournaments are also reaching their dramatic conclusions.
One of these tournaments is the E-League that saw a new champion taking home the tournament title after a fierce battle in Australia’s top FIFA 23 competition.
In the ever-evolving landscape of esports, FIFA has emerged as a leading title, captivating millions of gamers around the world. The fusion of competitive gaming and the world’s most popular sport, football, has given rise to thrilling esports FIFA tournaments such as E-League that showcase exceptional skill, teamwork, and passion.
The Format
This year we saw a new format applied to this tournament designed to be more inclusive, giving more Australian based players the chance to compete for the ultimate national glory. With the conclusion of the Path to E-League 2023 Open Qualifier, the 12 A-League professional clubs involved selected two players to represent each team in the new E-League season.
The group stages started in March with 24 competitors separated into two groups of 12 players each going head-to-head in a round-robin format over a six-week period. The top six in each group advanced to the E-League playoffs with the top two players in each group receiving a bye through to the second round of play-offs.
The E-League Play-offs were played in May in a double elimination bracket made up of best-of-two matches that resulted in the four finalists. The final four players played the Grand Final of the competition in-person where we saw the rise of a new Australian champion. All games were streamed online gaining over 50.000 views on Twitch.
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How did the final tournament unfold?
With the Group Stages concluded, we saw the top 12 players going to the play-offs including some of the favourites such as Ryan “Naylor” Naylor and Mike “MikeJ” Jameson of Melbourne City FC or Dylan “Dylan” Campbell of Sydeny FC and Western Sydney Wanderers FC’s Negede “ANezer” Hunegna.
After a strong set of showings in the group stages, Anthony “Saad” Saad entered the E-League Finals with plenty of confidence from a second-placed finish in Group B. That meant Saad was able to skip the first round of play-off matches and move straight into the Upper Bracket Quarterfinals, where he took on Cristian “vNuggzy” Valeri of Macarthur FC securing a clean sheet over the whole tie and a convincing 6-0 win.
In the same phase of the competition, we saw a textbook display from ANezer against Mark “Mark11” Zakhary defeating his opponent 5-3. Mark “Marko” Brijeski had the best on Dylan defeating the Sydney FC pro player 6 – 2 while Naylor overpowered Marcus “Marcus Gomes” Gomes in a two-legged affair that concluded in a 5 – 3 win for the Melbourne City FC representative.
The players defeated in the Upper Brackets had another opportunity to qualify to the Grand Final by competing among themselves in the Lower Bracket rounds. There we witnessed Mark11 and Dylan achieving their victories against Noah “Noahja” Abrey and vNuggzy respectively.
Missed our #ELeagueAUS 2023 Finals Day at @FortressSydney?
Catch all the highlights here, as we crowned our latest champion… pic.twitter.com/CEiFl0cvkK
— E-League (@ELeagueAus) May 16, 2023
The Upper Bracket Semifinals concluded with the win of Marko defeating Saad 3 – 1 followed by another defeat for Western United’s player in the Lower Brackets at the hand of Mark11. In the other semifinal, ANezer managed to qualify to the Upper Bracket Final after securing a 5 – 3 win against one of the tournament’s favourites, Naylor, that was subsequently defeated in the Lower Brackets by none other than last year’s winner with Western United, Dylan.
These results put Marko on the cusp of the final, facing off against Western Sydney Wanderers FC’s ANezer that managed a strong comeback performance winning 3 – 2 and gaining access to the Grand Final. In the Lower Brackets, Mark11 destroyed Dylan 11 – 2 and earned a much deserved spot in the Grand Final after an amazing display versus Marko defeating him 3 – 0.
Mark11’s incredible form continued in the Grand Final winning the match with an outstading 6 – 1.
The Champion
Following that incredible win, Mark “Mark11” Zakhary was crowned the E-League 2023 Champion and took home a 4.000$ check. Furthermore, the champion earned himself a spot at the FIFA Global Series Oceania Play-In, where he will compete for a chance to qualify for the FIFA 23 Global Series Play-offs.
Your 2023 #ELeagueAUS Champion 🏆
Congratulations to @Marrkk11_ of @wswanderersfc who won the Grand Final 6-1 on aggregate! pic.twitter.com/jjqkn5JT8k
— Isuzu UTE A-League (@aleaguemen) May 14, 2023
Runner-up ANezer and third place Marko will also compete at the FIFA Global Series Oceania Play-In.
