We are excited to announce that the FC Pro World Championship will take place at Esports World Cup in Riyadh this August from the 7th to the 10th:

• 32 of the world’s top players, including reigning World Champion Anders Vejrgang, nicolas99fc, and Tekkz are set to compete in the FC Pro World Championship at Esports World Cup. 

• A new open qualification method, the FC Pro Last Chance Qualifier event, will be held at the Esports World Cup from July 31st to August 2nd. It will give players one last route to the FC Pro World Championship through the 48-player FC Pro Play-Ins. 

• An increased prize pool of $1.5M USD across the World Championship, Play-Ins, and LCQ will provide more opportunities for more competitors to earn prize money. 

With 28 of 32 players already qualified for the FC Pro World Championship, all eyes will be on the LCQ and Play-Ins to find out which competitors fill the final four spaces and have a chance at the title.  

Read on below for all the details around the LCQ, Play-Ins, and FC Pro World Championship at Esports World Cup and confirmation of the competitors already qualified into competition!

Tournament Schedule

• Thursday, July 31st – First set of 256 LCQ Competitors will play until 64 remain.

• Friday, August 1st – Second set of 256 LCQ Competitors will play until 64 remain.

• Saturday, August 2nd – The remaining 128 LCQ competitors will play until 5 remain.

• Sunday, August 3rd – Play-Ins.

• Thursday, August 7th – World Championship Groups.

• Friday, August 8th – World Championship Groups & Round of 16.

• Saturday, August 9th – World Championship Quarterfinals.

• Sunday, August 10th – World Championship Semifinals, Third Place Match, and Finals.

The New Last Chance Qualifier

Competitors will soon be able to register for the Last Chance Qualifier (LCQ) taking place on July 31st to August 2nd in Riyadh. Top finishing players in the FC Pro Open Cup leaderboards will receive priority registration, which will be communicated ahead of registration opening.

The LCQ will register up to 512 players and be played as a double elimination bracket with the top 5 competitors moving on to the Play-Ins to join the other 43 previously-qualified players. This means the total number of Play Ins competitors will be 48.

With up to 512 players taking part, in addition to the already qualified players to the Play-Ins and World Championship, this will be one of the largest-ever gathering of FC Pro competitors. We can’t wait to see who can keep their competitive season alive and qualify further!

Expanded Prize Pool of $1.5M USD

In addition to the $1 million total prize pool for the FC Pro World Championship, prizing will be added to the deeper parts of the competition, with $500,000 in prize money added to the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins and FC Pro Last Chance Qualifier to reward players for their accomplishments.

The added prize purse means that the top 128 players who make it through to Sunday in the LCQ and all players in the Play-Ins will earn prize money.

Tournament Format

Last Chance Qualifier

LCQ players will register on start.gg to compete. From May 20th to May 26th, registration will be open to a maximum of 384 players who finished at the top of the FC Pro Open Cups leaderboards. Players in this group will be sent the information required to register. From May 27th to July 21st, registrations will be open to all aspiring world champions. Once registration is closed, the competition will be scheduled, with available matchups released. Depending on the final schedule, competitors should expect to play their first matches on either July 31st or August 1st.

Players will compete in a double elimination bracket - lose twice and you are out!

• First, the 512 competitors will be placed into 32 groups of 16 competitors each.

• Each group will play in a double-elimination bracket until four competitors remain (2 from the winners bracket, 2 from the losers bracket)

• Competitors will maintain their place in the winners and losers bracket as they progress through the competition.

Next, the 128 remaining competitors will again be placed into 8 groups of 16 competitors to continue the double elimination bracket.

• In each group, 8 competitors will start in the winners bracket and 8 competitors in the losers bracket. Each group will play in a double-elimination bracket until four competitors remain (2 from the winners bracket, 2 from the losers bracket)

• The remaining 32 competitors will again be divided into 2 groups of 16 to continue the double elimination bracket.

• In each group, 8 competitors will start in the winners bracket and 8 competitors in the losers bracket. Each group will play in a double-elimination bracket until four competitors remain (2 from the winners bracket, 2 from the losers bracket)

Finally, the remaining 8 players will play in one final bracket.

• 4 competitors will start in the winners bracket and 4 competitors in the losers bracket

• 2 from the winners bracket and 2 from the losers bracket will qualify for the Play-Ins

• The final 2 competitors eliminated will play one final match for the 5th spot in the Play-Ins.

Please note that the number of players in a bracket or the number of players that advance from one phase to another may change depending on the number of players registered. Players will continue through the winners or losers bracket without resetting. Once you’ve lost two total times, you will be eliminated from the tournament, with the exception of the 2 players competing for 5th place.

Prizing for the LCQ is as follows:

All 128 competitors who make it out of their initial bracket groups and make it through to the Round of 128 on Saturday will receive prize money. Please note that those placing in 1st-5th will earn prizing based on their placement in the play-ins.

Play-Ins

The 48 competitors will be split into eight groups of six players and play against all players in their group. The bottom two players of each group will be eliminated. The rest will move to a single elimination bracket with a number of byes based on their placement within their group.

After Round 4, we’ll have our four qualified players for the FC Pro World Championship.

Direct Qualified Players Confirmed for Play-Ins

The Play-Ins prizing is as follows:

We are excited that all players that qualified into the play-ins will take home prizing for their accomplishments for the season. Please note that those finishing in 1st through 4th will be prized as part of the World Championship.

World Championship

The FC Pro World Championship will follow the same format as last season, with players in eight double-elimination groups of four players each. Players will be seeded based on their FC Pro World Rankings. The top two players from each group will move on to the single-elimination knockout bracket.

All details for those who would like to attend the FC Pro World Championship in Riyadh as spectators can be found on the website of our partners at Esports World Cup.

Direct Qualified Players Confirmed for FC Pro World Championship

The FC Pro World Championship prizing is as follows: