eChampions League Finals preview: Who will take home the title?

Almost seven months after a field of 1024 of Europe's finest EA SPORTS FIFA players began the journey to eChampions League glory, it all comes down to this: one day, eight contenders, and a guaranteed new name on the trophy when the winner is crowned in Istanbul on 7 June.

The one-day event will be streamed live on 7 June from 15:00 CEST on EASPORTS Twitch, EASPORTS TikTok, UEFA's YouTube channel and UEFA Champions League TikTok, as well as being broadcast by several Champions League media partners around the globe.

The basics

The Final format picks up the tournament where April’s Knockout Stage left off, with two defeats at any point across both events marking the end of a player's campaign for another season.

The double elimination draw resumes with the Upper Bracket Semi-finals, featuring the four players who emerged undefeated from the Knockout Stage, and the Lower Bracket Round 5, where the quartet of contenders know only a win will do.

Players beaten in the Upper Bracket will drop into the Lower Bracket, a four-round last-chance saloon to determine who will face the winner of the Upper Bracket Final for the ultimate prize in the Grand Final.

Turkish representatives among final eight

RBLZ GAMING's Umut Gültekin represents Germany on the esports scene, but said travelling to Turkey for the eChampions League Finals feels like a homecoming of sorts.

"It's an amazing feeling to qualify for the Finals, for Istanbul," said the reigning FIFAe World Cup champion. "It's like one of my home cities.

"Me, KeturDylo and Emre Yilmaz, we are all from Turkey, so it's really nice to play the final stage there. And it's also my first tournament in Turkey, so I'm really excited. I'd like to celebrate a title in Istanbul more than any other city."

Umut will face Netherlands' Emre Yilmaz in the semi-finals, with the Team Gullit man the only player to go unbeaten through both the Group Stage and Knockout Stage, building on his burgeoning reputation after a debut run to the FIFAe World Cup semi-finals last season.

"At the FIFAe World Cup, I learned a lot about myself," Yilmaz said. "It's all about confidence and mentality in FIFA – and mentality is maybe the most important thing to win a trophy."

The second semi-final is an all-Italian affair, with Lucio 'HezerS' Vecchione facing regular sparring partner Francesco 'Obrun2002' Tagliafierro for a place in the Upper Final.

"He is one of my best friends in esports," said AC Monza’s Vecchione. "We've spent a lot of time together with eChampions League and eSerie A. I hope I can play a good match because I know of his great potential, but we’ll see."

"I’ve played against him so much that when we play in Istanbul I don't know how it will feel," exeed's Tagliafierro added. "We really know each other's games by heart."

Tagliafierro posted the shock result of the Knockout Stage with a 7-6 victory over RBLZ GAMING's Anders Vejrgang, handing one of the tournament favourites the first defeat of his solo LAN event career.

But the 17-year-old Dane bounced back to reach the eChampions League Finals as one of the four remaining Lower Bracket contenders, knocking out defending champion Nicolas 'nicolas99FC' Villalba with an extra-time strike to win 5-4.

With 64 goals to his name across the Group Stage and Knockout Stage at a rate of 3.2 goals per leg, Vejrgang admits his defeat during the Knockout Stage briefly knocked his belief.

"I expected to qualify for the Finals because I know I'm good enough, but I choked on the first day of the Knockout Stage," said Vejrgang, who will face Dylan 'KeturDylo' Gozuacik when the tournament resumes.

"I had to prepare better mentally for the next day, more than I have to normally. In my head, I felt like I was already out – I don't know how I won, but I did. Between the matches, I talked with the club – they helped me a lot with my mentality during day two."

Having won against Umut and Donovan 'Tekkz' Hunt to reach the eCL Finals, eliminating the Briton in the process, HSV eSports’ Daniel 'Daniel7' Dwelk faces Ander Tobal 'Neat' Herrada of DUZ Gaming in the second Lower Bracket clash.

"It gives me a lot of confidence – that means that I can win against every player," Dwelk said. "And yes, I'm very confident for the Finals in Istanbul."

For Herrada, it is his affinity for the competition that will drive him on in Turkey.

"This is my favourite competition of all, having qualified in 2021, and it always adds that extra bit of motivation to keep going," said the Spaniard. "It makes me happy that even with the new players emerging and the game changing, that I'm still here."