UEFA launches UEFA eEURO 2021

UEFA eEURO 2021 will be the world's largest national-team efootball event, played exclusively on KONAMI’s eFootball PES 2021 SEASON UPDATE.

The competition will feature all 55 of UEFA’s member associations, who will start selecting their teams in November for the qualifiers being staged in early 2021. The target is the final tournament in London from 9–10 July, scheduled just before the UEFA EURO 2020 final at Wembley on 11 July.

"The UEFA eEURO has given efootball enthusiasts the chance to dream of representing their country on the biggest stage and all competing teams will be looking to emulate Italy, who were victorious earlier this year," said UEFA marketing director Guy-Laurent Epstein.

"The inaugural UEFA eEURO was an undoubted success, with over 15 million people having watched competition footage across UEFA's platforms. We have seen a massive growth in the popularity of efootball over the past few years and eEURO 2021 will continue to give us the opportunity to connect with new and existing fans of national-team football."

Reigning champions

Represented by a team of four – AlonsoGrayfox, Naples17x, Nicaldan and Genoa_Npk02 – Italy were consistently impressive during the inaugural virtual final tournament. Beaten just once in qualifying, the Azzurri dispatched Israel in the quarter-finals and France in the last four to set up a showdown with Serbia, whom they overcame with a last-minute goal in the best-of-five final series.

How will the 2021 competition unfold?

Between November 2020 and February 2021, each national association will nominate their team of two to four, with participants chosen through a domestic tournament – unless a national efootball team already exists.

A draw will divide countries into ten groups for the online qualification stage. In qualifying, every team plays two matches against the other sides in their group, and the team with the highest overall aggregate score is the winner. The winner of each group and the six runners-up who come through a separate play-off stage qualify for the final tournament in London.

"Our teams have pulled out all the stops to secure the biggest and best licences possible for eFootball PES 2021 SEASON UPDATE – quality licences that match the level we set each year when it comes to game play," said Jonas Lygaard, senior director – brand and business development at Konami Digital Entertainment.

"The partnership with UEFA and the EURO 2020 tournament is a big win for our community and new users who look for fresh content throughout the year."

The winners of eEURO 2021 will receive tickets to the final of UEFA EURO 2020 as well as a cash prize.