One thing is certain in the run-up to the VBL grand final: German eFootball will have a new individual champion. Last year’s winner, Antonio Radelja, failed in the VBL Open playoffs and will therefore not defend his title. However, the field of participants in the final round is littered with top names. RBLZ Gaming’s Umut Gültekin and Anders Vejrgang are among the top favorites, with Paderborn’s Jonas Wirth and FOKUS pro Dylan Neuhausen also heading into the weekend with title ambitions.
With Gültekin (2021), Neuhausen (2022) and Augsburg’s Yannic Bederke (2020), three former VBL singles champions will compete in the grand final. Wirth and Jamie Bartel won the VBL club championship a few weeks ago, which in 2023 went to Gültekin, Vejrgang and Richard Hormes. Some of this year’s candidates are highly decorated and some of them are among the best FC players in the world. Whoever is ahead nationally will perform on Friday, Saturday and finally Sunday, when the bowl is awarded.
Modality: Swiss rounds and knockout phase
The 32 eSports athletes were divided into two groups of 16 for the VBL Grand Final. Initially four Swiss rounds are played and the first matches ended tied. Afterwards, two players who have the same win-loss record always face each other. Whoever wins at least three of their four duels will go directly to the round of 16. Participants with a record of 2:2 must compete first in the middle round: whoever only wins one victory or none at all will no longer have a chance to win the title.
Each match consists of a home and away match, the goals of which are added up. If the overall result is a tie after two 90 minutes of play, the decision will be made in extra time or, if necessary, in a penalty shootout. After the Swiss rounds in the two groups, the format of the knockout phase changes to direct elimination: whoever loses a duel is eliminated from the competition.
Schedules and broadcasts
The first three Swiss rounds of both groups will be played on Friday starting at 3:30 p.m. The last matches of the Swiss phase will take place on Saturday starting at 12:00. The intermediate round is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., followed by the round of 16 (starting at 5:30 p.m.) and the quarterfinals (starting at 7:50 p.m.). Sunday will open with the semifinals at 4:00 p.m. and will conclude with the final of the individual championship at 6:30 p.m.
There is still no official VBL live stream for the three Swiss rounds on Friday. However, eSports events can be followed “through various joint streams and viewing parties on club and influencer channels, including Elias Nerlich’s Twitch channel.” On Saturday and Sunday, the VBL will be broadcast live on Twitch and TikTok. The last two days of the Grand Final will also be shown on the Kicker eSport Twitch account and kicker.de/esport.
FUT rules and prize money
Like the playoffs and the Club Championship, the VBL Grand Final will be played in the Ultimate Team mode of EA SPORTS FC 24. Just like the club competition, eSports athletes have access to a pool of cards with everyone the objects of the Bundesliga and the 2nd Bundesliga. National elite heroes and German icons can also be used, but only with a corresponding item for each.
The prize money amounts to 100,000 euros, of which 40,000 euros go to the new VBL individual champion. The runner-up takes home 20,000 euros, the losing semi-finalists receive 7,500 euros each. Whoever leaves the tournament in the quarterfinals or round of 16 will also receive 3,250 or 1,500 euros. In addition to the prize money, four places for the eChampions League and two tickets for the FC Pro World Championship will be awarded at the VBL Grand Final.
You can find all the matches and results of the final round in Cologne in our summary.
