Men’s group stage ends, players ready for R16 in eSports Challenge

The third day of the 2020 FISU eSports Challenge Football also marked the last day of group stage. As with day two, there were some close matches and there were only two games that had more than 8 goals difference. Now the qualified men move on to the round of 16, which takes place today, 9 July, and on 13 July. The women’s group stage continues till 13 July. 

In the first broadcast game of the day on Wednesday, Maria Soledad Lopez from Universidad Nacional de La Matanza (ARG) faced Nur Fatihah Rahman, from Malaysia University of Science and Technology. It was the most tactical game of the tournament so far. Rahman controlled ball possession and even with some improvements on her team, Lopez couldn’t score. Final score: 2-1 for Rahman.

The second game put these players face to face: Abdulaziz Alwahhbi from Al-Imam Mohammad Ibn Saud Islamic University Riyadh (KSA) and Luccas Ferreira, from Federal University of São Carlos (BRA). Alwahhbi’s team controlled the first half, although he could only create two goal opportunities. In one of those, he opened the scoring with a goal from Ronaldo, the Brazilian icon, against his Brazilian opponent. Irony, much? Alwahhbi then scored another goal and suffered no defensive scares, winning 2-0.

After that, Amran Al Dhuli, from Modern College of Business and Science (OMA) faced Vadim Popkov, from Russian University of Economics (RUS). It was a high-speed game, that started with an Mbappe goal to Al Dhuli’s team. The player from Oman was very effective in his attacks, and Popkov tried to make some chances in the end of first half, but could not affect the game. Al Dhuli returned even stronger, scoring four more goals, winning 7-0.

The last game of the first set of matches was between Henriques-Gomes, from Swinburne University of Technology (AUS) and Ádám Borkai, from Széchenyi István University (HUN). The last but the most tightly contested game of the day, it saw each half dominated by one of the two. The match finished 1-1.

The second set of matches started with a brilliant performance by Jessica Au, from Monash University (AUS) against her opponent Saloni Kackar, from Lovely Professional University (IND). Jessica used a lot of players from the Premier League and scored two goals in each half, ending the game winning 4-0. With this victory, Jessica finished her stage group with two wins, one draw and two losses.

The second game of the session was between Luiz Domenico Suarez, from University of Lima (PER), and Gabriel Nowak from Jagiellonian University in Kraköw (POL). It was a very close first half, where Nowak opened the scoreboard with an early goal.

Both players had few chances on goal, but control of the match was in Suarez’s hands. In the second half, this dominance was converted into goals; three more. Benzema was a crucial player for Suarez, who won the game by 4-1.

The third match pitted Argentina against Portugal, with Nicolas Brizuela from Universidad Nacional de San Martin taking on João Goulart from University of Porto. After a strong start from Goulart (POR), who scored early in the first half, the Argentinian player began to pressurise his opponent. In the second half, with a beautiful volley by Antoine Griezman, Brizuela tied the game. He kept up the pressure, and the game finished in a 1-1 draw.

In the last game of the day, Happy Ananum from University of Windsor (CAN) faced Masih Mohafezatkar from Islamic Azad University of Qazvin (IRI). Mohafezatkar didn’t want to give his opponent any chances, and started with high pressure and speed around the box and the dynamic duo from Paris Saint-Germain (Neymar and Mbappé) doing everything on the match. The first half finished 4-0 for the Iranian player. The rest of the game had more goals, with Saint Maximan also participating and finishing the game 9-0. This game topped off the men’s group stages of the FISU eSports Challenge.

Check out today’s matches below, first day of round of 16:

Spot 1, at 14:00 CEST (12:00 GMT)

Zackary Marceau – Southern Cross University (AUS) VS Jose Carmelo Licea – Autonomous University of Queretaro (MEX)

Masih Mohafezatkar – Islamic Azad University of Qazvin (IRI) VS Nicolas Brizuela – National University of San Martín (ARG)

Spot 2, at 22:00 CEST (20:00 GMT)

Diego Guerra – University of the Republic (URU) VS Henrik Vari – Edutus College (HUN)

Zhanbo Liang – Shanghai Jiao Tong University (CHI) VS Natthawich Kongkijpipat – Rangsit University (THA)

The full result of all the men’s games can be found  and the women’s games .