

Having come out well on top of the fierce FIFA v PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) video games rivalry that raged in the early 00s, FIFA has become “the” dominant force in simulation football over the past decade. FIFA has long held the edge over competitors by hoovering up the vast majority of official licenses, but in recent years developers EA Sports have also perfected the free-flowing, fast-moving gameplay so adored by sports fans.
Today FIFA’s cultural significance eclipses nearly every other video game on the planet. Its much vaulted yearly music playlist can launch the career of global superstars. It’s even credited with boosting the popularity of “soccer” in the american-football and baseball obsessed USA (FIFA it seems, is the perfect college dorm video game).
For the modern FIFA game, competitive online play is part of its DNA. The FIFA esports scene is one of the biggest in the world and the top players can earn around $100,000 per game.
Core Gameplay
At their core FIFA games are true football simulators. A player chooses a real-world football team and takes on other individual players in virtual football games that adhere to all the same rules and regulations as a traditional football match.
FIFA Ultimate Team
Thanks to an extensive range of official licenses, FIFA players have always had the pick of the biggest and best football leagues in the world. Including the Premier League, Liga BBVA, Bundesliga, La Liga and more.
Despite this, the most popular gameplay mode in FIFA is now FIFA Ultimate Team (often referred to as “FUT” or “UT”). FUT allows you to build a team using any players, from any global leagues. Once a team is assembled, players compete with others to win matches and earn coins, which in turn allow them to buy better players or special player packs.
This popular gameplay mode has even spawned it’s own esports tournaments, including the FUT Champions Cup.
The Basics
Most FIFA esports matches are played 1v1 and games can only be played on the PS4/PS5 and Xbox platforms.
Exact qualification and tournament mechanics can vary from tournament to tournament. Esports tournaments are set up by FIFA and EA themselves, but there are also licensed and unlicensed third party tournaments with significant prize money on offer.
The FIFA 21 Global Series (FGS) and FIFA eWorld Cup – hosted by EA and featuring the very best FIFA esports players in the world – are arguably the pinnacle of FIFA esports gaming.
FGS is a vast regional competition comprising Europe, North America, South America, Oceania, East Asia, and West Asia & South Africa. Each of the 6 regions has their own qualifiers, prize pools and regional playoff events.
Qualification – Players can qualify by reaching the “Elite 1” rank in FUT Champions mode. To do this they need to win 27 games in a single weekend league.
Global Series Points – Once qualified, players can gain “Global Series Points” by competing in events and playing matches in FUT Champions mode. Total points are tallied on a leaderboard and those players at the top will earn a seat at their respective regional playoff.
Regional Winners – The winners of each regional competition will earn a share of a multi-million dollar prize pool and have the opportunity to compete in the FIFA majors — FIFA eNations Cup, FIFA eClub World Cup and FIFA eWorld Cup.
The FIFA eWorld Cup (FIWC) is recognised by Guinness World Records as being the largest esports tournament in the world. This is because millions of players have the chance to compete and reach the last 32 via specific FIWC qualification events or by taking part in the FIFA Global Series.
The FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Finals take place over 3 days – watched by millions and broadcast in over 100 territories. The 32 finalists are split into four groups (two for each console) – before 16 progress through to the knockout stages. The overall winner is crowned after a last 16 phase, quarter finals, semi-finals and two-legged final match played on both consoles.
FIFA esports betting options are very similar to sports betting options available for real-life football games. Popular FIFA betting options include:
Moneyline Bets – Arguably the simplest way to bet on FIFA esports. With a moneyline bet, you simply back which player will come out on top in any individual match.
Match Outcome – A bet on the full-time result after 90 minutes. This could be whether Player A or Player B will be the match winner, or whether the match will be drawn. However you may also be able to bet on a specific full-time result (e.g. 3-2).
Tournament Winner / Outright Bet – A bet on which player will be the overall winner of any given tournament.
Special Bets – A variety of “Special Bets” are usually available via esports bookmakers. These don’t necessarily hinge on the outcome of the game. Instead you can choose to bet on separate gameplay events. For example, “Player A will score 3 goals”, or “Player B will win 8 corners”.
In-play Betting – A hugely popular betting type in recent years, in-play bets or live bets allow you to bet on outcomes during a match. For example, you could bet on Player A winning the game despite being two goals down.
We’ve made it easier than ever to choose the best FIFA betting sites. Check out our selection of hand-picked esports betting sites below – each with fantastic introductory offers.
Here are some important considerations when choosing the best FIFA betting site for you:
New to FIFA Betting? Look for a betting site which offers a variety of markets.
If you’re just starting out betting on FIFA esports, it makes sense to choose a bookmaker that can offer you a wide variety of markets to bet on. This will help you to try different types of FIFA betting and find the markets you prefer to bet on.
Do you place regular FIFA Bets? Look for a betting site which offers the best odds for your preferred markets.
A betting site may offer a vast array of FIFA betting options – but if you are only interested in online bets for match outcomes and tournament winners, it’s more important to choose the betting site which offers the best betting odds for those markets.
Betting Big Money? Look for a betting site with the best offers and rewards.
Of course – you should never bet more than you can afford. However if you are placing bigger bets on FIFA esports then it might make sense to choose a site which offers the best rewards, free bets and incentives for depositing more funds.
New to FIFA betting? No problem. Here are some FIFA betting tips to get you started on your journey:
Do some basic Research – You wouldn’t bet on a regular football match if you didn’t know anything about the teams playing… and the same should apply to FIFA betting! Luckily there is a wealth of information available to help you brush up on pro FIFA esports players and tournaments.
For example, you can view the official FIFA Global Series Rankings HERE and explore comprehensive fan-made Wiki’s such as the FIFA esports Wiki
Get in on the Action – What better way to increase your knowledge of FIFA esports than enjoying some live streaming action on the official EA Sports FIFA twitch channel? Check it out HERE.
Consider Overall Outcomes vs Individual Match Bets – Just like real-word football anything can happen in FIFA esports matches. You may wish to consider betting on overall outcomes and tournament winners instead of individual matches. No matter what happens in individual games, the best players will – usually – rise to the top.
Practise Responsible Betting – Always remember that betting should be fun. You should never bet more than you can afford. See more at BeGamebleAware