Riyadh: For India,it has been a bittersweet start to the FIFAe World Cup 2024 featuring eFootball at the SEF Arena, Boulevard Riyadh here in Saudi Arabia.
The highlight of India’s performance in the competition has definitely been Danial Shakeel Patel, who secured himself a spot in the quarter-finals of the mobile eFootball competition on the night of Tuesday, with four wins, one draw, and two losses.
However, in the team competition – FIFAe World Cup ft eFootball Console, India failed to make it to the last four, as the eTigers finished eighth in a nine-team group, with six losses, one draw, and a solitary win.
Patel will now face the third team from Group B, Turkiye, represented by Yusa Haydar Gokulu, in the quarter-finals of the FIFAe World Cup ft. eFootball- Mobile on Wednesday, at 10.15 pm IST, which will be played in a best-of-three format. The winner of this match-up will face an opponent from either Malaysia or Japan in the semi-finals at midnight.
Debuting at the international arena, Patel took the world of mobile eFootball by storm on Day 1 of the competition with his explosive attacks that caught his opponents by surprise. While he began with a 7-0 drubbing of England in his first game, the 17-year-old came up against two traditional Asian powerhouses in esports in the next two match-ups – Japan and Indonesia.
Patel made short work of Japan, a 4-1 victory, followed by a closely-fought 3-2 win against Indonesia. He ended Day 1 with another convincing victory, a 5-0 result against Spain.
Day 2, however, brought a different set of challenges for Patel. With 12 points in the bag, Patel produced a dominant display against yet another esports powerhouse, Korea Republic. Though the match may have ended in a stalemate, Patel maintained 81 per cent possession throughout the game.
Things went downhill from thereon, however, as he lost his next match 1-5 against Costa Rica, followed by a 0-1 defeat against Brazil. Despite the two defeats on Day 2, Patel finished with 13 points from seven matches, which earned him the second spot in Group A, just one point behind Indonesia.
Represented by Chinmay Sahoo, Saksham Rattan, and Ibrahim Gulrez, the Indian eFootball team finished eighth in Group A of the FIFAe World Cup 2024 featuring eFootball Console.
Day 1 was a case of a few near misses for the eTigers, who began with a 0-3 loss at the hands of Korea Republic, followed by a 1-2 defeat against Spain. They lost 0-1 against France in their last match
The trio had somewhat of a positive start on Day 2, a 1-1 draw against Poland, but soon succumbed to Malaysia, Netherlands, and Indonesia by margins of 2-4, 1-5, and 0-3, respectively.
However, the eTigers picked themselves in the last game against England, winning 2-0 to condemn their opponents to the bottom spot in Group A.
