West Ham Gaming’s FIFA pros continue their efforts in a must-win tournament on Friday in the third round of FIFA eClub World Cup qualifiers – live from 5.30pm GMT on Twitch!
Such is the format of the qualification process, the Irons must finish in the top two sides of their Division this week – the penultimate round of games – to retain any chance of reaching the main event.
Having began their qualification campaign by winning promotion from Division 2 in the first round of games, a penalty shoot-out loss and a narrow defeat against the top-seeded sides condemned Alfie ‘AC RedLac’ Calder and Joseph ‘RoyalFunkyy’ Crown to relegation from Division 1 the following week.
But with all sides in Division 2 being eliminated after the third round of games, RedLac and RoyalFunkyy must now either win, or finish second in, Division 2 this week to stay alive in the competition.
And they got off to the perfect start on Thursday with a crushing 4-1 aggregate win over Danish side FC Midtjylland, who 'rage quit' early in the second half of the second leg in response!
They were then twice forced to come from behind, however, pulling back a 4-1 deficit against Norwegian club Apeks Esports, only to lose on penalties; before dramatically coming from two goals behind to see off Swedish team Örgryte IS 4-3 after extra-time in the losers' bracket.
They are now just two ties away from promotion, with Danish club Aalborg up next.
Their matches will be streamed LIVE from London Stadium from 5.20pm today (Friday 25 March) on the West Ham Gaming Twitch channel and whufc.com!
Each week takes the format of a 'double-elimination' tournament, with matches played 2v2 over two legs (extra-time and penalties the decisive criteria in the event of a draw).
“I’m feeling confident about the eClub World Cup qualifiers this week,” RedLac told whufc.com. “I’m excited to play from London Stadium again.
“I think we can get promoted. We’ll be one of the favourites to go up – if we don’t, we’re out of the tournament, but I think we can win the group.
“We’ll be going out there to play our own game, like we did in the first week. We just blitzed everyone with attacking FIFA.
“I think we’re one of the top two teams in the Division and if we play the way we can, and the way we have before, we can definitely get promotion.”
Other sides the duo could face in Division 2 include Danish sides FC Midtjylland – whom they will start off against – and Aalborg, Swedish clubs Orgryte IS and Djurgardens IF, and international powerhouses Team FUTWIZ, who suffered a shock relegation last time around.
At the end of the four mini-tournaments, the two last-standing Clubs within Division 1 in the final week, plus the two most consistent clubs across all four weeks (as judged by a points league table), will qualify for the eClub World Cup Playoffs – and be one step away from the finals event in the summer.
For more exciting FIFA 22 and gaming content this season, follow the official @WestHamGaming accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Twitch.