Last month we crowned our first ever FC Pro World Champion, Vejrgang of RBLZ Gaming. Vejrgang put on one of the most dominant performances we’ve witnessed at a World Championship. Now, we’re moving into a new season in a new game, EA SPORTS FC 25. We suspect old favourites like Tekkz, nicolas99fc, and PHzin are hungry to show they’ve still got what it takes. All the while, we have new names looking to break into the scene like Bulgaria’s much lauded Alihan. What will these players need to do to show they’re among the best?

Second Season of FC Pro

Last season, we laid down the blueprint for the future of football esports. Over 100,000 people were watching our FC Pro Open events at any given time and viewers were engaged, with millions of views and interactions across Twitch, YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and the platform previously known as Twitter.

As we move into our second season, we are not reinventing the wheel. We know some level of consistency year over year is important for growth, and so you can expect much of the same – but better through improvements and changes informed by key learnings.

From our players, the highest priority request we received was the opportunity to move towards the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins if they missed out on proceeding to the FC Pro Open. Next season, we are excited that our FC Pro Open Cups in November, December and January will be another path towards Worlds, which we’ll detail in these pitch notes. 

FC Pro Open

FC Pro Open returns. Taking place from the launch of the game to the beginning of February, our global competition brings together the best veterans and rookies from around the world to highlight all the talent present in our ecosystem. Like last season, a total of $1,000,000 will be up for grabs across the FC Pro Open, Global Qualifier, and Cups.

If you think you’re the best EA SPORTS FC player in the world, then this is where you can prove it. Competition will begin with the FC Pro Open Ladder where players will prove they have what it takes to play head-to-head in the FC Pro Open Regional Qualifiers. Those who make it through those online stages will be invited to compete in person at our first broadcast event of the year, the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier, where the top finishing players will be invited to the main show.

Starting this season, the FC Pro Open will expand to consist of 24 players.

Returning Players

The following players have earned an invite to the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier by finishing 5th to 16th in the FC Pro Open last season:

• AbuMakkah

• FacuCowen

• Fouma

• H1dalgo

• Happy

• Lukas

• ManuBachoore

• Obrun

• Seanldw

• Tekkz

• Umut

• Young

The following four players have earned an invite to the FC Pro Open by finishing 1st to 4th at the FC Pro Open last season:

• PHzin

• Vejrgang

• Emre Yilmaz

• Levi de Weerd

The following four players have earned an invite to the FC Pro Open this season by finishing 1st to 4th at the FC Pro World Championship last season:

• Vejrgang

• Yuval

• Charif

• Jafonso

Due to Vejrgang earning a spot through both FC Pro Open as well as the FC Pro World Championship, there will be an additional spot granted at the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier.

Path to FC Pro Open

Register for FC Pro

All players who want to prove they have what it takes to compete in FC Pro Open will need to register for the season on fcpro.com. Registration will start in September.

Ultimate Team Rivals

Registered players will be asked to reach Division 3 of Ultimate Team Rivals on PlayStation 5 so that they can access the FC Pro game mode. Once they do, they’ll be able to compete in FC Pro Open Ladder once it opens. With an updated placement system in Ultimate Team Rivals, top players from EA SPORTS FC 24 will begin their journey as high as Division 7, so this will represent a similar advancement in rank as required last season.

FC Pro Open Ladder

Dates: October 1st to October 7th, 2024

Eligible Players:

• Registered for FC Pro on fcpro.com

• Reached Division 3 in Rivals

Hosted by our tournament operations partner, FC Pro Open Ladder will run from October 1st to October 7th, 2024 in all regions. A matchmaking service will open for four hours between approximately 18:00 and 22:00 local time each day of the ladder period. Eligible competitors will be able to use it to find opponents and climb the leaderboards for a place in the FC Pro Open Regional Qualifier.

Players will be ranked on the leaderboard by their peak Elo rating. This is the highest Elo rating that they’ve achieved during the ladder period. This will encourage players to continue competing without worrying about protecting their rating. A player’s current Elo at the close of the ladder may be used for tiebreaker purposes.

FC Pro Open Regional Qualifier

Dates: October 12th to October 13th, 2024

Eligible Players:

• Africa - Top 64 from Ladder

• Asia North - Top 32 from Ladder

• Asia South - Top 32 from Ladder

• Europe West - Top 256 from Ladder

• Europe East - Top 256 from Ladder

• Latin America North - Top 64 from Ladder

• Latin America South - Top 256 from Ladder

• Middle East - Top 256 from Ladder

• North America - Top 64 from Ladder

• Oceania - Top 32 from Ladder

Those who finish at the top of their respective regions in the FC Pro Open Ladder will compete in an online competition to determine who will move on to the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier. These tournaments will follow a swiss stage followed by a double elimination knockout stage to determine who will get the trip to our first in-person, broadcast tournament of the season.

FC Pro Open Global Qualifier

Dates: November 1st to 3rd, 2024

Eligible Players:

• Africa - Top 2 from Regional

• Asia North - Top 2 from Regional

• Asia South - Top 2 from Regional

• Europe West - Top 12 from Regional

• Europe East - Top 12 from Regional

• Latin America North - Top 3 from Regional

• Latin America South - Top 8 from Regional

• Middle East - Top 6 from Regional

• North America - Top 3 from Regional

• Oceania - Top 2 from Regional

• 5th to 16th from FC Pro Open 24

One of the biggest tournaments in the FC Pro circuit, the FC Pro Open Global Qualifier will see 64 competitors from around the world compete in person for the opportunity to play in the FC Pro Open regular season. The tournament will kick off with the swiss stage on Friday, November 1st with all matches streamed to players’ channels on Twitch or YouTube. From there, the top 32 players will move to the knockout stage where they will play in one of four double elimination brackets. 16 players, four from each bracket, will earn the right to play in FC Pro Open.

FC Pro Open

Eligible Players: Top 16 from Global Qualifier Top 4 from 2024 FC Pro Open Top 4 from 2024 FC Pro World Championship

Schedule

24 players will make it through the qualification path to the FC Pro Open and showcase their skill in our most involved competition of the year. Starting November 25th, you can tune in every Monday at 6:00 PM UTC (with a small break for the holidays) for your weekly dose of competitive FC 25 action.

Competitors will be placed into four groups of six. All players will compete against each other in each group twice. Once before the holiday break, and once after. At the end of the group stage, 12 competitors will qualify for the single elimination Championship. In each group:

• 1st will move directly to Top 8 and immediately earn a World Championship seat

• 2nd & 3rd will make it to Open Championship

• 4th will be invited back to FC Pro Open Global Qualifier next season

• 5th & 6th will need to start their journey from scratch next season

At the FC Pro Open Finals:

• Top 4 of 12 will be invited back to the FC Pro Open next season while the others will be invited back to the Global Qualifier

• Top 8 of 12 will earn a seat at the FC Pro World Championship

Keep an eye on fcpro.com for details about the FC Pro Open Championship. Last season’s final was one of the most memorable moments in the history of the esport. You’ll have your chance to see it live once tickets go live in the coming months.

FC Pro Open Cups

One of the primary pieces of feedback from the last season was that many players felt there weren’t enough opportunities to compete for a spot at the FC Pro World Championship. This season, we’ve added an additional FC Pro Open Cup and expanded the pathway to the Play-Ins, providing more opportunities for players worldwide to compete.

Players will earn points based on their finish in FC Pro Open Cups. The players with the most points in each region at the end of January will be invited to the FC Pro World Championship Play Ins.

• Africa - Top 2

• Asia North - Top 2

• Asia South - Top 2

• Europe West - Top 6

• Europe East - Top 6

• Latin America North - Top 2

• Latin America South - Top 2

• Middle East - Top 2

• North America - Top 2

• Oceania - Top 2

Each FC Pro Open Cup will have an associated FC Pro Open Ladder that will qualify top finishing players, just like our Regional Qualifiers. Cups will follow a Swiss to Single Elimination format.

FC Pro World Championship

Keep an eye on fcpro.com for news on the FC Pro World Championship. We want you to join us again next year as we see if Vejrgang is able to defend his title or we will crown a new champion. 

FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins

Eligible Players:

• 28 Players from FC Pro Open Cups

• Approximately 20 Players from select FC Pro Leagues

The FC Pro World Championship will kick off once again with the Play-Ins stage where players from select FC Pro League competitions as well as the FC Pro Open Cups come together for one final shot at making the main event. Four players will make it through the Play-Ins stage to compete amongst the biggest names in FC Pro.

FC Pro World Championship

Eligible Players:

• 8 Players from FC Pro Open

• 20 Players from FC Pro Leagues

• 4 Players from Play-Ins

The best players in the world from across every part of the FC Pro ecosystem will meet to crown the World Champion and win their share of the $1,000,000 prize pool.

Get Ready for FC Pro 25

Pre-orders are now live for EA SPORTS FC 25. You’ll be able to make your way towards your goals in FC Pro as soon as the game’s early access period starts on September 20th. As the season kicks off, we’ll have more information including news from our FC Pro League partners on how the path to the FC Pro World Championship through their programs will work.