The EA SPORTS FC community spoke loud and clear when it came to the FC Pro Open Cups. So we listened to their request and decided to make this year’s cups bigger and better than ever before.
The FC Pro Open Cups have a special meaning this season as they provide a route to the FC Pro World Championship Play-Ins, with 24 elite EA SPORTS FC Competitors gaining entry to the competition in Summer 2025.
Here’s everything you need to know to get you prepared for the competition.
EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups
EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups will take place in November 2024, December 2024 and January 2025. The schedule of competitions is as follows:
Open Cups | Ladder Dates | Playoff Dates |
|---|---|---|
November Cup | November 5th - 11th, 2024 | November 16th & 17th, 2024 |
December Cup | December 1st - 9th, 2024 | December 21st & 22nd, 2024 |
January Cup | January 5th - 13th, 2025 | January 8th & 9th, 2025 |
Each Open Cup will consist of two stages: (1) the EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Ladder, a Regional online ladder tournament, followed by (2) the EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs.
EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cup Ladder
Competitors will start each ladder with 0 points and will earn points, or lose them, based on the results of their matches. Each match will be played over a single leg, with extra time and penalties enabled for when a match is tied so that all matches have an outright winner..
Ladders will be open for four hours a day over the seven day period, and you can choose to play as many, or as few, games as you want during that time. However, in order to be eligible to qualify for the EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs you must have played at least 20 matches during that ladder.
Exact timing of the ladder open periods will be detailed in the Event Rules.
The Competitors with the highest peak placement (i.e. highest placement achieved at any point during that ladder) on the ladder for their Region will qualify for the EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs as follows:
Region | No. of player qualified |
|---|---|
Africa | 64 |
Asia North | 32 |
Asia South | 32 |
Europe East | 256 |
Europe West | 256 |
LATAM North | 64 |
LATAM South | 256 |
Middle East | 256 |
North America | 64 |
Oceania | 32 |
EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs
Matches during the Swiss stage of the EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs will be played over a single leg, with extra time and penalties enabled for when a match is tied so that all matches have an outright winner.
All matches on Day 2 of the FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs will be played over two legs, with the scores of both legs being added together to find an outright winner. If the overall scores are tied at the end of regulation play in the second leg, extra time and then penalties, if necessary, will be used to determine who will be the outright winner of the match.
Day 1 - Swiss-system tournament
Competitors will begin the qualifier in a Swiss-system tournament, with the number of rounds to be determined after check-in is completed on the first day of the Event. Competitors will be seeded based on their finishing placement from the ladder tournament; the Competitor with the highest finishing placement will play the Competitor with the lowest, and the Competitor with the second highest finishing placement will play the Competitor with the second lowest, etc.
Every round will be played over 1 leg, and Competitors are eliminated after 3 losses. Once all rounds have been played, the Competitors with 2 or fewer losses will move on to Day 2 of the qualifier.
Day 2 - Single-elimination tournament
Competitors will be seeded based on their finishing placements from Day 1 of the tournament. Competitors will compete in a standard single-elimination tournament, with the top seeded Competitor playing the worst seed, the second best seed playing the 2nd worst seed and so on in the initial round.
Winners from the initial round will move into the next round of the bracket and losers from the initial round will be eliminated from the tournament.
EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Circuit Points
Competitors will earn circuit points which will be accrued across all three competitions. Once all FC Pro Open Cups have ended, the Competitors with the most circuit points in each region will qualify for the EA SPORTS FC Pro World Championship in Summer 2025. The number of Competitors that will qualify from each region are:
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
You can find out how you can earn circuit points below:
Points Per Win (Swiss-system tournament Only)
Competitors will be awarded 15 points per win during the Swiss round, regardless of whether the Competitor qualifies to the elimination round.
Placement Points (Single-elimination tournament Only)
Competitors will be awarded points based on their finishing placement from the Single-elimination tournament as follows:
Finishing placement | No. of winners | Points |
|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | 400 |
2 | 1 | 300 |
3 to 4 | 2 | 200 |
5 to 8 | 4 | 150 |
9 to 16 | 8 | 100 |
17 to 32 | 16 | 75 |
33 to 64 | 32 | 50 |
EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups Prize Pool
Prizing is awarded based on finishing placement in each of the FC Pro Open Cups Playoffs. Total prizing across all EA SPORTS FC Pro Open Cups is $321,000.
Finishing placement | Europe East & West | LATAM North, LATAM South, Middle East & North America | Africa, Asia North, Asia South, & Oceania |
|---|---|---|---|
1 | $8,500 | $5,000 | $3,000 |
2 | $5,000 | $3,000 | $1,500 |
3 to 4 | $2,500 | $1,500 | |
5 to 8 | $1,000 |
Follow EA SPORTS FC on Instagram, X, and TikTok to keep up-to-date on all the action from the FC Pro Open Cups.
