eMLS announced on Wednesday announced its revised plans for the the 2020 eMLS Cup presented by Coca-Cola and PlayStation, with this year's champion set to be crowned on June 28 (10 am PT | Twitch, Twitter, MLSsoccer.com).
The tournament will feature 25 of the top professional FIFA 20 players in North America, including Portland Timbers eMLS player Edgar "RCTID Thiago" Guerrero, vying for bragging rights and $20,000 in prize money. The top 11 competitors in total season points after the first two eMLS events of the year (League Series One and Two) have already qualified for the final stage of the tournament, with the top four earning a first-round bye.
RCTID Thiago, on the strength of his run to the semifinals at eMLS League Series Two held in Portland last January, has earned the 11th seed in the knockout rounds and will face the LA Galaxy's Giuseppe "Godfather" Guastella.
The remaining 14 competitors will compete in a Last Chance Bracket for the 12th seed in the Last Chance Bracket, a single-elimination qualifier that will take place on June 26.
Competitors will be playing in a modified version of FIFA 20's most popular game mode, FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT), which allows gamers to build a team comprised of the best players from across world soccer and even past legends of the game. In this case, eMLS competitors will also be required to have MLS representation in their team.
FC Cincinnati's Fiddle is the No. 1 seed and favorite to take home the title after winning both League Series events, but there are plenty of capable challengers looking to stop him from claiming the treble. Those players include Atlanta United's Paulo Neto, who joined forces with Franco Escobar to win the eMLS Tournament Special in May, as well as RCTID Thiago who beat both of them in regular season early round action in Portland.
eMLS Cup had originally been scheduled to take place at SXSW on March 15 before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, due to changes announced for the EA Sports FIFA 20 Global Series, in which eMLS was an official league partner, Global Series points will not be allocated to eMLS Cup competitors.
