Fifa and Konami join up for new efootball world cup

Koji Kobayashi of Konami and Romi Gai of Fifa celebrating their new partnership

There's a new efootball world cup tournament in town.

Fifa, the organisation in charge of global football, has paired up with Konami who used to make Pro Evolution Soccer (PES), to run the FIFAe World Cup esports tournament.

Fifa used to work with Electronic Arts, or EA, for the tournament but that partnership ended in 2022 after 29 years.

The game isn't available for general release - it's a competition for professional e-athletes from different countries to compete against each other at the FIFAe World Cup.

Why did Fifa and EA split?

EA Sports no longer have Fifa games - they're now called EA Sports FC

In 2022, EA Sports dropped their contract with Fifa.

In order to recreate famous players from teams around the world in their games EA paid Fifa in a licensing agreement.

Electronic Arts made the last licensing deal with Fifa in 2013 and it was reported that football's governing body had wanted more money - more than $250 million (that's around £203 million) a year.

Speaking to the BBC in 2022, David Jackson, vice president at EA Sports, said EA would move in a different direction in order to build a "brand for the future".

Since, they've created a new efootball game called EA Sports FC, launched in 2023.

The eFootball FIFAe World Cup qualifiers begin

The final of the 2023 FIFAe World Cup at the Esports Tournaments and Gaming Festivals Gamers8 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Fifa and Konami's esport world cup competition is being played on both console and mobiles - with a spot as champion up for grabs on each platform.

Competitors from eighteen Fifa member associations are taking part; Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand and Turkey.

Qualifiers for both tournaments started in early October with the competition running until later this year.