The FIFAe World Cup began its qualifying stage yesterday (October 10), with the inaugural edition to include 18 nations at the finals. (Konami)

Japanese video game developer Konami and soccer’s world governing body FIFA have announced an esports partnership as FIFA continues to move on from its former long-standing association with EA Sports.

As part of an agreement unveiled yesterday (October 10), later this year two FIFAe World Cup tournaments featuring Konami’s eFootball game will take place, one on mobile and one on console.

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This deal comes with FIFA and EA Sports, the division of the Electronic Arts video game giant that produces sports titles, having ended their major partnership after 30 years in 2023.

The FIFAe World Cup began its qualifying stage yesterday (October 10), with the inaugural edition including 18 nations at the finals, with countries selected based on factors such as player base and previous performances of competitors from the respective countries.

The countries involved will be Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, England, France, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea Republic, Malaysia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Thailand, and Türkiye.

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Koji Kobayashi, senior executive officer of Konami, has now said: “We are very pleased to be able to contribute to the promotion of eFootball in a new dimension through this collaboration with FIFAe.”

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Miyamoto Tsuneyasu, president of the Japan Football Association, added: “eFootball has been loved by people all over the world for many years, and it has also gained a firm following in Japan, establishing itself as an essential platform for the football family.

“The JFA will hold a selection tournament to determine the Japanese players who will compete in the FIFAe World Cup, and will support the e-football Japan national team players so that they aim to reach the top of the world, just like the other Japanese national teams.”

In June FIFAe also partnered with car soccer video game Rocket League to announce the first-ever FIFAe World Cup this year featuring the game following FIFA’s split with EA Sports.

EA Sports stopped producing the FIFA game, which had been one of the most profitable franchises in video game history, generating a reported $20 billion in sales over the last two decades, in mid-2023 – at which point FIFA said it would now release its own video games.

However, the body has so far not managed to release a competitor to EA Sports’ FC series.

Komani, meanwhile, has been expanding its esports footprint, with the eFootball Championship 2024 Club Event with its European club partners, and jointly hosting the eJLeague eFootball tournament with the Japan Professional Football League.