India is set to debut in the FIFAe Nations Cup in Copenhagen, Denmark. The eTigers will be represented by Siddhh Chandarana, Charanjot Singh, and Saransh Jain.
The FIFAe Nations Cup 2022 is the official international competition of FIFA, allowing the best players from across the globe to represent their countries. The tournament’s final stage has 24 teams, divided into six groups of four countries each.
The eTigers have been drawn in Group D alongside the Netherlands, Italy, Morocco, Mexico, and Poland.
Saransh Jain, Charanjot Singh, and Siddh Chandrana will represent India, along with Lokmanyu Chaturvedi, another veteran of the sport, as their coach.
Player Profiles
Siddhh Chandarana, Charanjot Singh, Lokmanyu Chaturvedi, (Coach) and Saransh Jain
Saransh Jain (saransh.jain7)
Age: 21 years
Global Series Ranking: #1
Team: Meliora 42 esports
Points: 630 points
Performance for Team India: Matches: 10, Wins: 4, Win rate: 40%
Charanjot Singh (charanjot12)
Age: 19 years
Global Series Ranking: #2
Team: Meliora 42 esports
Points: 555 points
Performance for Team India: Matches: 42, Wins: 20, Win rate: 41.67%
Siddh Chandrana (jenasid)
Age: 22 years
Global Series Ranking: #9
Team: Mumbai City eSports
Points: 400 points
Performance for Team India: Matches: 41, Wins: 15, Win rate: 36.59%
Lokmanyu Chaturvedi – Coach (lokmanyu06)
Age: 26 years
Global Series Ranking: #25
Team: True Rippers Esports
Points: 100 points
Performance for Team India: Matches: 2, Wins: 0, Win rate: 0
India’s performance in FIFAe Nations Cup
India’s performance has been on the rise, and we saw the team’s pinnacle in June when the nation made history. India has the third-highest ranked South Asian country, below Singapore (#1) and Japan (#14).
This is India’s first appearance in the FIFAe Nations Cup. The team finished the play-ins with 12 wins, 11 draws, and 9 losses in 32 games, ranking second with 900 points, behind Australia in the Asia and Oceania region. In the playoffs, the team defeated Malaysia and the Korea Republic to make the cut for FIFA’s showpiece esports event for the first time ever.
They qualified for the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022 which is being held in the Bella Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark starting Wednesday.
Format Explainer
24 teams will compete in the FIFAe Nations Cup, each divided into four groups of six. Four groups of six nations face off against each other in a round-robin format. Each team will have one substitute, making a total of three players per squad. Gamers will play in a 2v2 format along with a substitute. The top four nations from every group will qualify for the knockout stage, from the Round-of-16 to the final.
Furthermore, this tournament will affect overall rankings according to the places the countries finish at. Currently, Singapore sits on top of the rankings with 938.57 points, while Brazil (912.46 points) and the Netherlands (875.42 points) sit second and third, respectively.
India, after achieving their best-ever 18th position in the FIFAe rankings earlier in the year, has 715.37 points so far. The team is placed in Group D alongside the Netherlands, Mexico, Italy, Poland, and Morocco. The Netherlands is currently ranked third, Mexico is ranked seventh, and world No. 8 Italy is the other team ranked above India in Group D. In the FIFAe Nations Rankings, Poland is ranked 21st, while Morocco is 38th.
Points distribution
Champion: 1750 points
Qualified for Final: 1250 points
Qualified for Semifinal: 900 points
Qualified for QuarterFinal: 650 points
Qualified for Round of 16: 400 points
Group Stage Points: 275 points
India’s schedule in Group D
India kickstarts its campaign on July 27 against Italy and will play all its five opponents in back-to-back games.
Here is the team’s match schedule: All times are in Indian Standard Time (IST).
Wednesday, July 27
- Round 1: Italy vs. India – 9:35 PM
- Round 2: India vs. Netherlands, 10 PM
- Round 3: Poland vs. India, 10:25 PM
- Round 4: India vs. Mexico is at 11:10 PM
- Round 5: Morocco vs. India, 11:35 PM
Thursday, July 28
- Round 6: India vs. Italy – 9:35 PM
- Round 7: Netherlands vs. India, 10 PM
- Round 8: India vs. Poland, 10:25 PM
- Round 9: Mexico vs. India, 11:10 PM
- Round 10: India vs. Morocco, 11:35 PM
Prize Pool
The prize pool for the FIFA Nations Cup is $400,000, which amounts to approximately Rs. 3.18 crores.
Where to watch?
Live streaming of the FIFAe Nations Cup 2022 will be available on FIFAe’s Twitch and Facebook channels. There is no live telecast of FIFAe Nations Cup on any TV channel in India.
The Indian esports team can be seen in action on the Twitch channel and the YouTube channel of the Indian Football team.