May 18–21 will see the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023 world championship qualification playoff round take place. For the first time in history, Ukraine's national team will participate in this decisive stage of the qualifiers, with just one step remaining to reach the world elite.

We delve deeper into the next stage of the FIFAe Nations Series 2023 and what the Ukrainian team needs to successfully overcome it.

FIFAe Nations Series 2023

The FIFAe Nations Series 2023 takes place in "2 on 2" mode of FIFA 23 on the PlayStation 5 platform.

The competition consists of four stages: a first qualifying round (play-in), a second qualifying round (online qualification), playoffs, and the final stage of the world championship.

Play-in took place from December 2022 to March 2023. The Ukrainian team completed all three game weeks of this round, for the first time in history managing to advance to division 1, but ultimately still secured third place in division 2 of conference 3.

In April, Ukrainian esports football players finished second in group B during the online qualification and defeated Belgium's national team — 4:3 in the upper bracket knockout round, joining the top-20 European teams from FIFA to enter the playoff stage.

Playoffs

The 20 strongest within the European zone of national team competitions based on results from play-in and online qualification rounds were distributed across three pots for the draw of the playoff round.

Based on the draw, Ukraine's team received a spot in group A. The opponents of Ukrainian esports football players at this tournament stage will be teams from Israel, Italy, Norway, and Bulgaria.

Matches will take place in a round-robin format "home and away" in BO1 format. A win will earn 3 points, a draw — 1 point, and a loss — 0 points.

The top four teams of the group advance to the upper bracket. The team with the lowest number of points at the end of the group stage will conclude their participation in the FIFAe Nations Cup 2023 qualification cycle.

What awaits Ukraine's national team

Ukraine's national team, consisting of Alexander CIG Grishay Gryshay and Andriy CIG ST92 Shakalov, will play eight group stage matches over two game days.

To qualify for the world championship, our boys need to secure a spot no lower than fourth in the group. Matches in the upper and lower brackets will take place on Saturday and Sunday, May 20–21.

Overall, 11 of the best teams from the playoff stage advance to FIFAe Nations Cup 2023.

Where to watch Ukraine's national team matches

All live matches of Ukraine's national e-football team on their way to FIFAe Nations Cup 2023 are broadcast by the YouTube channel of the Ukrainian Football Association.