Konami Digital Entertainment Co., Ltd. is thrilled to announce that the console version of eFootball™ series has been officially chosen as a competition title for the AFC eAsian Cup 2023, which will be held in Qatar next February. Beginning Friday, November 10, the Japan Football Association (JFA) will hold an in-game qualifying tournament in “eFootball™ 2024” to select the participants for this competition.
The AFC eAsian Cup 2023 is the first official Asian Football Confederation (AFC) esports tournament in the history of the Asian Cup. Set to be held during the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023, which kicks off this coming January, the PlayStation®5 version of the eFootball™ series will be used for play. The competition will consist of a group stage, in which three participants from each country/region will face off against trios from other countries/regions, followed by a finals tournament to crown the best team in Asia. The winning country/region will be awarded medals on par with those given out in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 itself.
From Friday, November 10, the JFA will begin the process of selecting Japan’s three participants through “eFootball™ 2024” (PlayStation®5 and PlayStation®4）. The finals will be taken place at JFA House (Bunkyo City, Tokyo). Konami Digital Entertainment, along with the JFA, encourages everyone to take a shot at becoming eFootball™’s first eAsian Cup champions! For the information on how to participate and further details, keep an eye on in-game notifications or visit the official JFA website.
Konami Digital Entertainment and its partners will continue to bring the fun and excitement of esports to an ever greater audience through its esports initiatives.
Entry Qualifications
Please visit the JFA official website:
https://jfa.jp/match/JFA_eNational_team_selection_2023/
| Nov. 10 (Fri.) to Nov. 12 (Sun.) | Qualifiers (held in-game through “eFootball™ 2024”) |
|---|---|
| Nov. 18 (Sat.) | Finals (held at JFA House) |
| Feb. 1 (Thu.) to Feb. 2, 2024 (Fri.) | Group Stage |
|---|---|
| Feb. 4, 2024 (Sun.) | Finals Tournament, Quarter-finals |
| Feb. 5, 2024 (Mon.) | Semi-finals, Finals |
About KONAMI’s esports initiatives
The eFootball™ series of football games has been beloved by players around the world since its birth in 1995 as the console Winning Eleven series. The eFootball™ series continues to attract attention as competition titles both in Japan and abroad, being featured in exhibition matches at the 18th Asian Games Jakarta Palembang, the Culture Program at the Inter-Prefectural eSports Championship 2023 KAGOSHIMA (marking five years running), and the World eSports Championship 2023, hosted by the International eSports Federation (marking four years running since its first appearance in 2019). We are also expanding our efforts to combine esports and real sports by creating the eFootball™ Championship Pro, which features European clubs, and the eJ.LEAGUE, which features J.League clubs.
About the eFootball™ series
“eFootball™” was the rebranding of KONAMI’s popular gaming series “Winning Eleven.” The change marked a great leap forward as the branding changed alongside the addition of a new football game engine, advancements in gameplay, and remodeling of the title as ‘free-to-play’ across all compatible devices including PlayStation®5.
Users can enjoy a variety of content on “eFootball™”. For a casual offline experience, users can use authentic football club squads in ‘Exhibition matches’. Alternatively, they can go online and build their very own ‘Dream Team’ – a compilation of their favourite players from around the world. Users can also experience the thrill of competing alongside their friends online in ‘Co-Op mode’.
eFootball™ official website: https://www.konami.com/efootball/ja/
Official X account: @we_konami