This year, things have changed. Find out the new FIWC 2016 tournament format.
FIWC 2016 Tournament Format
There are two phases to the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2016: The qualification phase and the Grand Final. At the Grand Final 32 players will battle it out to be crowned the world champion of virtual football.
Qualify on Xbox One or PlayStation®4, the choice is yours! For the first time in the tournament’s history, qualification for the FIFA Interactive World Cup will be available on both the PlayStation and Xbox platforms.
Qualification for the Grand Final
Defending champion Abdulaziz Alshehri receives an automatic place at the 2016 Grand Final. Joining him will be 30 players from online qualification and one (1) winner of a Host Country live qualification event.
Online Seasons
There are three online qualification seasons for FIWC 2016. Online qualification starts on 1 October 2015 and ends on 1 January 2016. Each season will run for one month. A total of 30 Grand Final seats will be awarded to online players. There are 15 available online qualification seats for PlayStation and 15 qualification seats for Xbox.
PlayStation Qualification
Three monthly seasons: October, November, December.
15 online qualification seats.
Five qualification seats per season.
Each season five players will qualify from the PlayStation Leaderboard. The five seats will be awarded as follows: first-place and runner-up (Europe), first-place (North, Central America and Caribbean), first-place (South America), and first-place (Africa, Asia and Oceania).
Xbox Qualification
Three monthly seasons: October, November, December.
15 online qualification seats.
Five qualification seats per season.
Each season five players will qualify from the Xbox Leaderboard. The five seats will be awarded as follows: first-place and runner-up (Europe), first-place (North, Central America and Caribbean), first-place (South America), and first-place (Africa, Asia and Oceania).
All online qualification matches for FIWC 2016 will take place on the PlayStation®Network (PS4) and on Xbox Live. The qualification tournaments can be accessed through the latest version of EA SPORTS™ FIFA 16 on the Xbox One and PS4. Information on how to register for the online seasons can be found in the How to Play section.
Live Qualification
There will be a Host Country Live Qualification Event for FIWC 2016. The event will be exclusively played on the Xbox One. The winner of the event will receive a place at the 2016 Grand Final.
Season duration
Each online season kicks off at 02:00 on the first day of the respective month and finishes at 01:59 on the first day of the next month (All times are based on local time Vancouver, home of EA SPORTS™ FIFA). There will be no break between online seasons. Points will be automatically reset when a new online season kicks off ensuring everyone gets a fresh chance to qualify with every new season. You only have to register once to take part in all three seasons.
| Online Season | Date | Season Starts | Season Ends |
| Season One | 1 October to 1 November 2015 | 2.00am PDT** | 1.59am PST* |
| Season Two | 1 November to 1 December 2015 | 2.00am PST* | 1.59am PST* |
| Season Three | 1 December 2015 to 1 January 2016 | 2.00am PST* | 1.59am PST* |
*Pacific Standard Time
**Pacific Daylight Time
90-game maximum per season
Players are only allowed to play a maximum number of 90 matches in a single qualification season. After the 90-match cap has been reached, a player will have to wait until the next qualification season begins to play again in FIWC 2016. In-Game, once a player hits the cap they will still be able to enter the FIWC hub, view their stats and the leaderboard and see how many days are remaining until the next season begins, but players won’t be able to advance to Play Match in order to search for a match.
Tiebreakers
In the event that more than one player finishes in a tied position on the Season Leaderboard, the following tie-breaker criteria will be used to decide the winner:
1. Total Average (Total number of leaderboard points / number of played games)
2. Goal difference
3. Goals scored
4. Goal ratio (goals vs. shots on goal)
5. Average goals conceded per game
6. Number of red cards
7. Lottery draw
Grand Final
32 finalists will compete at the FIWC 2016 Grand Final:
The defending champion
The 15 players that qualify through PlayStation®4 online qualification
The 15 players that qualify through Xbox One online qualification
The winner of the Host Country live qualification event