The Kings World Cup, a seven-a-side football competition organized by Gerard Piqué and broadcast online, begins this Sunday, May 26 in Mexico and will close on June 8, with the streamer Amine, but also Samir Nasri or Jérémy Ménez to represent the team of France. Presentation.
Organized by Gerard Piqué, the Kings World Cup is a continuation of the Kings League, a competition created in Spain, in 2022. Highly anticipated by users of the Twitch streaming platform, the competition will be held from May 26 to June 8 on the Mexican side. But if the “Swiss Stage” (first phase) begins on Sunday, the competition will actually begin this Saturday, May 25 with a preliminary phase called “Redemption Games” (four matches between eight teams which are not qualified for the first phase, the winners of these meetings will include this same phase).
What are the rules of the competition?
On a suitable pitch, two teams of seven players compete in matches which last 40 minutes (two periods of 20 minutes) and as in the Kings League, Gerard Piqué and his associates have established original rules in order to spice up the competition and to distinguish it from traditional football.
Some rules of the Kings World Cup:
– The kick-off is given with the ball falling from a cage (located high) which opens during each period.
– Goals count double in the last two minutes of a match if the score is not tied.
– A yellow card is punishable by a two-minute exclusion.
– As in traditional football, a red card (or two yellow cards) means the exclusion of a player for the rest of the match, but he can be replaced by another player from the squad after five minutes numerically inferior.
– Each team has the right to “secret weapons”, once per match. For example, there is the possibility of obtaining an instant penalty, removing a player from the opposing team for four minutes or having the goals counted double for four minutes.
What format for the Kings World Cup?
32 teams will participate in the Kings World Cup, representing 18 nations. Here are all the nations that will be present: Spain (7 teams), Brazil (2 teams), Argentina (2 teams), Colombia (2 teams), Mexico (2 teams), Belgium, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Ukraine, Chile, Peru, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Japan.
– First phase: 40 matches in three rounds, objective two victories
1st round: 16 matches (all teams participate), random draw.
2nd round: The winning teams of the first match face each other in a second match and the losing teams of the first match do the same.
3rd round: The eight teams who won their first two matches advance to the round of 16. The teams with one victory and one defeat compete in this 3rd round to obtain a place in the 8th round (each match pits a winner of the first round against a winner of the second round). Teams that lose their first two matches are eliminated.
– Second phase: final table
16 teams will then participate in the final phase which will take place in a classic knockout format, starting in the round of 16. The Estadio BBVA in Monterrey will host the “final four” (semi-finals and final) and the team that wins this competition will walk away with the prize of one million dollars.
Who will represent France?
The France coach is the streamer AmineMaTue (2.5 million subscribers on Twitch) and the French team will be called “Foot2Rue” (in reference to the cartoon). Saïd Dorbani, creator of the YouTube channel “Pieds Carrés”, will be France’s coach.
Each team has in its ranks 10 selected players as well as “players 11, 12 and 13” who are retired stars in the majority of cases. For France, Samir Nasri, Jérémy Ménez and Adil Rami will be “players 11, 12 and 13”.
The 10 players selected for the France team (with Nasri, Ménez and Rami): Allan Rakotovazaha, Christian Nsapu, Abdeldjalil Medioub, Salah Bouazza, Melvin Bachelet, Théo Chendri, Lucas Valeri, Clément Goguey, Amara Fofana and Yanis Barka.
Note that France will play its first match this Monday, at 10 p.m., against the winner of the “Redemption Game” between the Venezuelans of “Los Chamos FC” and the Spaniards of “PIO FC”.
Which stars will be present for the other countries?
France is not the only nation to have taken advantage of the possibility of recruiting former professionals into its ranks. Some will not be on the field but will occupy the position of coach, like Neymar for the Brazilian team “Furia FC”, Mario Götze for the German team “Youniors FC”, Rio Ferdinand for the team British team from “Five FC”, Andreï Chevchenko for the Ukrainian team “UA Steel”, Iker Casillas for “1K FC” and Francesco Totti for the Italian team “Stallions”.
On the pitch, Neymar will be able to count on the former Brazilian futsal star, Falcao. Francesco Totti will play a dual role since he will be on the field in addition to having been coach of the Italian team, alongside him we will find the former Romain Radja Nainggolan as well as the goalkeeper Emiliano Viviano. Eden Hazard will put on the crampons for Belgium and “Deptostra FC” alongside Yannis Salibur, former player of Guingamp and Saint-Etienne. With his Argentinian team “Kunisports”, Sergio Agüero selected the former Benfica player, Nicolas Gaitan. On the side of Ukraine and the “UA Steel”, Shakhtar Donetsk will be honored with former players such as Marlos, Yevhen Konoplyanka and Junior Moraes.
Where to follow the Kings World Cup?
The M6+ platform recently acquired the rights to the competition. On Twitch, the Kings League account will broadcast the matches, and the matches of the French team, “Foot2Rue”, will also be broadcast on the AmineMaTue Twitch channel.
