The final day of Games of the Future determined the fate of the Trophy – it will go to Uruguay, the homeland of Peñarol, which surpassed the Russian FC Lokomotiv in the final match. In the game for the third place, Mexico Quetzales beat another team from Russia, Phoenix.
The participants of the tournament with a prize fund of $1.25 million were 16 teams from nine countries. They played in the GSL format in four groups: two wins in two matches gave a direct ticket to the quarterfinals, one to the 1/8 finals. Each match consists of four five-minute halves: two in the simulator and two on the field. More information about the rules and the tournament scheme can be found at the link.
Final
FC Lokomotiv vs. Peñarol – 5:6 (3:3)
The digital part of the main match of the tournament did not reveal the strongest. The outcome of the match was decided on a real field in an uncompromising and tough fight. In the first two minutes, the judges showed three yellow and two red cards! One of the leaders of FC Lokomotiv, Gamid Shabanov, left the field, and Robert Ufenok Fakhretdinov was sent off from the bench. The match could have ended with any score, but FC Lokomotiv’s mistake was fatal a minute and a half before the end of the match. The penalty in their own half of the field ended with an effective attack by the Uruguayans – 6:4. The Muscovites continued to fight, again reduced the gap to a minimum, but did not even the score. Peñarol is the first champion of Games of the Future in the Gazprom Phygital Football discipline.
“Our team is one of the most experienced in the tournament. Phygital is perfect for me, I enjoy this format. I used to play classical football professionally, and then I started winning in the cyber version. Here I am declared the second goalkeeper, but unfortunately, I cannot go on the field yet due to injury, although I incredibly miss the real game. When we can’t create a good advantage in the simulator, it’s hard for me to watch the match further. Games of the Future motivates you to recover more quickly in order to play not only with a gamepad. It is especially pleasant that these are our Russian competitions, which accept participants from all over the world and attract the attention of fans around the world. The support here is enormous and sincere,” said Robert Ufenok Fakhretdinov.
“Winning the first Games of the Future is incredibly important for us. We have made history! Everything turned out just amazing, we are happy. Kazan is an amazingly hospitable city, and Russia is a friendly and open country. Now we are looking forward to the next Games of the Future,” said Peñarol forward Martin Rey Seijas.
Third place match
Phoenix vs. México Quetzales – 6:9 (2:5)
The fate of the match for the third place was determined at the digital stage. The Mexicans dominated both halves and scored five goals, to which Phoenix responded with only two. On the field, the fight was more equal. The opponents attacked and threatened the goal a lot. Quetzales played without the disqualified captain Jorge Burrito Hernandez, who received a red card in the semi-final with Peñarol. However, Phoenix could not take advantage of this. Goalkeeper Denis Parkhomenko scored two goals for the Russians, but it was not enough to win. As a result, a draw at the physical stage and the overall victory of México Quetzales.
“We ourselves predetermined the outcome of the match when we did not put up a decent resistance in the digital part. It is difficult to win back a big difference after that. And today we did not expect at all that the world champion in cyber football, Hoksan Redona, would also score on a real field, but this is phygital, and everything is possible here,” admitted Pavel Skuratov from Phoenix.
“This is an incredible event for us. All our friends and acquaintances around the world watched the matches at Games of the Future. When we first arrived in Russia, we had a hard time getting used to the cold, but now we don’t seem to notice it at all – we are warmed by the warmth with which people treat us. And they accompany us everywhere, the organization is amazing. I hope Games of the Future will become annual and continue to unite people from all over the world,” said México Quetzales player Pedro Pascottini.
Information
Games of the Future is an international multisport tournament in the phygital concept, a sports show of a new format combining competitions in physical and digital dimensions. The technology partner is VK Play. 294 teams and more than 2,000 athletes from 107 countries took part in 21 innovative disciplines in the first Games of the Future. The competitions are divided into five categories, or challenges: sports, tactical, battle, technically assisted, speedrun.
Title Sponsor is PAO Gazprom
General Sponsors:
PAO Gazprom Neft G-Drive
PAO Sibur Holding Sibur
OAO Russian Railways
OOO VK Company VK Play
PAO Sberbank SBER
OOO PMBK (Liga Stavok)
OOO INTERROS Holding Company Interros
PAO Megafon Yota
Official sponsors:
OOO PBO System – Vkusno – i Tochka
PAO Sollers / UAZ
PAO Aeroflot
OOO Wildberries
OOO NTS Gradient – Influence
Roscosmos State Corporation
AO Positive Technologies
AO Russian Post
OOO Nanobarrier – HyDrop
AO Kaspersky Laboratory – Kaspersky
More information about the tournament can be found on the official channels of Games of the Future: