Denmark's Mohamad Al-Bacha was crowned the new FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC) Champion after beating Sean Allen of England in the Grand Final event at the world famous Apollo Theater in New York City.

Al-Bacha was presented with his trophy by FIFA World Cup™ winner and New York City FC Captain, David Villa. The Dane also received a cheque for USD $20,000 and an invitation to attend FIFA’s annual awards ceremony for the world’s best football players, the FIFA Ballon d’Or in Zurich.

“To win the competition is beyond words for me. For the last few months I have really worked on my performance and was totally committed to playing the best I could here in New York. Being presented with the winner’s trophy by David Villa is amazing and I can’t quite believe this is reality yet," said Al-Bacha.

In a thrilling two-legged final, with one leg played on PlayStation®4 and one on Xbox One, Allen played with Brazil before Al-Bacha swooped to victory playing as France. The 2016 edition marked the first time that the annual tournament was played on both the world’s leading gaming consoles - The PlayStation®4 and Xbox One. The new champion is the first FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion to ever win the event while playing on multiple platforms.

Speaking about Mohamad Al-Bacha's win, David Villa said: “It’s been a real eye opener for me to see the level of competition here. The professionalism and mental strength in the final was just like in a real World Cup Final. I played a few of the competitors myself but I’m nowhere near their level. Congratulates to Mohamad Al-Bacha. He played a great match this evening and showed a real passion for football.”

The 2016 Grand Final, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was the first time that New York City had the pleasure of hosting the showpiece event. Over 2.3 million players from around the world took part in online qualification for the 2016 edition of the largest video gaming tournament in the world, but only an elite 32 players made it to New York.

Speaking about the event FIFA Marketing Director Thierry Weil said: “Tonight was a special night for everyone, in particular our new FIWC winner Mohamad Al-Bacha. His exceptional skills helped him to beat not only the 31 other participants in the Grand Final tournament, but also the people who registered for online qualification, and this is a huge achievement. I am very proud to see how this tournament has grown from the first event held at the home of FIFA in 2004 to the amazing performance we have witnessed this evening in New York.”

The FIWC is organised by FIFA and its presenting partner EA SPORTS™. Since FIWC 2010, the tournament has been recognised by Guinness World Records as the world’s largest online gaming tournament. As an official FIFA tournament, the FIWC gives football fans the chance to live out their passion for football and to interact with other fans around the world.

For more information on the FIWC, visit: www.fifa.com/fiwc, www.twitter.com/fiwc, or www.facebook.com/fiwc