The FIFA eNations Cup™ 2019 saw eFootballers represent their country in an official capacity for the first time, as 20 national teams from six confederations vied for the right to be crowned the world’s best. It marked a significant milestone in the career of many leading EA SPORTS FIFA players.

One of Australia’s duo at the tournament, Marcus Gomes is no stranger to playing on the global stage having competed at the biggest eFootball tournament of them all: the FIFA eWorld Cup™. But flying the flag for your country at the eNations Cup is on par with a Grand Final appearance, according to Gomes.

"I’ve been playing on the FIFA world stage for nearly three years - from the FIFA '17 World Cup until now. When the opportunity came to represent Australia, I knew I had to grab it," he told FIFA.com. “It means a great deal to me and in terms of prestige, this is up there with the World Cup at FIFA '17. Nothing else comes close to those two.

"The opportunity to officially represent your country, and to have the backing of not just the official [social media] channels but the whole FIFA community back in Australia, means a lot."

Last week, Gomes cemented his status as Australia’s leading Xbox player. The Melbourne City man won the Xbox leg of Australia’s eLeague before losing out to Socceroos team-mate 'Marko' of Sydney FC in the cross-console final.

The tournament, which brought together A-League clubs on the virtual pitch, was another display of how much the game has developed Down Under in recent years.

"The competitive FIFA scene in Australia has really grown, especially since FIFA '17 when regionals began, and the first Rest of the World regional final came to Sydney.

"With the introduction of FUT Champions, too, a lot of players have found it easy to access qualifying. I can only see it growing as Australia’s E-League continues – it’s season two right now – and more players realise that there’s opportunities to come to tournaments and represent your club or country."

Marcus is not the only Gomes in Australia’s eFootball scene. His younger brother Dillon is one of the country’s brightest prospects and has narrowly missed out qualification for the likes of the FUT Champions Cup despite only being 17-years-old. Marcus expects big things for his sibling in FIFA '20.

"We only play each other here and there as I’m Xbox and he’s PlayStation, but whenever we need help, we’ll play a friendly and watch it back together," he said. "There isn’t any sibling rivalry. Given how competitive our region is now, we have competition all around us and on two different consoles too.

"We’re family, of course, but it also feels like we really are a team. The dream is to eventually have both of us qualify for a tournament together. It nearly happened with Singapore: I ended up qualifying and he missed out by one spot. I believe in FIFA '20 that you’ll see us at an event together."

With Dillon on the periphery of tournaments, will we see the Gomes brothers representing the Socceroos on the world stage together in the future?

"The issue is probably me staying at my level because I have no doubt that Dillon will step up and be the best PlayStation player in Australia sometime in the near future.

"He’s got age on his side and all he needs is the experience. He can do it, he just needs to believe in himself. To have both of us representing Australia would be crazy. Hopefully it can happen next year."