Two French teams, one German and one Turkish make up Group C. VFL Bochum were the surprise outfit during qualifying, where they went undefeated, while Team Vitality, whose two players were both Grand Finalists last season, will be banking on experience. However, neither club will be underestimating their Istanbul or Dijon opponents, who themselves are more than capable of springing a surprise.

We take a look at the four teams in Group C.

The Istanbul club launched their eSports department in January 2017 and are now among the country’s most titled sides, having claimed the national championship in their first year and the regional title in 2018, among other honours. Their players live and train at a dedicated eSports residence. Representing Futbolist on this occasion will be the Bulgarian Sezer Sevdzhanov Sabriev and Turkey’s Ismail Can Yerinde, two of the best players in their respective countries.

Jan-Luca Bass and Alexander Steinmetz represent the only team at the FIFA eClub World Cup that will be competing in the virtual Bundesliga at the same time. The pair are still relatively unknown on the international scene, having been discovered locally by Bochum. The German club have the experience of playing at last year’s edition of this tournament and will be hoping to reach at least the quarter-finals on this occasion.

Aurelien Marc 'Moolzn' Cheron and Nathan 'M Herozia' Gil fly the flag for the French club, which edged out Schalke 04 to reach this World Cup after the two sides had dominated 11 days of online qualification in Group D. At present, 'M Herozia' is ranked in the top 50 in the Xbox standings and, together with his partner, could make Dijon one of the revelations of the tournament.

In 'MaestroSquad' and 'Rafsou', Team Vitality have two of the most consistent French players of recent times to call on. Both participated in the 2018 Grand Final and successfully came through online qualification for this event. 'Rafsou' even competed at the inaugural FIFA eClub World Cup in 2017, then known as the FIFA Interactive Club World Cup, although he was representing Olympique Lyon at the time. With both players currently in the top 20 of the FIFA 19 Global Series rankings in their respective consoles, there is no denying that Team Vitality are one of the favourites for this year’s title.