The world of competitive EA Sports FC is buzzing as the new season’s premier 1v1 tournament, the FC Pro Open 26, is officially underway. Serving as the pinnacle of skill for the FC 26 title on PlayStation 5, this competition has already seen thousands of hopefuls whittled down to an elite few.
The FC Pro Open 26 is the first major global event of the FC Pro 26 season. It is an in person, 1v1 competition featuring 24 of the world’s best players. These competitors will battle for a massive $532,000 prize pool and, crucially, for spots at the prestigious EA SPORTS FC Pro World Championship. Here is the prize money breakdown for the main event:
1st Place: $100,000
2nd Place: $60,000
3rd – 4th Place: $35,000 each
5th – 8th Place: $25,000 each
9th – 12th Place: $20,000 each
13th – 16th Place: $12,500 each
17th – 20th Place: $10,000 each
21st – 24th Place: $8,000 each
Beyond the prize money, the stakes are enormous. The top 8 players all quarterfinalists from the FC Pro Open Finals will earn a direct invitation to the EA SPORTS FC Pro World Championship, the culminating event of the entire season and direct entry for the FC Pro 27 Open.
The journey to the FC Pro Open 26 main event was a multi stage gauntlet designed to find the absolute best players from around the globe.
FC Pro Open Ladder (Sept 22 – Oct 1, 2025): The competition kicked off with an in game mode open to all players who reached Division 4 in Ultimate Team. Competitors played for a high Elo rating, with the top ranked players from each region advancing.
FC Pro Open Regional Qualifiers (Oct 11 – 12, 2025): The top players from the ladder competed in an online, region based qualifier to earn a spot at the global event.
FC Pro Open Global Qualifier (Oct 31 – Nov 2, 2025): This was the final hurdle. A 64 player offline tournament was held at DreamHack Atlanta. After a fierce competition, the top 16 players secured their places in the FC Pro Open main event.
The main event, which will be held in London, will feature 24 competitors. These include the 16 players from the Global Qualifier plus 8 direct invitees (the top performers from last season’s FC Pro Open 25 and World Championship).
The 24 players have been divided into four groups of six. The group stage will be a double round robin, meaning every player in a group will play each other twice. Group Stage Dates are Split 1 on November 24, 25 and December 1, 8. Split 2 on January 5, 12, 19 and 20. The top three players from each of the four groups (12 players total) will advance to the finals. The 12 advancing players will compete in a high stakes, single elimination bracket on a single day to crown the champion.
You can watch all the main events for the FC Pro Open 26 live and for free on the official EA SPORTS FC Pro channels.
The official streams will be available on both Twitch and YouTube. For Youtube the stream is https://www.youtube.com/@EASPORTSFCPro and for Twitch https://www.twitch.tv/easportsfc/videos.
A major perk of watching the live broadcast is the ability to earn in game rewards for Ultimate Team (such as player packs). To receive these rewards, you must link your EA account to your Twitch or YouTube account. To Link Twitch simply go to ea.com/twitchlinking and follow the instructions to connect your accounts. To link your Youtube account, Go to the Connected Apps page in your YouTube Settings > Find Electronic Arts and click Connect. > Log in to your EA account to confirm the link.
Alternatively log into your EA account and then head over to the connected accounts.
Once your accounts are linked, you just need to watch the live stream during the specified event times to earn progress toward the rewards.
The 24 player field is a mix of established legends and new contenders who fought their way through the qualifiers. The groups have been set for the main event:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| Vejrgang | ManuBachoore | nicolas99fc | GuiBarros |
| LJR_Peixoto | Obrun2002 | Brice | Levi de Weerd |
| lukas_official11 | EmreYilmaz | Danipitbull | GugaFerraz |
| tuga810 | Darkley11 | Stingray | Paulo Neto |
| Tekkz | Umut | Alihan | Nassada |
| Yaskow | Er_Caccia98 | AnasBadr | HHezerS |
With a field this stacked, featuring titans like Vejrgang, ManuBachoore, Tekkz, and nicolas99fc, the FC Pro Open 26 is shaping up to be one of the most exciting events in competitive FC history.
