Well what everyone thinks they know for a fact can’t be far from the truth.

The truth is not only did Saudi Arabia qualify for the World Cup, but so far it seems that it is the most likely nation to grab the title of world champion.

Still think I am crazy, well I am not.

Saudi Arabia has qualified for the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) to be in Euro Disney, France this summer from July 1 to 5. And the game they will be playing there is FIFA.

Leading the Saudi team is the famous world Champion of 2005 Badr Hakeem nicknamed Arabian Joker who plays for the team  Makkah Heroes.  He is also joined by two other top players Maher Aladamawi and Mansour Alowaidhi, both of Jeddah Stars  Team.

Analysts following the FIFA eSports World Cup predict that Arabian Joker has the best chance of winning the title despite the fact that his victory in ESWC 2005 was won on the game PES (Pro Evolution Soccer). This year he is playing FIFA. Experts say that his experience of participating in eight global tournaments (this would be his fifth World Cup in a row) tipped the odds to his favor since no other player in ESWC has that much experience in playing on a global level.

This experience means that he will be less distracted by all the spectators and glamor as well as less affected by the pressure of the tournament; and that alone can help him win the title.

The other factor is that is that although PES & FIFA are two totally different games, they are both football simulators that require the player to have good understanding of football, creative strategy setup of his team and good control; all of which Arabian Joker has an abundance of.

This is not to say that Arabian Joker will not face some very tough competition for the title. In every ESWC the main team that the Kingdom is always battling it out with is France. And this year is no exception. The French champion this year is Julien Dassonville (aka mX-Juliianooo) who was ranked 5th in the “FIFA Interactive World Champion 2010” and his runner up is Anas Sofi (aka MythiX-astank) who has knocked out Spank (ESWC’s World champion of 2006 & FIFA Interactive World Cup Champion of 2009) from the French qualifiers with a 2-1 victory. Both players play for team MythiX.

Additionally, Spain has always produced top eFootball players in previous ESWC & WCG events. Although I can’t find much about the two Spanish players they both play for strong eSport teams (Maximo12 from x6tence & Ralfitita from unir).

Both are strong Spanish eSports teams with a long history of achievements.

The remaining countries that might have what it takes to challenge Saudi Arbia for the title would be Brazil, China and Portugal. So far, I was unable to find any data about the Brazilian player MIBR.pires, and neither China nor Portugal has announced the names of their ESWC FIFA players yet.

And clearly we should not forget the two other Saudi players who not only are very strong but also play for a different Saudi team and would rather get the title to their team  Jeddah Stars  than let it go to  Makkah Heroes.

All in all, I think that the title of world champion would to a Saudi. But I don’t think it will be easy.