Danial cruised into the last four.
Danial Shakeel Patel’s dream run at the first-ever FIFAe World Cup featuring eFootball ended in the semi-finals.
Representing India, he lost to Malaysia on December 11, 2024, at the SEF Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The 17-year-old, who had taken the group stage by storm, scored 20 goals to finish second.
The knockout stage was held in a best-of-three format and in the quarter-finals, Danial registered a stunning comeback win against Turkey’s YUSA.
Despite Danial equalising with the last kick of the game, Turkey won 2-1 in extra time.
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But Danial Shakeel Patel bounced back in match two and after a cagey 90 in-game minutes, he won 1-0 in extra time.
The decider proved to be one-sided as Danial raced to a two-goal lead before half-time.
Turkey did not have an answer and Danial cruised into the last four.
In the semi-finals, Danial would face Malaysia’s MINBAPPE, who was the only unbeaten player in the tournament thus far, winning seven and drawing two until the quarter-finals.
From the first game, it was clear that Malaysia would be Danial’s toughest challenge for the FIFAe World Cup.
Although the Indian Esports player took an early lead, Malaysia ended up winning 3-1.
The second game was a very close affair, requiring penalties to separate the two sides.
Danial went ahead in the first half but MINBAPPE equalised moments later. There were no goals until the end of extra time, which led to the FIFAe World Cup’s first-ever shootout.
Despite Danial seeing two of his first three penalties saved, he scored the next four to win 5-4 and force another decider.
The final game was arguably the tournament’s most thrilling match.
Things did not get off to a good start for Danial as he conceded two early goals.
But he delivered another resolute comeback with a couple of quickfire goals in the second half to level it up 2-2 again and leave Malaysia rattled.
However, just as the match was moments away from inching into extra time, MINBAPPE pulled a rabbit out of the hat, splitting open the Indian defence and scoring the winner in the 87th minute.
Malaysia will face Morocco in the final of the FIFAe World Cup ft. eFootball – Mobile on December 12.
The World Cup featured competitions on both console and mobile.
Chinmay Sahoo, Ibrahim Gulrez and Saksham Rattan represented India in the FIFAe World Cup on console, while Danial Shakeel Patel was the eTigers’ sole representative on mobile.
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