Four finalists determined at landmark FIWC

Groups A-D, PlayStation4
One of the prevailing discussion points coming out of Sunday’s group stage draw was how tough Group A was, that with FIWC 2014 champion August Rosenmeier and experienced 2012 semi-finalist Giuseppe Guastella. And with all the hype, Group A delivered, but perhaps not how everyone expected. Swedish player Ivan Lapanje's 2-1 win over Rosenmeier was the defining match of the group as he edged Rosenmeier's Brazil playing with Portugal. That win was pivotal for Lapanje, seeing him through to the Round of 16, while it was Guastella who did enough to advance through to the knockout stages, which meant Rosenmeier would not get the chance to defend his 2014 title.

Groups E-H, Xbox One
 

Going into the group stages on the Xbox One side of the draw, a couple of players were aware of the strength of their pool. "My draw's quite a tough one," said Sean Allen. "I know two of the three players and they're both very good players. I've probably got the hardest group out of all of them, but I'm confident enough to get through and maybe go on and win the whole thing." Allen's confidence helped him top Group G with France's Dylan Bance in second.

Round of 16 highlights
 

Lapanje, playing with Brazil, then faced Benedikt Saltzer, who played with Argentina in the Round of 16. A surprise was perhaps Bance's win over Michael Bittner after the German had such a strong group phase, winning all of his matches en route to the second round. Another highlight from the Round of 16 was the all-English tie between Allen and Ty Walton, which ended in a dramatic 4-2 extra time win for Allen. 

Round of 16 results
 

PlayStation4
Ivan Lapanje (SWE) 2-1 Benedikt Saltzer (GER) 
Michael Ribeiro (USA) 4-0 Emiliano Ruiz (MEX)
Mohamad Al-Bacha (DEN) 2-0 Giuseppe Guastella (USA)
Johann Simon (FRA) 1-0 Demetri Anastasiou (ENG) 

Xbox One
 

Michael Bittner (GER) 1-4 Dylan Bance (FRA) 
Khalid Aloufi (KSA) 1-1 (2-3 PST) Irving Velazquez (MEX) 
Sean Allen (ENG) 4-2 Ty Walton (ENG)
Rodrigo Araujo (BRA) 2-0 Kevin Assia (GER) 

Quarter-final highlights
 

The first last-eight match of the day saw Lapanje, playing with Portugal, continue a theme by coming from behind to defeat his opponent, this time in a 2-1 win against USA's Michael Ribeiro, who played with Brazil. Bance and Irving Velazquez then played in a match billed as the battle of the veterans. Bance regrouped from a 4-0 loss in the group stage and was riding high on momentum from his 4-1 Round of 16 win over Bittner, and it showed as he scored in the fourth minute and from the penalty spot six minutes before full-time to secure a 2-0 win to advance to the semi-finals.

Mohamad Al-Bacha came into his match against Simon with a great deal of confidence having not conceded a goal, and his match-winning strike was definitely a goal-of-the-day nominee as he showed a neat piece of skill close to goal to evade the defender and score. The last quarter-final of the day was easily the most exciting and the highest scoring. Allen took an early 2-0 lead only to see it his lead slip when Rodrigo Araujo scored two quick goals to equalise. However, Allen was able to regroup and he eventually won a 5-3 thriller to progress to the semi-finals, which will be an all-European Final Showdown.

Quarter-final results
 

PlayStation4
 

Michael Ribeiro (USA) 1-2 Ivan Lapanje (SWE) 
Johann Simon (FRA) 0-1 Mohamad Al-Bacha (DEN)

Xbox One
 

Irving Velazquez (MEX) 0-2 Dylan Bance (FRA) 
Rodrigo Araujo (BRA) 3-5 Sean Allen (ENG)

Semi-finalists
 

Ivan Lapanje (SWE)
Dylan Bance (FRA)
Mohamad Al-Bacha (DEN)
Sean Allen (ENG)