Kings World Cup 2024: All you need to know
The Kings World Cup 2024 is a new football tournament created by Gerard Pique and Neymar which will begin on May 26 in Mexico.
It promises to be a major event this season end. I gathered that many famous footballers with 32 teams from up to 20 countries and many celebrities will participate.
In the coming weeks, the Euro and Copa América will fascinate football lovers. But another competition may find an audience with the first Kings World Cup edition. It is a huge and ambitious project driven by former FC Barcelona defender Gerard Piqué.
In 2022, he created the Kings League – a football competition broadcast on Twitch with different rules.
It aims for dynamic and entertaining football, enjoying success in its second season. Launched in Spain, the Kings’ League now has a North American championship too, showing its popularity in Spanish-speaking countries like Mexico and Colombia.
Uniqueness and Rules
The Kings League differs from traditional football through its rules. Matches are 7-a-side on a smaller pitch with two 20-minute halves.
Teams can make unlimited substitutions. Yellow and red cards lead to 2 and 5-minute expulsions respectively.
The kickoff differs too – the ball starts in the middle, and teams begin from their goal lines to take possession.
Another rule is that each team has a “secret weapon” usable once per match to gain advantages like double-value goals for a period, sending off an opposing player temporarily, or cancelling the opposing “secret weapon”.
Kings World Cup 2024
Beyond the usual Kings League seasons, Gerard Piqué wanted his own World Cup – the Kings World Cup.
Mexico hosts the competition from May 26 (with May 25 qualifiers) to June 8. The final four will take place at Monterrey’s 53,500-seat Estadio BBVA, home of Rayados de Monterrey.
Besides in-person spectators, “viewers” can watch free on Twitch’s official Kings League account.
32 teams will compete, though currently 36 are in contention. The 8 best Kings League teams, 8 top Americas Kings League teams, and 12 invited selections are already guaranteed spots.
Four more teams will come from the “Redemption Game” involving 4 Spanish Kings League teams that missed out and 4 Americas Kings League teams.
On May 26, these 8 teams will compete for the final 4 Kings World Cup slots.
So far, 36 teams from 20 countries are involved: Spain (12), Colombia (3), Mexico (3), Brazil (2), Belgium, France, Turkey, Japan, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Chile, Uruguay, Peru, Argentina, Dominican Republic, United States, and Venezuela (1 each).
Many football stars surround this competition as team presidents – James Rodriguez, Mario Götze, Andriy Shevchenko, Neymar, Francesco Totti, Rio Ferdinand, Sergio Agüero, Javier Hernandez, and Iker Casillas.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the competition president. Other presidents include streamers like Ibai Llanos, AmineMaTue, singer Maluma, and journalist Gerard Romero.
Kings/Americas League teams have format experience. In Kings League, Ultimate Móstoles led by DjMaRiiO was the best, winning the 2023 Cup and finishing runner-up twice.
El Barrio, needing the “Redemption Game” to qualify, won 2023’s Winter Championship.
XBuyer Team, Porcinos FC, and Saiyans FC also won trophies. For the Americas Kings League, Uruguay’s Raniza FC were champions over Chile’s Titan Royal.
France sends Foot 2 Rue with president AmineMaTue, coach Saïd Dorbani and players like ex-internationals Samir Nasri, Jérémy Ménez, Abdel Medioub plus lower-division alumni.
Other invited teams include Belgium’s Deptostra FC (Eden Hazard), Brazil’s Furia FC (Neymar, Falcão), UK’s Five FC (Rio Ferdinand), Italy’s Stallions (Totti, Viviano, Nainggolan).
But Ukraine’s UA Steel likely has the most talent – former Shakhtar stars like Pyatov, Chygrynskiy, Srna, Konoplyanka, Marlos, Moraes plus Edmar and Voronin.
