Forget Qatar, a much better game is taking place in Turner’s Cross, County Cork!

Irish footballing legends Stephanie Roche and David Meyler will play alongside the top two e-sports athletes in Ireland, and you can watch it all live on Twitch.

To say FIFA has always been competitive would be something of an understatement. From the feeling of incomparable joy that comes from giving one of your mates a good hammering to the utter shame of being on the losing side, few other games managed to make the stakes feel so high.

That’s before you even mention any house rules about what your forfeit would have to be for suffering a heavy defeat…

With all that said, the bar has been raised from what we used to think of as competitive FIFA tournaments. Just like the beautiful game itself, players from all over the world compete with each other in high stakes eSports tournaments that give them the chance to put their skills to the test.

It takes a huge amount of training to reach the elite level of competitive eSports, and you only need to see them in action to see exactly why. You also need the best kit, and this is where Virgin Media superfast and reliable broadband comes into play.

The standard in eports is absolutely insane, and the lightening-quick reflexes of one player being a fraction of a second quicker than another can make the difference between winning and losing.

A-Game for Ireland

Just as the World Cup gets underway in Qatar, A-Game for Ireland is taking place in Cork City FC’s Turner’s Cross Stadium on Tuesday, 29 November. While Ireland might not have qualified for that tournament and it’s not as easy to get as invested as it was in previous years, this might be the perfect alternative for someone looking to find something a little bit different.

The idea is simple; host a FIFA tournament that brings the worlds of football and eSports together and broadcast it live on Twitch for the world to see. Two of Ireland’s top eSports athletes are set to go up against two Irish footballing legends, it’s a League of Ireland first for an event like this to take place on an Irish club’s home turf.

Tyrone Ryan and Ciaran Walsh are Irish eSports athletes who represent Ireland on the world stage as part of the WYLDE team. Ranking as the top two FIFA players in the entire country, no mean feat given its popularity, they know what it’s like to feel the pressure of playing at the elite level.

Irish football legends David Meyler and Stephanie Roche are no strangers to that feeling either, having both represented Ireland in football. Having played club level at home and abroad before competing at the international level, two more dedicated competitors you will never meet.

All four of them have the level of commitment it takes to reach the top of any sport. Pitting them against each other is bound to make sparks fly, which is why Virgin Media came up with a plan to host A-Game for Ireland.

They will be split into two teams, with David Meyler and Ciarán Roche going up against Stephanie Roche and Tyrone Ryan. While it’s far too close to call who is going to come out on top, the only guarantee is that all four of these incredibly competitive people will be doing absolutely everything they can to be on the winning team.

As many sports fans will tell you, good commentary is what takes the viewing experience to the next level. Every second of the action will be captured by another great Ireland footballer, and Virgin Media Sport pundit Damien Delaney, with analysis from eSports caster and football commentator Darren Gibson.

Seeing as a strong internet connection is as integral to a FIFA tournament as grass is for a football field, the tournament will be powered by Virgin Media superfast and reliable broadband. Live on Twitch at 5pm on 29 November, you can watch it yourself on Twitch here.