March 11, 2024 – Major League Soccer (MLS) News Release
AUSTIN, TX – Major League Soccer (MLS) and EA SPORTS FC Pro concluded the eMLS Cup presented by TikTok tonight with New England Revolution’s João Afonso “JAFONSO” Vasconcelos hoisting the coveted trophy at the iconic ACL Live at the Moody Theater as part of this year’s SXSW. JAFONSO defeated Inter Miami CF’s John “K1john” Kamel by the score of 6-0. While this marks the end of the 2024 eMLS competitive season, JAFONSO and K1john will represent the eMLS with automatic qualification to the EA SPORTSFC Pro World Championship to be held later this Summer.
“I worked all season to achieve this goal of winning the eMLS Cup, and now I am eager to showcase my talents at the FC Pro World Championship,” said JAFONSO who took home $14,000 USD as part of the season’s $75,000 USD prize pool by dominating his three matches today by an aggregate score of 18-3. “My biggest advice for players who want to get to the pro level is to be yourself first. Be confident. Believe in your talents and keep driving to achieve your dreams.”
“It’s tough to get so close to the title, but I am happy with what I accomplished this eMLS season,” said K1john who is from Egypt and worked his way to the pro level through local and amateur tournaments. “Playing in front of the fans definitely gave me a boost of energy, especially with my match against NR7 in the semifinals. I will enjoy the result tonight, but most importantly, I am thrilled that the performance in eMLS Cup qualified me for the FC Pro World Championship, which is the biggest stage we all aspire to play on.”
The 2024 eMLS season featured 22 players from MLS Clubs who navigated two League Series competitions and battled through qualifiers, group play, and finals. In total, 403 matches were played throughout the season. The top six seeds automatically advanced to the eMLS Cup, which included League Series 1 Champion Atlanta United’s Paulo “Paulo Neto” Neto who defeated Austin FC’s Diogo “Diogo” Mendes (5-1) to become the first ever eMLS player to win four eMLS trophies, League Series 2 Champion New England Revolution’s João Afonso “JAFONSO” Vasconcelos who outpaced the 2023 eMLS Cup champion St. Louis CITY SC’s Niklas “NR7 ” Raseck (5-2), along with New York City FC’s Olle “Ollelito” Arbin, Austin’s Diogo “Diogo” Mendes, Charlotte FC’s Gustavo “Gustavo ” Nascimento, and Minnesota United’s Ehsan “Lamps” Zakeri.
The remaining 16 Clubs competed during eMLS Cup Group Stage on March…
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