Say "let's do a FIFA tournament this weekend" in almost any group chat in Kenya and everyone knows exactly what you mean — even though the game most of them will actually load up is eFootball, not anything currently called FIFA. That's not a mistake. It's just how the name stuck.
Where the confusion actually comes from
For years, "FIFA" was the name on the box for the biggest football video game around, made by EA. Konami's football game — the one most Kenyan players are on today — went by Pro Evolution Soccer, or PES, as the long-running alternative. A few years back, Konami relaunched PES as eFootball, and separately, EA's football series dropped the FIFA name and became EA Sports FC. Two different publishers, two name changes, around the same time — no wonder "FIFA" just became the generic word for "the football game we play," regardless of which one it technically is.
That habit is exactly why the Football Kenya Federation's eFootball qualifiers still get called "FIFA qualifiers" by a lot of the people talking about them, and why a WhatsApp group named "Saturday FIFA 🏆" is almost certainly organizing an eFootball tournament without anyone thinking twice about the name.
Why this doesn't matter for how you run it
Whatever your group calls it, setting up a real tournament works the same way:
- Create the tournament — pick a format, whether that's a fast knockout or something else.
- Share the invite link wherever your players already are — WhatsApp, Discord, doesn't matter.
- Players join by typing their name — no accounts needed just to play.
- Results get tracked and disputes get settled without anyone having to referee an argument in the group chat.
None of that changes based on what you call the tournament. If your group has always called it "FIFA," keep calling it that — the bracket doesn't know the difference, and neither will your players.
Whether you're running a "FIFA" night or an eFootball one, start your tournament and let the name sort itself out in the group chat, like it always has.