Well, that was a fantastic way to start the E-League! After months of anticipation, we finally got a look in on how some of the region’s best players would deal with the environment the FFA have set up, as well as checking out how the whole event is to be run by FOX Sports. And, from what I could see, the E-League is set to be a cracker.

That said, here’s a wrap up of everything that happened during the night, and where the teams stand after Round 1 of the E-League.

Xbox Fixtures

Game 1: Melbourne Victory’s Mitch Austin (ALCATRAZZ_2025) vs Brisbane Roar’s James Williams (iCripsy)
Result: 1-3

The opening game in the league saw Williams take a big win against Melbourne Victory’s Mitch Austin. The game, which was noticeably cagey in the opening half, saw a plethora of smooth attacking moves from both sides, with Williams’ Messi scoring off of a nicely worked corner routine. Austin pulled one back almost immediately after, with another Williams goal coming in the final moments of the first half to make it 2-1 at the break.

The second half was a different story, though, as Williams largely dominated possession in the midfield, capping off a great game with a Matt McKay goal in the 80th minute to take the win for his Brisbane Roar side.

Key Moment: Matt McKay’s goal in the 80th minute made it 3-1 to Williams, solidifying a big win for the Brisbane Roar.

Game 2: Melbourne City’s Marcus Gomes (SoccerStar00777) vs Sydney FC’s Samer Elbadar (Samer96_)
Result: 1-1

Coming in as a tournament favourite, Marcus Gomes was probably about as surprised as we were with Sydney FC’s Samer Elbader, who stood up to the play Gomes piled on him and stunned him with a quick equaliser right after half time.

Interestingly, it was Elbader who had the majority of chances in the second half, though in the end both competitors couldn’t get through each others defences, culminating in a fair 1-1 draw

Key Moment: Elbader’s early second half goal changed the momentum and created a fascinating dynamic for the remainder of the game. Though nothing changed in terms of the score, this was still a major result for Samer and Sydney FC.

Game 3: Western Sydney Wanderers’ Joseph Nassar (OhNoAGoat) vs Newcastle Jets’ Dane Crow (Bossierhickory8)
Result: 1-0

Western Sydney Wanderer’s Joseph Nassar took the win against Newcastle Jets’ Dane Crow in this match, which was turned on its head at the 30 minute mark thanks to a bad Puyol challenge and a red card being shown thereafter, taking Crow down to ten men. Nassar converted the penalty, and while you’d have thought the flood gates of goals would have opened for the Western Sydney Wanderers player, nothing ever eventuated.

Instead, Crow really pushed Nassar, forcing him to create mindless errors that almost cost him the win in the end, and it’ll be certainly something he’ll look to address in Round 2. In the end, neither player could convert any chances in the second half, giving Western Sydney Wanderers’ Joseph Nassar an important win.

Key Moment: The sending off and penalty became the most important moment in the game, forcing both players to adopt a new play style and tactic.

Game 4: Wellington Phoenix’s Justin Josevski (Justmanutd12) vs Perth Glory’s David Cook (HighFly357)
Result: 2-1

A cracking game of FIFA saw Wellington Phoenix’s Justin Josevski take the win again Perth Glory’s David Cook via a fantastic volley from Ruud Gullit in the 90th minute, winning 2-1 in the end.

The first half was essentially a cagey affair, with defensive play mostly favoured. The second half was a different game, however, with both competitors playing more attacking-focused FIFA. As such, it didn’t take too long for Phoenix’s Josevski to score a beautiful chip to make it 1-0, though it was quickly drawn back to 1-1 via a fantastic goal from Ronaldo for Glory, hitting the post and beating an in-form De Gea with ease.

With a minute or so to play it ended up finishing 2-1 thanks to an absolute cracker from Ruud Gullit, giving Josevski the win.

Key Moment:  When it all looked like it’d be 1-1 to finish, Josevski pulled out a huge goal with Ruud Gullit in the 90th minute, scoring a fantastic volley to take a big win over Cook.

Game 5: Adelaide United’s Jamie O’Doherty (FUTWIZ Jamie) vs Central Coast Mariners’ Matthew Camilleri (StrawHat Camels)
Result: 2-2

It seems like Round 1’s been all about the favoured players not making it through with anything resembling an easy win, as Adelaide United’s Jamie O’Doherty conceded an extremely late goal to finish the game 2-2.

Central Coast’s Camilleri got his team off to a great start by scoring first with a classic ball across the backline, leading to a easy tap in for Cristiano Ronaldo. O’Doherty pulled it back to 1-1 in the 26th minute, and with the momentum on his side he scored soon after the commencement of the second half.

Holding on for the win, O’Doherty unfortunately let in a fantastic Mariners attack that saw Camilleri’s side pull a goal back with moments to play, finishing 2-2 after all was said and done.

Key Moment: The A-League’s own Trent Buhagiar scored a huge goal to make it 2-2 at the end of the game, forcing both players to settle for a draw.

PlayStation 4 Fixtures

Game 6: Melbourne Victory’s Moued Zwed (MaudZwed) vs Brisbane Roar’s Dino Flocco (ol_Mate_)
Result: 2-1 (4-3 to Brisbane Roar on aggregate)

This one was a nail biter! With Brisbane Roar’s Cripsy earning the team a 3-1 aggregate lead, all teammate Dino Flocco had to do was keep his nerve and hold out. He looked assured after an excellent first half display, pushing Melbourne Victory’s Moued Zwed the entire time.

However, everything changed in the second half thanks to some spirited play from Zwed, who pushed the ball and cut out key passes to really put the pressure on Flocco. The pressure paid off in the 61st minute where Zwed would finally see a breakthrough on goal, and the aggregate was cut to just one goal in the 74th minute thanks to a fantastic goal, once again, from Zwed’s team.

In the end, though, it was Flocco who held his nerve and saw Brisbane Roar take 3 points via a 4-3 aggregate win.

Key Moment: Zwed was gifted an excellent opportunity after equalising 1-1, where Flocco’s botched passing play allowed Zwed to go 1 on 1 with the keeper, though he misplaced his shot and squandered a golden chance. Had this gone in, who knows what the score would have been!

Game 7: Melbourne City’s Josh Wood (joshingwood) vs Sydney FC’s Mark Brijeski (xMarkoHD)
Result: 3-4 (5-4 to Sydney FC on aggregate)

Another goal fest saw Sydney FC’s Mark Brijeski narrowly beat Melbourne City’s Josh Wood 4-3, to give Sydney FC the 3 points (with an aggregate score of 5-4).

It all looked very comfortable for Brijeski, having scored three fantastic goals in the first half. Thanks to some fantastic pressing play and some crazy passing, it was obvious as to why he’s a favourite to go all the way in the competition — he looked the real deal.

Come the second half, however, and Josh Wood stunned Brijeski with three goals that brought it back to 3-3 with 15 in-game minutes still to play. Brijeski, noticeably stunned, managed to compose himself and came up with an important tap in goal in the 85th minute to grab victory not only for himself, but for Sydney FC as well — a sign of the nerve and confidence he’s got in him, no doubt.

Key Moment: Brijeski’s 85th minute goal more or less sealed the points for Sydney FC, surviving an onslaught of attacking momentum from Josh Wood.

Game 8: Western Sydney Wanderers’ Rick Tran (RDOUBLETTT) vs Newcastle Jets’ Dane Crow (Bossierhickory8)
Result: 4-1 (5-1 to Western Sydney Wanderers on aggregate)

Western Sydney Wanderers solidified their position as league leaders with Rick Tran taking out a 4-1 win against Newcastle Jets’ Dane Crow. Crow, who had to be substituted in for other Jets player Bohdan Ling due to the player being unavailable, wasn’t playing on his main console and it showed, with Tran grabbing 3 goals within 47 minutes of in-game time.

Crow made a go of it, scoring the next goal to make it 3-1, only to then concede once more and bow out at 5-1 on aggregate.

A spirited effort, without a doubt, and I’ve got to commend Crow on stepping up and playing against two tough opponents on the night.

Key Moment: Rick Tran got the scoring going early, and it was his first goal that really put him in the driver’s seat for the tie, culminating in a 5-1 aggregate win for Western Sydney Wanderers.

Game 9: Wellington Phoenix’s Christian Bartolilo (Fweshest) vs Perth Glory’s Peter Saisanas (Saisanas)
Result: 2 – 6 (7-4 to Perth Glory on aggregate)

Another absolute belter pitted Wellington Phoenix’s Christian Bartolilo up against Perth Glory’s Peter Saisanas, with the latter having a 2-1 deficit to overturn.

The Phoenix’s Bartolilo opened up the scoring, and all looked to be going smoothy until Glory’s Saisanas pulled a goal back to make it 1-1 in the 28th minute. After some excellent movement following a corner, Bartolilo made it 2-1 in the 42nd minute for the Phoenix, capping off a positive first half display.

Everything was turned on its head when Peter Saisanas brought Thierry Henry on in the second half, who made an instant impact — invoking himself in almost all of the goals to come. What happened thereafter was a heaping of Glory goals, culminating in a huge 6-2 win for Peter Saisanas and his Glory side, overturning the aggregate score in the team’s favour (4-7).

Key Moment: Bringing Thierry Henry on for Peter Saisanas’ side proved to be a huge decision, with the player making fantastic runs down the right-hand side of the field and providing the inspiration to see Saisanas hammer a handful of goals home.

Game 10: Adelaide United’s Zachary May-Burgess (vDreamz-Shooter) vs Central Coast Mariners’ Kiran Gupta (KyrenFIFA)
Result: 1-0 (3-2 to Central Coast Mariners on aggregate)

It was all to play for between Adelaide United’s Zachary May-Burgess and Central Coast Mariners’ Kiran Gupta following a dramatic last-minute goal in the Xbox match between the sides.

The game was a cagey affair for the opening few moments, with Central Coast’s Gupta starting to break May-Burgess’s back line down as the half progressed. It was only through United’s David De Gea that kept the club in the tie, producing some insanely good saves throughout the 90 minutes.

That said, it was a moment of brilliance from Central Coast’s Gupta — smashing a wonderful strike into the top right-hand corner with Ronaldo in the 75th minute — that sealed the win for his side 1-0, beating out Adelaide United on aggregate 3-2.

Key Moment: It’s hard not to point towards the goal from Central Coast’s Ronaldo in the 75th minute, giving both Gupta and the Mariners the win after a fantastic game.

Ladder after Round 1

Standing

Team

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

Goal Difference

Points

1

WS Wanderers

1

1

0

0

+4

3

2

Perth Glory

1

1

0

0

+3

3

3

Sydney FC

1

1

0

0

+1

3

4

Brisbane Roar

1

1

0

0

+1

3

5

CC Mariners

1

1

0

0

+1

3

6

Melbourne City

1

0

0

1

-1

0

7

Melbourne Victory

1

0

0

1

-1

0

8

Adelaide United

1

0

0

1

-1

0

9

Wellington Phoenix

1

0

0

1

-3

0

10

Newcastle Jets

1

0

0

1

-4

0

Goal of the Round: Ruud Gullit – Wellington Phoenix’s Justin Josevski vs Perth Glory’s David Cook (HighFly357)

A pop up volley gave Phoenix’s Justin Josevski a huge 2-1 win in the 90th minute. It’s hard not to choose this as the best goal of the round due to the sheer brilliance and audacity to take on such a shot, and, above all else, to score it as well!

Game of the Round: Melbourne City’s Josh Wood (joshingwood) vs Sydney FC’s Mark Brijeski (xMarkoHD)

Going into half time at 3-0 up, you’d be forgiven if you thought Sydney FC’s Mark Brijeski would be looking to beat Melbourne City’s Josh Wood by more than five goals.

Yet a second half resurgence saw Josh Wood score three goals to bring the scoreline back to 3-3, only for Brijeski to hold his nerve and score a massive goal for his team to win 4-3 (5-4 on aggregate).

Player of the Round: Perth Glory’s Peter Saisanas (Saisanas)

Scoring six big goals in a game where you were already trailing to begin with due to the aggregate score, as well as conceding first in the game itself, just shows the audacity and character behind Glory’s Peter Saisanas.

Bringing on Thierry Henry in the second half saw Saisanas sweep away his opponent and take not only the win, but also all three points for his club. This guy’s one to watch.

Final Thoughts

The E-League delivered tonight, and though some of the broadcasting was a bit awkward at times and the transitions didn’t quite go to plan, you could tell how much love has been put into getting this all together. What matters most is that this league is a celebration of the best FIFA players in Australia, as well as introducing a new way of interacting with esports and getting the competitive scene moving, and it’s showing.

There’s a lot of potential for the E-League to become something huge, and I can’t wait to see what unfolds in Round 2 next Thursday.