Since winning the title in 2022, Umut Gültekin has missed out on World Cup qualification three times in a row – but he is determined to make it happen again in 2026. The Leipzig player laid a good foundation for this on Tuesday in the FC Pro Open.
In the summer of 2022, Umut Gültekin reached the peak of his career with his triumph at the FIFAe World Cup – and was then never seen again at a World Cup. The RBLZ pro missed the World Cup three times in a row, most recently by a narrow margin in the 2025 play-ins. This season, he is aiming to make a big comeback – and silence his critics.
Gültekin won the 2024/25 club championship with Leipzig – otherwise, he was mostly far from winning titles. As a result, he was not nominated for eFootballer of the Year for the first time in many years. On Tuesday evening, Gültekin answered the question of whether he is still among the world’s best with impressive clarity.
Strong second place in the group of death
Gültekin is in a strong second place in the group of death after the first half of the season. Competing with him for a place in the knockout stages are, among others, world champion Manuel Bachoore, eChampions League winner Emre Yilmaz, and the always difficult to play against Francesco ‘Obrun’ Tagliafierro. Gültekin has a four-point lead over the third-placed player and a five-point lead over the fourth-placed player. This is extremely important, as only the top three places qualify for the playoffs. The group winners even secure a direct ticket to the quarterfinals – and the 2026 World Cup. The second and third-placed teams enter the competition in the round of 16. Gültekin is one win away from the FC Pro World Championship, which he has never reached in this form before.
Exclamation mark against the world champion
The Leipzig native started the FC Pro Open with a 4-4 draw against ‘Obrun’, followed by his first big exclamation mark: Gültekin beat reigning world champion Bachoore 5-4. In the subsequent duel with Yilmaz, the dream start seemed to be taking shape: the RBLZ pro was already 3-0 ahead after less than 20 minutes of play.
However, the Dutchman only faltered briefly – and then struck back mercilessly. The comeback turned into a goal fest: Yilmaz ultimately defeated the German 8-4.
What sounds like a harsh defeat at first glance is put into perspective by the Team Liquid pro’s performance in the rest of the first half of the season:
He won all five of his matches and achieved an incredible goal difference of 39:16 – statistically the best group match day by an eSports player in the history of the FC Pro Open. Yilmaz is already very close to the quarterfinals as the top of the table.
Gültekin, on the other hand, recovered well from this defeat and ended the evening in commanding fashion: he secured another six points against the two outsiders Raffaele Cacciapuoti (7:3) and Tiago Pires (8:3) – bringing his total to ten. This puts him with one foot in the playoffs, which could mean World Cup qualification.
His strong start to the FC Pro Open was a clear message to his doubters. Gültekin has been playing FC 26 at an extremely high level so far, which is also reflected in the VBL Club Championship, where he has the second-best points average of all participants with 2.4. However, he sat out the most recent showdown, with FC St. Pauli securing the title.