Manchester City won the ePremier League for a record third consecutive year, with João Afonso ‘jafonsogv’ Vasconcelos and Matías ‘Bonanno’ Bonanno winning the EA Sports FC 26 tournament.
Now, jafonsogv is the first Portuguese pro to win the esports tournament, joining the likes of his countrymen Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias as some of the few Portuguese men to win a Premier League title with Man City.
Meanwhile Bonanno, who was part of all three of City’s triumphs, has overtaken his former teammate Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt as the player with the most ePremier League titles after defeating Tekkz in last weekend’s final.
Bonanno and jafonsogv have now qualified for the FC Pro 26 World Championships, which will be hosted at this year’s Esports World Cup; an event jafonsogv knows all too well after winning the first iteration in 2024.
In an exclusive interview with Insider Gaming, former EWC champion jafonsogv discussed his latest win, his tactics, and how that 2024 triumph changed his career.
ePremier League FC 26 Champion jafonsogv’s World Champion Aspirations
Manchester City came out on top in the 2026 ePremier League, defeating Leeds United 8-6 in a very close final with a 3-2 win in the first leg by jafonsogv over Jacob ‘NiKSNEB’ Benskin giving his teammate a one-goal advantage to work with.
After helping City to a ‘threepeat’ and winning the $1million EWC tournament in 2024, you’d be forgiven for assuming jafonsogv isn’t human and has ice in his veins.
Yet he admitted, “I think the pressure is always there… and of course, the pressure is different after you win because people will look to you in a different way.”
The EA FC 26 pro described that EWC victory as “life-changing” and the defining moment of his career, stressing that he has been “working every day” to return and repeat that feat.
This last weekend, jafonsogv booked an early place at the lucrative tournament in Saudi Arabia by winning the ePremier League.
EA FC 26 is an esport played alone so having to rely on a teammate could have felt quite strange, but jafonsogv was unfazed.
“I’ve had a touch with this format a few years ago in the Portuguese League, but of course, it was a long time ago,” the City player explained before saying he had total confidence in his teammate:
“Mat is a really good player. I think we really trust each other, and that was one of the keys to winning this weekend.
“I think he’s an incredible player and we were both feeling well going to this tournament. Whoever played, we were confident we’d bring a good result.”
The ePremier League 2026 Winning Tactics
City’s jafonsogv won all but one Group Stage game during his ePremier League run and did so playing a rather interesting 4-4-1-1 formation.
The Portuguese pro admitted: “his tactics were always changing” depending on the state of matches or his opponents but the primary idea behind his play was using wingbacks to create overloads in attack and a striker on False 9 instructions to help in the build-up.
Asked whether these tactics could be replicated for regular Ultimate Team players, jafonsogv bluntly responded: “You can try and see, but of course, don’t expect to start playing like me or a professional player, because that requires a lot of hours and time.”
Manchester City Accused of Winning ePremier League with a Glitch
In a dramatic and controversial end to this year’s ePremier League, Manchester City’s Bonanno seemingly used a glitch to win the final.
As you can see in the video above, Bonanno does the tactical foul built into the game during the 93rd minute of the second leg during the final.
The AI referee books the fouler and awards a free kick in a position that every pro EA FC player will usually score from, but then also blows the full time, denying Tekkz a game-winning free-kick.
According to another pro player, Tom ‘Stokes’ Stokes, this was an intentional use of an in-game glitch:
“So I didn’t even know this, but it’s a glitch and he intentionally did it. If the minute goes past 90 and you get that corner or free kick, you’re able to intentional foul after that, and it ends the game.”
Insider Gaming asked Manchester City Esports about this instance, but the organisation declined to comment.
Is using a glitch like that in a big-money esports tournament smart play or is it cheating? Let us know your thoughts on the
Insider Gaming Discord.
And in other EWC news, over 100 Esports Nation Cup partners have been confirmed.
