MOSCOW, April 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The 32 International Teams of Friendship for this year's "Football for Friendship eWorld Championship" (eF4F), which is organised under the banner of Gazprom International Children's Social Programme Football for Friendship, have now been drawn. Young Players from 211 countries will compete for the eF4F Championship title from 27^th to 29^th May.

Football for Friendship draws teams for this year’s “Football for Friendship eWorld Championship”

The Open Draw was held in an online ceremony on 25^th April, the International Day of Football and Friendship. The Young Ambassadors for the project, Ananya Kamboj from India, Yusuf Moazzam from Pakistan, Sheqayli Ascencion from Aruba and Alinur Gabidenuiy from Kazakhstan, drew the 32 International Teams of Friendship. The teams were organised into a total of eight groups, with each group consisting of four teams. Each of the teams is named after a rare species of animal. The draw can be seen on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WtKefJnfas.

The eF4F is held on the multiplayer simulator "Football for Friendship World" (F4F World), which was specially developed for F4F, but available for free on MS Windows, Apple macOS, Android, iOS. Each team consists of six players, and a match runs for two halves of 3.5 minutes each. Football academies all over the world can nominate boys and girls aged 12 to 14 as players up to 1^st May.

The preliminary rounds of the eF4F 2021 tournament will take place on 27^th and 28^th May. The final will be played on 29^th May. On the same day the national F4F Ambassadors will meet for the National Ambassadors Forum in Istanbul on the occasion of the UEFA Champions League Final. At the forum, they will discuss the development of children's football.

Ivan Galayev, Young Player, Latvia, 12 y.o.: Dear participants at the events of F4F 2021, welcome to the world of nine values. It was a great pleasure and a great honour for me to take part in the "Football for Friendship eWorld Championship" in 2020. It's the perfect place to experience friendship, peace and enthusiasm for the game of football. I wish you good luck and lots of fun in the 2021 games. Enjoy yourselves!