FIFA Interactive World Cup tournament hits one million players

EA Sports and Sony have announced this year's FIFA Interactive World Cup tournament has reached one million players.

This year's FIWC has attracted over 130,000 more players than last year’s event, and as part of the celebrations, FIFA has surveyed more than 10,000 registered players in the tournament throughout the world, and found that 58% of players believe that the hours they spent playing in the tournament will "improve their football skills" and make them "better football players in real life."

The study found that when it comes to honing technique, a match on FIFA 12 can prove just as effective as an actual training session.

It also found that 46% believed participating in FIWC has improved their understanding of football tactics with 23% of players crediting the FIWC with improving their skills and 17% convinced it gave them "better awareness of other players on the pitch."

While transferring football skills from the screen to the pitch, 43% of participants claimed they had "dreamt about playing FIFA 12."

The FIFA Interactive World Cup is a virtual football tournament organised by FIFA, EA SPORTS and PS3 where players compete against each other either online or offline to qualify for the Grand Final, the final tournament where the winner will receive $20,000 as well as an invitation to the FIFA Ballon d’Or to meet the biggest football stars in the world.

You can still sign up here.