Kings League comes to France next week: What you need to know about this particular football competition on Twitch

Kings League, the seven-a-side football competition launched in 2023 in Spain, created by former player Gerard Piqué, with special rules, a shorter duration and an emphasis on entertainment - with "secret weapons", played by mostly amateur players, with streamers and former (and sometimes current players) as team owners, has had a great success, being streamed live on Twitch. The competitions has since been exported internationally: to Central and South America (as Kings League Americas), to Italy, to Brazil, and now to France.

Kings League France was announced two weeks ago, and on March 24 a draft of eight teams took place. One of them, 360 Nation, will be owned by Real Madrid, Barça, and Milan players Aurélien Tchouaméni, Jules Koundé, and Mike Maignan. Most will be owned by streamers like Squeezie, Kameto, Pfut, or Michou or a mix between internet personalities and "genuine" football figures, who find in this competition, popular among young people, a lucrative venture.

The competition will kick off in France on April 6, with a league format followed by play-offs, and the possibility of playing the Kings World Cup. Piqué himself travelled to Paris to announce that the second edition of the Kings World Cup (with teams from all the leagues) will take place in France, between June 1 and June 15.

That way, it will be a way to boost the competition's interest in France, after last year's edition took place in Mexico, with Porcinos, the team owned by popular streamer Ibai Llanos being crowned as the first World Kings Cup champion.

The Kings League's popularity may have faded a little in Spain after the shock of the initial year, where they sold out the Camp Nou in Barcelona for the final four, but it keeps growing. It also has a women's competition, Queens League, currently only in Spain and America. And with more prominent figures getting involved - like Lamine Yamal, who will be owner of a club to be announced on March 31, its future seems bright. Last week, for the first time, an active player - Pablo Maffeo from Mallorca- played in a Kings League match...