Donovan Hunt has been dubbed the ‘Lionel Messi of FIFA’ for years but to truly live up to the name he’ll have to win the World Cup.
Hunt, better known as ‘Tekkz’, has been the face of FIFA Esports for more than half a decade after bursting onto the scene when he was a teenager.
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Aged just 16, as a relative unknown, Tekkz propelled himself into the limelight after winning the FUT 18 Champions Cup in Barcelona.
Following that stunning early tournament success, the England star claimed £40,000 in prize money for his heroics in the PGL FIFA 19 Cup in Bucharest and a week later another £9.5K was in the bag for lifting the PGL Cup.
His meteoric rise led him to fronting Liverpool’s triumph in the inaugural ePremier League – a year before Jurgen Klopp’s on-field stars lifted the domestic title – on route to becoming the most successful FIFA player ever.
Tekkz is currently part of Fnatic, the world’s oldest esports organisation, who have been described as the Real Madrid of esports.
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Despite this tag, the now-21-year-old still relishes being compared to Madrid’s greatest ever nemesis.
In an exclusive interview with talkSPORT.com in November 2022, Tekkz said: “I forever want to be Messi. He’s my favourite footballer in real life. He’s the goat. He’s the best ever.”
Tekkz’s potential for greatness was curiously first noticed by his mother Dawn – who bucked the trend of parents forcing their children away from video games and instead encouraged him to compete at a higher level.
Tekkz explained: “I was playing, playing, playing and I was always beating my friends. And then I was playing Division One at home and I matched the two best pros at the time and I beat them.
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“I’m buzzing so I tell my mum: ‘oh, I just beat the best players in the world.’ She was like ‘oh that’s cool. That’s cool.’
“So, went back into my bedroom – mum came up like three hours later and said: ‘I found a tournament online for you’.”
“It was like a £25 tournament and I entered it the next day. I won the tournament, those £25 I gave to my mum.”
Tekkz joked: “She’s like ‘oh I can get money from this’ so I started entering tournaments…£25…£50…£100. I was winning them.
“So from that moment, like my mum just locked into pro FIFA. And I just did everything that I needed to do to become a pro FIFA player.”
He added: “I was too young to compete when I actually got good at FIFA. I was 15 – my dad was telling me to go work at a corner shop and my mum was like: ‘Nah leave him alone let him stay inside.'”
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Tekkz himself admits he’s ‘lucky’ that his mum’s support meant he avoided having to endure the task of explaining the concept of being a professional FIFA player like his peers have had with their families.
He told talkSPORT last year: “Me and my mum are really close, she got me into it.”
Tekkz had already gifted his first ever winnings from FIFA to his mother but as his career continued to grow he was about to reward her with fulfilling a childhood dream.
“She always wanted to go to San Francisco when she was like a kid and she never got to go, she never had time and she’d never been able to.
“So after my first tournament, I say, Mum, if I get any money you’re gonna go to San Francisco.
“I got out of groups and for getting out of groups you got $1000. I brought my mum with me to the tournament, I got out of groups and said: ‘Mum you’re going to San Francisco.’
“From that moment, she’s come with me to every tournament minus a few. When she’s there she makes me calm down.
“I do like being nervous however, I play better when I’m nervous. I would play so much better if me and you were playing FIFA in a room together and there was 200 people watching.”
It’s a good thing too that Tekkz thrives on pressure, as his burgeoning fame has seen play a number of real life Premier League stars as well.
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After winning a tournament to represent boyhood club Liverpool in the ePremier League, Tekkz revealed the Reds allowed him to come to Anfield and film content and meet the players.
He even joined the club on Liverpool’s preseason tour to Boston in 2019 to record alongside Joe Gomez, Virgil van Dijk, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Rhian Brewster.
His work with England’s official esports team, known as the eLions, has since seen him face the likes of £105million Arsenal-bound Declan Rice, Jack Grealish and Bukayo Saka.
Tekkz revealed to talkSPORT: “I remember my first ever thing I did with a professional. I was so scared. It was me and [Raheem] Sterling.
“Just meeting Sterling for the first time, my first ever pro, and having to play him at FIFA – that game was so scary. That was the most scared I’ve ever been playing a professional.
“Now, I don’t really care as much about gaming against a professional like if I lose, I lose. It’s funny to me and I can take some banter but I used to care so much.
“I definitely get more nervous for pro tournaments. Yeah. By a long distance.”
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During the coronavirus pandemic, a number of players in England’s top-flight took part in the ePremier League Invitational FIFA 20 tournament.
Trent Alexander-Arnold was beaten in the final by now-teammate Diogo Jota – then at Wolves – and according to a man who knows what’s he talking about when it comes to FIFA, it wasn’t a shock!
Asked to rank the players he’s come up against, Tekkz told talkSPORT: “On paper, Trent was meant to be the best but I’ve played him and he’s not special. I wouldn’t rank him first.
“I’ve played Sterling a couple of times, Trent’s better than Sterling, Sterling’s atrocious…no offence Sterling. He’ll probably go bottom.
“Trent’s up there. [Declan] Rice – we were playing on FIFA 18 back in the day – I thought it was gonna be an easy game and he almost beat me!
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“I weren’t playing properly, I thought he was going to be easy and at half-time I’m 2-0 down, I was thinking what’s going on here?
“So I leaned forward and won 3-2 but Declan Rice almost beat me so he’s gotta to go up there.
“The best three are Rice, Trent and, he’s not English, but Jota. He’s unbelievable. He’s really good.
“I played him once for a Liverpool thing and I beat him 4-0 but I played two’s with him (co-op) and he’s a good player…he outshines me some times in co-op!”
Really? “No, no!” Tekkz quickly replies laughing.
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Tekkz may only be in his early twenties but comparatively in esports terms he’s now among the oldest, with a wave of younger FIFA players competing in finals.
Messi faced a similar plight at age 36, with the one knock against a career that included 12 league titles and seven Ballon d’Or’s was that he never won the World Cup.
But the new Inter Miami star inspired in Qatar to propel Argentina to ultimate glory and it’s now on Tekkz to follow suit.
His attempt to win the FIFAE World Cup comes just seven months after Messi’s heroics, with Tekkz facing Israel’s Yuval Blizovsky in his first Group B game on July 16.
He said: “I’ve won everything but the World Cup so if I can win the [FIFAe Nations] and the World Cup, I’ve done everything.
“So moving forward, if I still have to play until I’m 58 I’ll still be playing to try and win World Cup and E-nations!”
Tekkz represents Fnatic, the number one esports organisation in the world. He’s been a Fnatic athlete for two years and has won four FIFA Championships in that time, including the eChampions League
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