Visitors will be able discover more about eFootball via the many interactive stations in the Museum, including special gaming pods based on the originals used for the FIFA eWorld Cup, on which they can test their console skills on past and present versions of the FIFA gaming series.

Animations will reveal how the game has developed graphically in terms of the stars’ appearance.

Visitors can even transpose themselves in scenes from the virtual world at a selfie station and be transported from their living room to the stage of the FIFA eWorld Cup. 

The FIFA eWorld Cup trophy will also be on display when the permanent exhibition opens on July 16.

The inaugural FIFA Interactive World Cup took place in 2004 in Switzerland.

Over the years the tournament, held in association with presenting partner EA Sports, has grown significantly and now attracts up to 2.5 million competitors.

In 2018, the competition was renamed to the FIFA eWorld Cup.

The last three Grand Finals have been held at the O2 Arena in London with Germany’s Mohammed Harkous winning last year’s event beating defending champion, Saudi Arabia’s Mosaad Aldossary, in the final.

"For some time now, eFootball has been a compelling part of the global football culture, with fans living out their passion for the beautiful game digitally in their hundreds of millions," Marco Fazzone, managing director of the FIFA World Football Museum, which opened in 2016, said.

"The fascinating - and growing - interplay between the physical and virtual worlds of football is what we want to present and examine with this new exhibition area.

"We are delighted that visitors to our museum, which embraces football’s history as well as its culture and is a unique meeting place, can enjoy a valuable addition to the permanent exhibition in ‘The Virtual Pitch’."

In addition to “The Virtual Pitch”, an interactive experience zone will be open until January 3 next year.

It will give visitors the opportunity to compete against each other at numerous gaming pods, try out earlier versions of the FIFA game and enter the world of virtual reality.

There will also be various FIFA tournaments that anyone can enter and have a chance to take part in a final live at the Museum.

"We are proud to be putting the spotlight on eFootball in the Museum’s permanent exhibition, as it is an integral part of modern football culture," Christian Volk, director of E-football and gaming at FIFA, said.

"This highly creative, modern and interactive exhibition area will be a great experience for a wide section of the public."