Copa Fantasy CEO Abdullah Eid on building MENA’s football super-app for global fans

- Copa Fantasy offers Arabic-first fantasy and predictor games covering major leagues.
- The team spans Riyadh, Dubai, India, and Indonesia.
- The platform recently launched its full football season rollout after a successful beta.
- More than 1.5m contests have been played since Copa Fantasy’s inception.
Pocket Gamer Connects Jordan returns on November 8th and 9th, 2025, offering a chance to gain insights into the world’s fastest-growing games market, MENA.
As part of our MENA coverage and run-up to the event, we spoke to Copa Fantasy CEO Abdullah Eid about creating an Arabic-first football platform, fundraising for expansion, and preparing for global growth.
PocketGamer.biz: Could you tell us a bit about Copa Fantasy and what you’re up to right now?
Abdullah Eid: Copa Fantasy's vision is to become the MENA region's first true football super-app. At its core, Copa Fantasy is a football games platform covering the major football leagues around the world (starting with the Saudi, English, Spanish, and Champions Leagues) with multiple games - games that complement the live sports viewing experience.

We launched a beta version of our free-to-play monetisation model last season and have just had our full launch a few weeks ago with the start of the new football season. In just 3 weeks, 100,000 users have participated in contests across our Fantasy & Predictor games.
We've also seen a significant uptake in premium contest participation, hitting our core KPIs and establishing that we're ready to scale in the coming weeks and months. Currently, we're fundraising to capitalise on our current momentum as we work towards our major milestone, less than a year away, the World Cup.
How many staff do you currently employ and where are they based?
My brother Sharif and I are the founders, along with four additional key team members. Three of us are already permanently in Riyadh or soon to be, and the rest are in India, Dubai, and Indonesia.

What are some of the biggest challenges you've faced in the localisation process, and how have you ensured a culturally relevant experience for players?
“We plan to target other markets after we cement our position in MENA and finalise our fundraising to expand our marketing activities.”Abdullah Eid
To our benefit, the MENA population loves football, so the appetite for sports games naturally exists. However, there are no major players in the Fantasy football space offering an Arabic language platform with a free-to-play model designed for the region - that's where we come in.
By covering the leagues that matter most to fans here and building an Arabic-first experience, we’ve created a platform that feels culturally relevant while also appealing to global audiences.
With 1.5 million contests played so far, how has Copa Fantasy been received globally outside the MENA region?
All of our marketing activities have been focused on the MENA region, as that is our area of expertise and the lowest-hanging fruit. However, Copa Fantasy is already available globally, with primarily Arabic-speaking fans living in Europe and the US among our user base.

As we're also available in English, there isn't any barrier for football fans around the world to engage with the platform. We plan to target other markets after we cement our position in MENA and finalise our fundraising to expand our marketing activities.
Do you see Copa Fantasy expanding beyond football into other sports? If so, which ones? Or is the focus firmly on football as a cultural anchor?
While football will remain our flagship offering as it's the biggest sport in the world, as a Saudi-based company, we're gearing towards expanding into other sports that have strategic and commercial value, starting with the Esports World Cup next year.
What changes have you observed in the local games industry, particularly the region’s games industry and consumer behaviour towards games?
When we first started prototyping seven years ago, the industry was still nascent, and regional investor appetite for games was limited. Fast forward to today, and the transformation is remarkable.

Consumer enthusiasm has always been high, but in just the past 12 months, the Kingdom’s games ecosystem has visibly accelerated in both scale and maturity.
In terms of funding and support for game studios in MENA, what has been your experience navigating the funding landscape?
Our experience at the moment is very positive as we're seeing real interest in backing ambitious game companies, particularly from Saudi Arabia, and that’s creating a strong foundation for regional champions to emerge.

Government-backed funds like Merak’s Exel program, which we were proud to be part of, are actively supporting games companies, and private capital is showing real interest.
What are your plans for the rest of 2025 and the coming year? And are there any specific partnerships or new offerings on the horizon that we should look forward to?
We recently launched our games for the new football season and have a very exciting roadmap to build on top of our early success. We plan to introduce an entirely new Trivia game, consisting of live football quizzes, driving daily engagement between matchdays,
We also plan to launch versions of our games for the World Cup next summer, football's biggest event, which will drive massive user acquisition to the platform. Alongside this, we’re fundraising to scale operations and accelerate delivery on our roadmap.