2026 Esports World Cup

The 2026 Esports World Cup (EWC) was the third edition of the Esports World Cup, an annual international esports tournament series run by the Esports Foundation (EF), a nonprofit organization funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. It took place in Paris, France from 2 July to 23 August 2026 and featured 25 events in 24 esports.

2026 Esports World Cup
Tournament information
SportEsports
LocationParis, France
Dates2 July–23 August
AdministratorEsports Foundation
Tournaments supervised by ESL
Venue(s)Paris Expo Porte de Versailles
Accor Arena
Number of
events
25 in 24 esports
Purse$75 million
Websiteesportsworldcup.com
Final positions
ChampionAG.AL[a] (1st title)
1st runner-upTeam Falcons
2nd runner-upTeam Vitality
← 2025
2027 →

The event was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, as it had for the prior two editions and both editions of Gamers8, EWC's predecessor. However, it was moved to Paris amid security concerns related to the 2026 Iran war.

This year featured one new title in the main lineup, the racing game Trackmania (2020), while Fortnite made its return to the EWC, this time using the Reload game mode. On the other hand, Rennsport and StarCraft II were not present this year. Due to their series' annual game releases, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and EA Sports FC 26 replaced Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and EA Sports FC 25, respectively, in the game lineup.

Similar to the first two EWCs, each game hosted at least one event, some were standalone events while others were part of a larger competitive circuit. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang remained as the only game to host two events. A total of $75 million was distributed across all events, an increase from $71.5 million in 2025.

Background

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On 8 October 2025, the EWC announced the first 20 games that were included as part of the lineup. Out of the 24 games that were part of the main lineup in 2025, Rennsport, Rocket League, StarCraft II, and Tekken 8 weren't listed among the initial returning games.[1] On 11 October, Tekken 8 was confirmed to return as the 21st game in the lineup.[2]

On 17 December, the EWC announced that it entered a three-year partnership with Epic Games that would see two of its games, Fortnite and Rocket League, host EWC events through 2028. The latter was featured in both of the previous EWCs while the former returns to the lineup after it was featured in 2024. In the case of Fortnite, rather than the game being played on the game's Battle Royale mode (during Gamers8, the predecessor of the Esports World Cup) or in custom maps made using the Unreal Editor for Fortnite (as was the case for 2024), the event was played in Fortnite Reload, a variation of the Battle Royale mode, as part of the Fortnite Reload Elite Series.[3] Trackmania (2020) was announced as the 24th and final game on 19 January 2026, which also marked the game's EWC debut.[4]

The exclusion of StarCraft II from the lineup meant that the 2026 EWC would not feature any real-time strategy games, which caused criticism from creators and fans from the StarCraft II and RTS communities.[5][6] Rennsport was the only other game dropped from the main lineup.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud and French President Emmanuel Macron at the closing ceremony of the EWC at the Grand Palais in Paris.

Move to Paris

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On 14 May 2026, it was reported that the Esports Foundation had communicated to stakeholders surrounding EWC that the event would move from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia to Paris, France. The move was cited as a response to uncertainty in the Middle East region due to the 2026 Iran war, which has seen Iran and its allies attack Saudi infrastructure.[7] The war had already caused the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in Formula One to not take place as scheduled in April.[8][9] The relocation was later confirmed by the Esports Foundation on 20 May,[10] with the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles announced as the new host venue. On July 2026, it was announced that the Accor Arena would host the finals of the 2026 Esports World Cup Counter-Strike 2 tournament.[11] Paris has hosted multiple major esports events, including the 2019 League of Legends World Championship Final, 2023's BLAST.tv Paris Major in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the 2025 Valorant Champions, among others.

Format

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Club Championship

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The Club Championship was a cross-game competition within the Esports World Cup. The championship gave out a total of US$30 million among the top 24 clubs (used by the EWC in place of "organization"), determined by their overall performance in various games throughout the event. To qualify for the Club Championship, a club had to finish in the top 8 in at least two competitions, and to win the championship title, the club also had to secure first place in at least one competition. Only participants who were publicly announced as part of their respective organization before 1 May 2026 and registered as a representative before 26 May are eligible to earn points for their club. Below is a breakdown of the points awarded based on placement in the individual game championships:

Point distribution per event[b]
Pos. Points Pos. Points
1 1000 5 200
2 750 6 150
3 500 7 100
4 300 8 50

Club Partner Program

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The Esports Foundation's Club Partner Program (formerly the Club Support Program) was an initiative designed to provide substantial financial assistance to selected esports organizations. Through this program, chosen teams receive annual financial support to enhance their operations and create more opportunities for professional players. The program was kept to cover 40 organizations, the same number as in 2025.[12]

The 40 teams represented the five major competitive regions — Europe, North America, Asia, South America, and the Middle East — with the majority of the teams being primarily based in Europe or Asia. The initial list was revealed on 31 March 2026, accompanying the Esports World Cup Foundation's renaming to the Esports Foundation; it was leaked to Sheep Esports on 30 March.[13] Several teams from the 2025 Club Partner Program, including LOUD, Bilibili Gaming, EVOS Esports and most notably FaZe Clan, did not get accepted, while 2024 Club Support Program member NRG returns after missing out in 2025.[14] HEROIC was later removed from the program after the removal of their Dota 2 roster, leaving Counter-Strike 2 as the sole game they competed in.[15][16] They agreed to void the slot by mutual decision. Karmine Corp, who had initially missed out on the program, would be announced as their replacement on 19 May.

Calendar

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Most of the calendar was unveiled on 20 January 2026, with the exceptions of Fortnite Reload, PUBG Mobile, and Rocket League. Like last year, the events were held across a seven-week calendar.

●Last chance qualifiers ●Main competition days ●Finals
July/August 2026 July August
Kickoff Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
Apex Legends ● ● ● ● ●
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Call of Duty: Warzone ● ● ● ●
Chess ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Counter-Strike 2 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Crossfire ● ● ● ● ●
Dota 2 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
EA Sports FC 26 ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves ● ● ● ● ●
Fortnite Reload ● ● ● ●
Free Fire ● ● ● ●
Honor of Kings ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
League of Legends ● ● ● ● ●
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang Men's ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Women's ● ● ● ● ●
Overwatch ● ● ● ● ●
PUBG: Battlegrounds ● ● ● ● ● ●
PUBG Mobile ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Rainbow Six Siege ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Rocket League ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Street Fighter 6 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Teamfight Tactics ● ● ● ● ●
Tekken 8 ● ● ● ● ● ● ●
Trackmania ● ● ● ●
Valorant ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Results

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Event winners

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Event Gold Silver Bronze
Apex Legends[f]
details
UNLIMIT
Yulariman
xtsuvi
Peace
Team Vision
Zach
LOTR31
Carter
Sentinels
Blinkzr
FunFPS
Monsoon
Call of Duty: Black Ops 7
details
OpTic Gaming
Dashy
Huke
Mercules
Shotzzy
Team Heretics
MettalZ
ReeaL
RenKoR
SupeR
100 Thieves
aBeZy
HyDra
Nium
Scrap
Call of Duty: Warzone[g]
details
G2 Esports
Cythe
Bigman
Anziety
T1
Echo1867
Spam
Disrrpt
JD Gaming
FLS
Melvn
Slappy
Chess[h]
details
Magnus Carlsen (Team Liquid) Denis Lazavik (AG.AL)[i] Hikaru Nakamura (Team Falcons)
Counter-Strike 2
details
Team Spirit
magixx
zont1x
donk
sh1ro
tN1R
FUT Esports
dem0n
Krabeni
cmtry
dziugss
xfl0ud
Legacy
latto
dumau
n1ssim
arT
try
CrossFire[j]
details
BaiSha Gaming
Lye
577
N9
YDSS
Xxiao
Team Liquid
adrF
WY
DANIMALz
Goken
77
KINGZERO-eSports
9u
ice
xn
yf
Tong
Dota 2[k]
details
Team Vision
Satanic
No[o]ne-
Noticed
9Class
Dukalis
BB Team
Kiritych
gpk
MieRo
Save-
Kataomi
Team Yandex
watson
CHIRA_JUNIOR
DM
Saksa
Malady
EA Sports FC 26[l]
details
RvPLegend (HYPERSPIRIT) levyfinn (RBLZ Gaming) Bonanno (Manchester City Esports)
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves[m]
details
DarkAngel (Natus Vincere) mi2ha4 (Virtus.pro) Nemo (Saishunkan Sol Kumamoto)
Fortnite Reload[n]
details
Berlin International Gaming
vic0
Malibuca
Momsy (Lyost Esport)[o]
SkyJump (Ravens Esports)[o]
Aurora Gaming
shxrk
t3eny
Free Fire[p]
details
LYON
Haax
Gamezking
SoyDella
Joker
Joacozd
AG.AL[q]
NAMELESS
SAIFA
DEW
TEAMSR
BAROS
LOUD
HAK
Nickz7
Trap
GUAXA7
bzp10
Honor of Kings[r]
details
KuaiShou Gaming
silence
JuHao
LiuLang
Yu
LFF
AG.AL[s]
Ran
Zoe
Sheng
YiNuo
Shuai
Geekay Esports
GuiYu
MusangKing
Shisan
Jem
Zhe
League of Legends[t]
details
Dplus KIA
Siwoo
Lucid
ShowMaker
Smash
Career
Karmine Corp
Canna
Yike
kyeahoo
Caliste
Busio
Gen.G
Kiin
Canyon
Chovy
Ruler
Duro
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang – Men[u]
details
Team Spirit
Kid Bomba
zaur egoist
Sunset Lover
Hiko
SAWO
Yangon Galacticos
Ying
Hannn
Kaize
Sanjiii
Blink
ONIC Esports
Lutpi
Kairi
SANZ
Kelra
Kiboy
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang – Women[v]
details
Team Vitality
Fumi
Vival
Cinny
Chell
Vivian
Natus Vincere
Ayanami
Keishi
Rain
Rianne
Meraaay
Geltek Cyber Team
Lyubon
Kioway
Sonjjqkke
Tokio
KUWEJO
Overwatch[w]
details
ZETA DIVISION
Proper
knife
Bernar
Shu
Viol2t
Twisted Minds
Quartz
Youbi
TVNT
FunnyAstro
Simple
T1
Proud
ZEST
DONGHAK
skewed
Bliss
PUBG: Battlegrounds[x]
details
Virtus.pro
Lukarux
Beami
curexi
NIXZYEE
The Vicious
YmCud
pau
Taikonn
SirT
Natus Vincere
Feyerist
Hakatory
boost1k-
spyrro
PUBG Mobile[y]
details
S2G Esports
Solkay
Lost
Kamikaze
HamsiG
Nongshim RedForce
SOEZ
XZY
TIZ1
HYUNBIN
Aurora Gaming
DOK
TOP
Zyol
REFUS
Rainbow Six Siege[z]
details
FaZe Clan
VITAKING
soulz1
KDS
Handyy
Cyber
FURIA
volpz
Loira
HerdsZ
DiasLucasBr
Bokzera
DarkZero
Nuers
njr
Kyno
J9O
Fultz
Rocket League
details
Team Falcons
Rw9
Kiileerrz
dralii
Spacestation Gaming
zach
diaz
reveal
Ninjas in Pyjamas eStar[aa]
Joreuz
crr
oaly
Street Fighter 6[ab]
details
Craime (Team Falcons) Hibiki (SBI e-Sports) Hinao (REJECT)
Teamfight Tactics[t][ac]
details
Team Vision
Zhenbai
Flancy
MoGG
Koyui
Aurora Gaming
60second
A Hao
Huanmie
LiLuo
AG.AL[ad]
A Chen
LiTuChuan
RiYue
weimuluoqiu
Tekken 8[ae]
details
M. Zubair (AG.AL)[i] LowHigh (Kiwoom DRX) Yagami[af]
Trackmania
details
Gwen (AG.AL)[i] Epos (Team Liquid) Pac (Team Vitality)
Valorant[t]
details
100 Thieves
vora
Asuna
Cryo
Timotino
bang
NRG
Ethan
mada
brawk
skuba
keiko
Nongshim RedForce
Rb
Xross
Dambi
Francis
Ivy

Prize pool

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The 2026 Esports World Cup featured a prize pool of US$75 million, which surpassed the $71.5 million from last year. $30 million were allocated for the top 24 teams in this year's Club Championship, an increase from $27 million last year, though the champion club still received $7 million. $39 million were distributed across the 25 events for their respective prize pools.[17]

Prize money distribution
Category Prize
Club Championship $30,000,000
Game Championships $39,000,000
Qualifiers $6,000,000
MVP Awards $475,000 ($25,000 per title)
Jafonso Awards[ag] Up to $400,000 ($50,000 per title)
Club Championship prize money distribution
Pos. Team Prize Pos. Team Prize
1 AG.AL $7,000,000 14 Nongshim RedForce $400,000
2 Team Falcons $5,000,000 15 BIG $308,333.33
3 Team Vitality $4,000,000 FaZe Clan
4 Natus Vincere $3,000,000 G2 Esports
5 Team Liquid $2,000,000 18 Weibo Gaming $250,000
6 Team Spirit $1,275,000 19 FURIA $212,500
Virtus.pro Karmine Corp
8 Aurora Gaming $950,000 21 REJECT $175,000
9 Twisted Minds $800,000 22 Kiwoom DRX $125,000
10 T1 $650,000 Spacestation Gaming
11 Team Vision $550,000 Team Heretics
12 100 Thieves $475,000
ZETA DIVISION

Notes

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  1. 1 2 For Club Championship purposes, All Gamers are known as "AG.AL Esports International" (or just AG.AL), as the organization includes All Gamers (based in China), All Gamers Global (for players outside of China), All Combo (the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang division of All Gamers based in Malaysia) and Anyone's Legend (most notably the League of Legends division of All Gamers).
  2. ↑ For events with no tiebreakers, 3–4 receive 500 points and/or 5–8 receive 200 points.
  3. ↑ Karmine Corp was initially not included in the Club Partner Program but were added later, replacing HEROIC.
  4. ↑ For Club Championship purposes, Ninjas in Pyjamas are known as "Ninjas in Pyjamas eStar", as NIP Group also own Chinese organization eStar Pro.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Team qualified for the Club Partner Program as one of the top 8 clubs in the 2025 Club Championship.
  6. ↑ Known as the ALGS Year 6 Split 1 Playoffs, part of the Apex Legends Global Series.
  7. ↑ Takes the place of the Championship Finals for the Warzone Resurgence Series 2026.
  8. ↑ Takes the place of the Tour Finals for the Champions Chess Tour 2025–2026.
  9. 1 2 3 Due to the Esports World Cup requiring all divisions of a club to have unified branding for the Club Championship, the player represented All Gamers Global as AG.AL during the tournament, as they are part of the Chinese organization All Gamers.
  10. ↑ Takes the place of the CrossFire Stars Summer Championship 2026.
  11. ↑ Formerly known as the Riyadh Masters during prior editions of Gamers8 (EWC's predecessor) and the Esports World Cup. The tournament takes the place of the Tour Finals for the ESL Pro Tour 2026.
  12. ↑ Known as the FC Pro World Championship 2026.
  13. ↑ Tournament contains a qualification berth to the SNK World Championship Finals 2026.
  14. ↑ Known as the Fortnite Reload Elite Series Championship, part of the Fortnite Reload Elite Series.
  15. 1 2 Not eligible for Club Championship points.
  16. ↑ Tournament is part of the Free Fire World Series.
  17. ↑ Due to the Esports World Cup requiring all divisions of a club to have unified branding for the Club Championship, All Gamers Global competed as AG.AL during the tournament, as they are part of the Chinese organization All Gamers.
  18. ↑ Known as the Honor of Kings World Cup 2026; featuring teams from the Arena of Valor professional leagues.
  19. ↑ Due to the Esports World Cup requiring all divisions of a club to have unified branding for the Club Championship, AG Super Play competed as AG.AL during the tournament, as they are part of the Chinese organization All Gamers.
  20. 1 2 3 This event is not sponsored, endorsed, or administered by Riot Games, but the tournament is officially sanctioned by the developers.
  21. ↑ Known as the MLBB Mid Season Cup 2026.
  22. ↑ Known as the MLBB Women's International 2026.
  23. ↑ Known as the OWCS Midseason Championship 2026, part of the Overwatch Champions Series.
  24. ↑ Tournament is part of the PUBG Global Championship.
  25. ↑ Known as the PUBG Mobile World Cup 2026, part of the PUBG Mobile Global Championship.
  26. ↑ Tournament contains a qualification berth to the Six Invitational 2027.
  27. ↑ Due to the Esports World Cup requiring all divisions of a club to have unified branding for the Club Championship, Ninjas in Pyjamas competed as Ninjas in Pyjamas eStar during the tournament.
  28. ↑ Tournament is part of the Capcom Pro Tour.
  29. ↑ Tournament utilizes four-player teams instead of the conventional 1v1 competitive format.
  30. ↑ Due to the Esports World Cup requiring all divisions of a club to have unified branding for the Club Championship, All Gamers competed as AG.AL during the tournament.
  31. ↑ Tournament contains a qualification berth to the Tekken World Tour Finals 2026.
  32. ↑ The player competed as a free agent during the tournament.
  33. ↑ To be awarded if a team or player who qualified via a Last Chance Qualifier won a tournament (only active for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Chess, Counter-Strike 2, EA Sports FC 26, Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, Rocket League, Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8). It is named after João "Jafonso" Vasconcellos, who won the EA Sports FC tournament at the 2024 Esports World Cup after having qualified from the Last Chance Qualifier.

References

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  1. ↑ Harbinson, Darragh (8 October 2025). "EWC announce first 20 titles for EWC 2026; four more yet to be announced". Esports News UK. Archived from the original on 13 March 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  2. ↑ @EWC_EN (10 October 2025). "TEKKEN 8 is confirmed for EWC 2026! See you in Riyadh, fighters 👊" (Tweet) – via X (formerly Twitter).
  3. ↑ Hale, Jacob (17 December 2025). "Fortnite and Rocket League Announced for Esports World Cup 2026". esports.net. Archived from the original on 18 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  4. ↑ Banik, Sourav (19 January 2026). "Trackmania completes EWC 2026's massive 24-title lineup". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 19 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  5. ↑ Nicholson, Jonno (20 January 2026). ""A huge blow": StarCraft II community reacts to Esports World Cup omission". Esports Insider. Archived from the original on 17 March 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  6. ↑ Taylor-Hill, Grant (20 January 2026). "StarCraft II Won't Be At EWC 2026, Nor Will Any Other RTS Title". Insider Gaming. Archived from the original on 20 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  7. ↑ Lee, Alexander (14 May 2026). "Esports World Cup to relocate from Riyadh to Paris amid Middle East conflict". GamesBeat. Archived from the original on 14 May 2026. Retrieved 14 May 2026.
  8. ↑ Cleeren, Filip (14 March 2026). "Bahrain and Saudi Arabia F1 races officially called off as Iran conflict rages". Autosport. Archived from the original on 17 March 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  9. ↑ "Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs will not take place in April". Formula One. 14 March 2026. Archived from the original on 15 March 2026. Retrieved 14 March 2026.
  10. ↑ Švejda, Milan (20 May 2026). "Official: Esports World Cup moved to Paris". HLTV.org. Archived from the original on 20 May 2026. Retrieved 20 May 2026.
  11. ↑ "Esports World Cup on X: "You sold it out so we made it bigger. The Counter-Strike 2 Championship Finals at EWC26 are moving to Accor Arena on August 23". x.com. Retrieved 11 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Nicholson, Jonno (10 December 2024). "Esports World Cup Foundation expands partner programme to 40 organisations". Esports Insider. Archived from the original on 18 March 2026. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  13. ↑ Gomis, Alejandro; Phalip, Coretin (30 March 2026). "Sources: The list of the 40 EWC 2026 partner clubs". Sheep Esports. Archived from the original on 10 April 2026. Retrieved 30 March 2026.
  14. ↑ Banerjee, Rijit (31 March 2026). "Esports Foundation confirms Club Partner Program 2026 lineup, $1M funding per team". Dot Esports. Archived from the original on 17 June 2026. Retrieved 31 March 2026.
  15. ↑ Ahmed, Wasif (16 May 2026). "HEROIC exits EWC Club Partner Program after Dota 2 departure, leaves CS2 as sole title". win.gg. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  16. ↑ Xu, Davide (17 May 2026). "HEROIC removed from Esports World Cup Club Partner Program". Hotspawn. Retrieved 19 May 2026.
  17. ↑ Hale, Jacob (20 January 2026). "Esports World Cup 2026 Prize Pool Finally Revealed & It's Bigger Than Ever". esports.net. Archived from the original on 5 June 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
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