The teams for the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 Valorant tournament have been set following the conclusion of regional qualifiers for the event. EWC 2026 Valorant will run from July 2-12.
Eleven teams made their way through a gruelling gauntlet to join EWC 2025 Champions, Team Heretics, alongside the winners of VCT Stage 1 in Pacific, Americas, and China, with Vitality taking the VCT EMEA Stage 1 spot as runners-up.
Esports World Cup 2026 Valorant qualified teams:
- Heretics
- Paper Rex
- G2
- EDward Gaming
- Vitality
- Gentle Mates
- Karmine Corp
- BBL Esports
- MIBR
- 100 Thieves
- NRG
- Rex Regum Qeon
- Global Esports
- Nongshim RedForce
- XLG Esports
- AG.AL International*
*AG.AL International is the umbrella name for All Gamers/Anyone’s Legend used at the Esports World Cup.
Fnatic fall short again in EWC EMEA qualifiers
In EMEA, Karmine Corp ran the entire qualifier from Phase 1, reserved for the worst-performers of Stage 1, all the way to the event. The roster defeated Eternal Fire and Fnatic in the main bracket to qualify for EWC, a rare ray of hope for the roster, which finished joint-last in VCT EMEA Stage 1.
Gentle Mates also made it through the upper-bracket, defeating Liquid and Masters London Qualified FUT to make the event. BBL took the final spot, defeating NAVI 3-0 after NAVI had eliminated Fnatic to make the lower final.
The event is the third international event Fnatic will miss in 2026, joining VCT Masters Santiago and London in a harrowing year so far for the Fnatic organization.
NRG take the long way to Paris
In Americas, MIBR took revenge for their VCT Stage 1 defeat to regional rivals, Leviatán, with Erick ‘aspas’ Santo leading his men to a 30- victory to make EWC 2026.
100 Thieves joined them, recovering from painfully missing out on VCT Masters London to take down FURIA and LOUD to claim their spot at the event.
Valorant Champions 2025 winners, NRG, typically did not take the easy route to Paris, falling in their opening contest to LOUD before recovering against FURIA, before knocking out the Stage 1 runners-up Leviatán in the lower semis.
A rematch with LOUD awaited NRG, but the match proved to be a no-contest as NRG ran out 13-10, 13-7, 13-5 winners to secure the final Americas spot at the event, joining VCT Stage 1 winners G2.
RRQ returns the international fray with EWC qualification
The Pacific qualifier saw Rex Regum Qeon (RRQ) return to an international for the first time in 2026, after attending Valorant Champions and the Toronto Masters in 2025.
The roster took a narrow 3-2 series win against Gen.G to make the event, with Global Esports qualifying by the same scoreline against Valorant Masters Santiago winners Nongshim RedForce.
Nongshim took the final spot of the qualifier, defeating DRX and Gen.G, who will be heartbroken to so narrowly miss EWC 2026.
XLG make yet another international event
With only two spots to contend for, the Chinese EWC would prove to be a particularly brutal bloodbath. No team suffered more than Dragon Ranger Gaming. The VCT Stage 1 third-placed team finished joint-last in the qualifier, without winning a single map.
Fellow Valorant Masters London qualified roster, XLG, had no problem reaching yet another international, defeating FunPlus Phoaenix, TYLOO, and Titan Esports Club to take the first spot available.
JD Gaming, TYLOO, Trace Esports, FunPlus Phoenix, and Titan Esports Club all fell by the wayside in the Lower Bracket, leaving only All Gamers as the best of the rest, claiming their spot at EWC 2026, playing as AG.AL International.
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Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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