Chinese roster BaiSha Gaming captured the Esports World Cup 2026 CrossFire tournament, winning $750,000 in the process from the $2,000,000 tournament.
BaiSha dropped only nine rounds in the entire Grand Final to defeat Team Liquid 3-0, claiming the EWC CrossFire title.
BaiSha Gaming Recover from Group Stage Loss to Claim EWC CrossFire Title
BaiSha Gaming came into the Grand Final as significant favorites, in large part because of the roster’s victory over defending champions and pre-tournament favorites, AG.AL.
BaiSha Gaming entered the tournament with a superior domestic split going into the tournament, topping the CFPL Points table and winning CrossFire Pro League Season 28 to go into the tournament as China’s first seed.
The roster, however, was shocked in the groups by regional rivals, KINGZERO-eSports, who also sent them to the lower bracket in CFPL before BaiSha claimed revenge in the Grand Final.
That loss, combined with their lower bracket qualification to the Playoffs, meant an instant clash with AG.AL in the quarter-finals, a match that could easily have been the Grand Final of the event.
In reality, revenge against KINGZERO gave BaiSha their berth to the true Grand Final, with Liquid’s roster earning their place after a clean victory over NAVI in the quarters, before a scintillating semi-final against Stallions saw Liquid scrape into the Final with a 3-2 record.
With BaiSha Gaming’s regional competition vanquished, it was no surprise that Liquid’s Brazilian CFBL runner-up roster could not put up the same level of challenge against the Chinese champions.
BaiSha quickly dismissed Liquid 10-1 on Black Widow before New Compound ended in a 10-4 fashion. Ankara was no different, with Liquid finding sporadic rounds but BaiSha showing their clear superiority to take the map 10-4, securing BaiSha the EWC 2026 CrossFire tournament.
The third/fourth place match saw KINGZERO easily defeat Stallions 3-0 across Ankara, Sub Base, and Eagle Eye 2.0.
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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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