The seven weeks of the Esports World Cup 2026 are well underway in Paris after the EWC Opening Ceremony formally kicked off the event.
Insider Gaming has all you need to know about Week 2 of EWC, which sees the League of Legends, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang, and Free Fire competitions kick off.
League of Legends at the Esports World Cup 2026
Dates: July 15-19
Prize pool: $2,000,000
1st place: $600,000
League of Legends at EWC comes hot on the heels of MSI 2026, giving teams chances to redeem themselves or continue their strong runs from the event.
No team will be under more spotlight than T1, whose shock MSI exit at the hands of G2 became the most-watched contest of the year.
EWC’s LoL event is full of fascinating storylines, as Gen.G takes on KC in the opening round after a rare absence from an international event.
Gen.G are acting as defending champions at EWC, but 2026 has so far not turned out to be the golden road that many Gen.G fans had dreamed it would be.
LoL’s EWC 2026 event will see Best of 1 group matches, excluding elimination matches, which are Best of 3. The playoffs will be single-elimination Best of 3 contests, with a Best of 5 Grand Finals.
The EWC League of Legends 2026 Groups are:
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
| G2 | Team Secret whales | BLG | HLE |
| FURIA | Sentinels | MKOI | MIBR.los |
| AG.AL | Gen.G | T1 | LYON |
| Dplus KIA | Karmine Corp | GAM | JDG |
MLBB Women’s International at the Esports World Cup 2026
Dates: July 14-18
Prize pool: $525,000
1st place: $150,000
Mobile Legends: Bang Bang is the only game to hold two events at EWC 2026, with the MLBB Women’s International 2026 first, followed by the MLBB Mid Season Cup later in the event.
It is therefore the sole women’s-only tournament at EWC 2026, so it’s an important opportunity for these players to see their names in lights.
Team Vitality are the defending champions at the event and will remain significant favourites to retain the trophy for the hugely popular mobile MOBA title.
Gen.G, NAVI, Falcons, MIBR, Twisted Minds, Geekay, and Virtus.pro are among the organizations to enter teams into the competition, hoping to earn those valuable Championship Points and their share of the $30 million prize pool.
Free Fire at the Esports World Cup 2026
Dates: July 15-18
Prize pool: $1,000,000
1st place: $300,000 + Global Finals 2026 spot
Free Fire becomes the second Battle Royale title to take the ‘Qiddiya City Grid’ stage after Week 1’s Apex Legends action.
The mobile Battle Royale sees three days of rapid action, with an expanded format of 24 teams in two groups of 12 fighting it out over the first two days.
The top four will make it directly to the Finals, with 5th-10th placed teams making the July 17 Survival Stage.
That Survival Stage will decide the final four teams to make the 12-team Finals on July 18, where teams will fight for a $300,000 first-place prize pool and an all-important place at the Global Finals in Bangkok.
EVOS Divine return as defending champions after an unbelievable triumph in last year’s edition that inspired hugely emotional scenes.
Week 2 will also see the conclusion of the EWC 2026 Dota 2 tournament, with playoffs running from July 16-19.
The $2,000,000 tournament’s prize pool eclipses even The International 2026, so teams will be highly motivated to take home the trophy.
For the full details of that tournament and our preview, see our EWC Week 1 guide.
Will T1 recover at EWC? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Additionally, the full Esports World Cup 2026 schedule is out now with a full breakdown of all seven weeks.
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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