The Esports World Cup will reach its halfway point in the middle of next week as Week 4’s action commences in Paris.
Before that, we have all the tidings from a Week 3 that saw the TeamFight Tactics, PUBG, and EA FC tournaments reach their dramatic conclusions.
Virtus.pro Dominate EWC PUBG Grand Finals
As PUBG was running the ‘Smash Rule’ for its Grand Finals, there was an assumption going into the three-day Grand Finals event that it could be an unpredictable and scintillating contest where several teams could come within an inch of winning the PUBG EWC tournament.
In truth, that never happened, nor was it ever close to happening, as Virtus.pro dominated the Grand Finals from start to finish to deservedly take home the trophy.
The European roster finished second in the opening two contests, securing two wins in Games 4 and 6 of the opening day to stretch to a comfortable lead, which they never relinquished.
Following another victory in Game 12, the Match Point threshold was set at 136, 10 points above Virtus.pro’s unassailable 126 points in the standings.
Throughout the final day, VP were the only roster that could ever trigger the Match Point rule, starting at 126 points, with Team Falcons the nearest opposition at 99.
While the rest of the field managed to narrowly stop Virtus.pro from clinching that Match Point victory, the team’s huge lead remained intact as they won the competition on points, amassing 159 points, with Team Viscious and NAVI trailing with 126 and 124, respectively.
The victory moved Virtus.pro to second in the EWC Club Championship. With VP entering seven of the remaining 14 tournaments, the points were vital to their chances of placing high in the $75 million contest.
Upsets galore at FC Pro 26 World Championship
Razvan ‘RvPLegend’ Puiu completed a remarkable run at the Esports World Cup to claim the Diogo Jota World Championship trophy in Paris.
The Romanian came into the tournament ranked as 30th amongst the field, competing in the contest from the Play-Ins stage all the way to Grand Final victory.
In a tournament that saw continuous upsets, HYPERSPIRIT’s RvPLegend managed to defeat RBLZ Gaming’s Levy ‘levyfinn’ Rieck in a thrilling 6-5 Grand Final contest to claim the biggest trophy in EA FC.
While RvPLegend took the trophy, it was predictably Anders ‘Vejrgang’ Vejrgang who stole much of the spotlight, as the 20-year-old’s behaviour throughout the event drew criticism.
From forcing a protracted delay against Alihan ‘Alihan’ Hadzhi over a formation dispute with the refs, to repeatedly pausing against Danilo ‘Danipitbull’ Pinto, to elongated remonstrations when facing elimination at 2-9 down at halftime against Nassim ‘Nassada’ Dahman, Vejrgang continuously raised the ire of the community at the event.
Nassada would go on to finish fourth behind Man City’s Matías ‘Bonanno’ Bonanno after the third/fourth place decider.
While Vejrgang’s 5-11 defeat was bruising for both himself and the Team Falcons organization, the Dane remains the dominant force in EA FC, securing the FC Pro 26 Open, eSerie A 2026, and eChampions League 2026 so far this year.
Chinese roster boss TeamFight Tactics at EWC 2026
The Teamfight Tactics action saw Team Vision take down Aurora Gaming 3-0 in the grand final after being knocked down to the Lower Bracket by Virtus.pro in Groups.
Revenge was swiftly secured for Team Vision as they rematched VP in the quarter-finals, coming out on top in 2-1 fashion.
The semi-finals saw Aurora, AG.AL, Team Vision, and Flash Wolves compete for places in the Grand Final, meaning three of the top four came from the Chinese qualifier, with the remaining APAC qualifying team being Flash Wolves from Hong Kong.
The tournament was therefore dominated by one region, with Team Vision, Aurora, and AG.AL making up the podium places at the event.
Let us know your reflections from the Esports World Cup, and share your experiences with us on the Insider Gaming Discord.
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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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