After seven weeks of competition, the winner of the $30,000,000 Esports World Cup Club Championship has been decided, with the winning organization banking $7,000,000.
Every org with enough rosters to realistically compete for the EWC Club Championship suffered disappointment, but only one will feel the full financial benefit of the reward.
Gwendal ‘Gwen’ Duparc dominated the Trackmania Grand Finals to capture the Club Championship for AG.AL, denying Team Falcons a back-to-back-to-back victory at the event.
How the Club Championship was shaping up going into decisive day
The race for the Club Championship went down to the penultimate day at the Esports World Cup 2026, decided on the final day of action at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, which had held all esports action to date but will not host the CS2 Grand Final.
That Grand Final will be played at the Accor Arena, but the Club Championship became irrelevant as far as the Club Championship was concerned after Falcons’ quarter-final elimination at the hands of Legacy.
That defeat was counterbalanced by AG.AL’s defeat in the CrossFire, meaning that Saturday’s action in Fortnite and Trackmania would decide the championship winner.
Shockingly, neither Falcons duo of Peter ‘Peterbot’ Kata and Miguel ‘Pollo’ Moreno nor AG.AL’s EU Major 2 Winners Nikolaj ‘Sky’ Helleskov and Adrian ‘Scroll’ Richelieu managed to finish in the top eight of the Fortnite Match Point Finals.
Trackmania decides the Esports World Cup Club Championship
The Fortnite action was therefore agnostic as far as the Club Championship was concerned, leaving Falcons on 4600 points and AG.AL on 4300.
Therefore, everything was on Trackmania, as AG.AL’s Gwendal ‘Gwen’ Duparc and Falcons’ Carl-Antoni ‘Carl Jr.’ Cloutier headed to the Trackmania quarter-finals.
Gwen was first to compete, guaranteeing his place in the semi-finals with a first-place finish in the lobby, guaranteeing at least a top-8 finish and 100 points for AG.AL.
Carl Jr.’s lobby was stacked, featuring Polish prodigy Aleksander ‘neon’ Pogroszewski, Vitality’s Thomas ‘Pac’ Cole, and Liquid’s Youen ‘Otaaaq’ Egler.
The lobby was unbelievably close, with every player having the chance of making it to the semis, but it was Pac, then Otaaaq, who took the opportunity when it presented itself.
Team Falcons still held the Club Champions lead, but now by only two hundred points and with no competitors left to add points to their tally.
The results meant that Gwen needed to finish in the Top 3 of the competition to give AG.AL the Club Championship, and the Frenchman made a charging comeback to recover from an early deficit to place first in the semi to make the Trackmania Grand Final.
The outcome meant that Gwen needed only to finish third or better in the Grand Final to secure the Club Championship for AG.AL, joined by NAVI’s Hubert ‘mime’ Dziedzic, Vitality’s Pac, and Liquid’s Robert ‘Epos’ McKay.
With Falcons and AG.AL even on points, only separated by the tournaments-won tiebreaker, Gwen took his position in the Grand Final.
That Grand Final was an extraordinary one. With the pressure of the EWC Club Championship, $2,000,000 for the org, and a trophy on the line, Gwen was under incredible pressure.
Yet the Frenchman did not let that pressure show in any sense, racing to a huge lead to reach match point before anyone else was close to the threshold.
Converting the opportunity on Japan, Gwen became the ultimate hero of AG.AL in front of his home fans in Paris.
Would you like to see some of the top rosters reinvest their Club Championship winnings? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, read our interview with ZywOo on why he extended his contract with Team Vitality. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
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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