Week 1 of the Esports World Cup (EWC) 2026 is in the books, and history has already been made.
As well as an exciting opening ceremony, three new champions have already been crowned in Valorant, Apex Legends, and Fatal Fury.
Including 100 Thieves, who won their first-ever international Valorant trophy and the $600k grand prize of the $2m tournament.
Plus, the Dota 2 event is progressing well with Team Falcons, Nigma Galaxy, PVISION, and Team Yandex impressing early on.
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100 Thieves Crowned Valorant EWC Champions 2026
100 Thieves won the EWC Valorant trophy in an all-Americas grand final versus NRG.
100 Thieves defeated the reigning Valorant world champions 3-1 in impressively dominant fashion.
The eventual champions went undefeated throughout the entire tournament, defeating Rex Regum Queon, BBL Esports, MIBR.LOS and Nongshim RedForce en route to the final.
100 Thieves veteran Peter ‘Asuna’ Mazuryk says the floodgates have opened, and this will be the first of many trophies for the organisation.
Asuna started with the org as a 17-year-old and, five years later, has finally found success with a new group of rookies.
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UNLIMIT Win Apex Legends ALGS Trophy
The all-Japanese roster of UNLIMIT won the ALGS Year 6 Split 1 Playoffs following a remarkable recovery in the final.
In classic Match Point Finals fashion, it took 10 matches to finally crown the latest Apex Legends Global Series champions.
UNLIMIT failed to place above 9th in the first six games of the final and were written off early as other teams reached match point.
However, they roster then managed to win three of the last four matches to clinch the trophy in dramatic fashion after directly duelling with fellow matchpoint team ZETA DIVISION to crown a guaranteed winner.
NAVI’s DarkAngel Becomes EWC Fatal Fury COTW Champion
Natus Vincere’s (NAVI’s) Luis Guadalupe ‘DarkAngel’ Castillo Gomez became the second-ever Fatal Fury: Call of the Wolves EWC champion.
Having placed third last year and having come close on numerous other occasions, the Mexican finally won his first major trophy.
And he did so in dramatic style, having almost been eliminated during the quarter-finals.
DarkAngel thrashed Japanese competitor Kenta ‘mi2ha4’ Ichihara 5-1 in the final to claim $250k in prize money and qualify for the SNK World Championship 2026 finals.
Dota 2 EWC Group Stages Conclude
Meanwhile, the Dota 2 tournament is progressing into its second week, with the survival stage and playoffs coming up.
The group stage has now concluded with Team Falcons, Nigma Galaxy, PVISION, and Team Yandex topping their groups and skipping straight to the playoffs.
Nigma Galaxy have had a difficult 25/26 season so far, but overcame some big names like Aurora Gaming and Team Liquid to secure their playoff place.
What was your favourite moment of EWC Week 1? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord.
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